Goose Reports

[Flick]

Well how did everybody do over the weekend? Me and a buddy did good on Sat. getting 8 but Sun was terrible with hardly seeing any geese and the heat to go along with it. Hunted Clay county, there were a fair number of birds, hopefully with some cooler weather they'll start moving around more. Overall it was real fun to get out again.

[Dean Schellinger]

We didn't do as well as expected. Although it was extremely hot out, I still would rather lay out in a field this opening weekend compared to last years opener which it rained all weekend. We had some terrible luck and some @****** hunters around us so we only managed a couple of geese. Hopefully this week after school I will be able to get a couple more with fewer hunters hitting the fields.

[Guest]

I hunted south of Fergus and we got 2. It was incredibly hot sitting in the blind all day! Wow.

There were so many ducks, it was incredible. There were litterally more ducks in the area we hunted that it would make ND look ridiculous to drive all that way. The ducks flew all day, right in my face. Simply an awesome sight.

There were lots of geese, but they flew just outside the deks and didn't want much to do with them. They were only going to land in the area they liked.

One other hunter in our area that we saw (didn't fire his gun), some shooting in the distance, but not a lot. Really surprising. We didn't feel pressured.

I scout hard and this area should have been filled with hunters. The only thing is you have to WORK for these birds and not many people want to work....that's how I avoid the crowds that people are complaining about in other posts

Can't wait for duck opener!!!!!!!

[Mark Christianson]

CD
Thats pretty lame to place blame on work ethic being the reason that we have a lot of competition, or lack of success.(I agree it can be a factor for some people, but not most.)
If I lived up there, I would be able to put in the scouting that I would like. You said you scout hard. Great, you are lucky to be able to have the time to do that.
I live 150 miles from the area, and I do not get up there more than a couple of times a summer after Memorial weekend.
The area we hunt has traditionally held a very respectable number of geese, but never a ton of people. (Until this year for some reason.) So, just because a lot of people "worked" to find this area of geese, and they decided that the numbers of geese in this area interest them, now "I" have to pack up and leave? I don't want to leave. I want people to use more etiquette, and be aware that if birds don't want your spread, let em go.
Geezus. Try again.
Pretty disappointing analogy from an FM Pro Staffer "you have to WORK for these birds and not many people want to work...."

It goes far beyond that CD.

[Mark Christianson]

..And yes,

I cannot wait for the duck opener either!
Ducks galore!

[Gissert]

Biglakeba$$ -

Yikes! That was bit harsh.

I think CD is right on the money with his comments. I COULD have gone hunting this weekend, but chose not to. It was too hot, and I did not feel like humping all my gear out in that heat. I simply did not want to work that hard. (I had a much better time hand mixing concrete in my basement, LOL)

I agree it can be most frustrating when suddenly it seems that everyone in the area is setting up nearby.

I live in the same area as CD, but work in the cities during the week. I can get by with less scouting as I have learned some basic patterns having hunted that area since I was a kid. Still, that often falls flat. To overcome that, I keep in touch with friends during the week, and they can tell me where the birds are working, saving me time.

There are a lot of people here (me included)who would be willing to share general info to try and make your hard earned recreation time a success.

[Guest]

Whoa! Geez, I guess I really didn't intend to bash anything or anyone here!

I do work hard for my birds and I honestly don't see all the experiences with skybusters and slobs like others do. I go where the average hunter doesn't want to go. I scout via the web at satellite images (very effective!) to find hidden pockets, lakes, ponds, etc. If I have to paddle one mile in my boat, I will!

I hunted 45 miles away from my house this weekend. I use to live in Moorhead, but drove 75 miles one way to scout...then add many more miles taking all the back roads. Then going home. I put in effort to stay away from the "obvious" spots. There's too much hidden public land out there.

In MN you have to work for birds, no doubt. That isn't an offending statement. There are lots of birds in this state and I have found these birds off the beaten paths. Take risks! That's work! What's lame about that?

Bigbass, you could have asked me about birds and I would have told you. I do live here, and I haven't seen much activity. I believe I posted that. I scout places far from home if I have too. That's just the way I am. I'm not going to risk going to a spot on opening day if I have a feeling that it will be pressured or lack of birds.

[deacon]

Hunted the Fergus Falls area this weekend. Saturday my son and I bagged 3 geese and saw a fair number. Sunday went out with a couple of other guys and bagged 4, only had 5 decoy. Saw a number of birds but just were not interested.

Hunting is becoming a lot of work scouting, getting permission (this is the most frustrating), etc. I just want to make the experience fun for my 2 boys, it is just hard when so much time and effort is needed.

Good Luck, be safe and respect others

------------------
Deacon

[Labby]

Well we lucked out and found a good field with a number of birds using it Friday night. Was back early to set up on Saturday. First bird in around 7:15 was a loner that set right in fornt of my son. He took his shot pulled a few feathers I shot to finish the bird and came up empty. WOW was that poor. We did have a couple of other flock come in but most birds were real decoy shy. We had a good spread with mostly bigfeet out/ I think they may have been shying the blinds or maybe the dog. Didnt get out any more this weekend. We ended with 7 for the morning. Not bad but was expecting better things. Does anyone know where we I can order some of the stakes witht eh springs on them for the shell decoys to make them wobble in the wind?

[Guest]

Biglakebass,
Slight misunderstanding. I read your post under "slobs" and it sounds like you had a rough weekend.

Click on my username sometime under Ottertail forum and send me an email. I'd be happy to share reports with ya. We hunt the same area most of the time anyways.

[bmc]

All the scouting me and my buddy did paid off. We hunted a lake in Itasca County and ended up with 3 Saturday morning. Should have been more, but some local high school kids were skybusting at everything that honked. We did screw up on the first flock though. We had 30-40 geese come into the decoys, some landed, we shot the same goose and my buddy got another one. LOL I think we were both in awe, and forgot we were hunting. LOL He went out by himself on Sunday and got 5, including one with a leg band! Me and a different buddy went out this morning and got 2 and were too busy shooting the B.S. to see a double that flew 30 yards above our spread till it was too late. LOL All in all we had a pretty good weekend.
bmc

[Long Gray Line]

Back to the original question, took home 3, hit another one and watched it fly off to the horizon, heard a ton of shooting from a couple of groups to the north. Either they're lousy shots or they ALL limited out!! Two of the birds were about average size. One was HUGE, put it on a fish scale and it weighed in at 20lbs with a wing span at 6'. Once the flocks got broken up with the shooting, they started to respond to the calling and the dekes. I'll be back out this week, need a couple more for smoking and goose jerky!! Mmmmmmmm.....

[honker23]

Did well, hunted water in SC MN. Shot 5 by myself sat. Returned sun to find "slob hunters" in the ditch about 1 mile away. They shot at everything within 150 yards. Got [PoorWordUsage]ed and went home. It's getting bad out there.

[Mark Christianson]

LGL

That bird wasn't white was it?

[IceHawk]

Scouting paid off again this year, My group of five shot our limit on Saturday and 7 on sunday. We shot our geese in a oats field that they had been feeding in for the last 3 weeks. One thing I noticed was how much flagging worked again, we had other hunters all around us with nice decoy spreads but they didnt flag and we pulled the geese right to us. The weather was hot hope this weekend things cool down.

[Zaraspooks]

Hunted a field just north of the Twin Cities. Hunted Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. Fantastic!!!!! Saturday morning was the best. Between the three groups in the area(14 hunters) we dropped 56 birds. A great opening weekend.

Won't be back for a while until we eat some birds.

The Spook

[MNice]

Hunted in a private field just south of Montgomery. Sat. we saw about 40-50 birds, but no response to our calls. Had a few fly over, I thought they were to high, but my partner took a few shots without connecting. Still had a great time shootin the breeze and just getting out.

[This message has been edited by MNice (edited 09-08-2003).]

[Mark Christianson]

CD
My point was towards your statement that most hunters don't want to work.
I can only dream of having your situation, to live in the general area that I hunt.
If scouting for game is the meaning of "Work", then you are correct. Most of us do not get out as much as you do. Totally agreed.(I know its not the only meaning) You are VERY lucky, and I am envious.

Overall, I do not have a problem with people hunting around me. I do have a problem with the ethics they use at times. Look at the topic "Slob Hunters" and you will better understand my stance on that, as well as other FM'ers.

Whoa, way off topic. Sorry.
PS - Still pleased as heck that fall is here, and Battle Lake will be my home away from home for the next several weekends.

[Flashman]

Hunted in Beltrami County and had a great weekend, we ended up with 64 birds for 9 guys after Sunday mornings hunt and decided to fish that afternoon so we wouldn't have to clean more geese. This was one of my best years yet. Thought about hunting water but decided against it and the field hunting was just unbelieveable. We were able to decoy shoot and call the missed birds back in. The best part of it all was we had to first timers with us and they had a blast.
Oh, ducks flying all over too.

Ed

[northwoodsman]

i live in itasca county, there's been alot
of geese.. i went fishing lastnight over at
whiteoak lake there were flocks coming in from the west.. went fishing today..
on mudlake road drove past this guys farm
there must of been 20 or 30 in his feild
while fishing on the dam about 8 flew over
i said to my self life isn't fair and i told my wife the same thing she said true

[Duck-o-holic]

Our group hunted near Marshall in a cut corn field. We managed to bag 17 on Saturday morning. A couple guys went back that night and didn't get a shot. The fields near us all did good, and actually did better than many of the people that we talked to that hunted over water. I'm sure that wasn't the case everywhere, but I'd rather keep the birds roosting on the same body of water, and just keep hitting them in the fields. The hard part is getting permission for all the different spots

Aside from a bad case of allergies, mosquitos, and sweating a gallon of liquid... it was great to be out there! Sure beat a good day at work!!

Duck-o-holic

[loosegoose]

Hunted in a private wheat field in the Benson area over the weekend. Three of us got seven geese on Saturday morning. Went back in the heat of the evening to find 40 or so sitting in the field we were hunting in. Came up empty there. Tried again Sunday morning, had a flock land in the field but way too far out. Goose numbers seem to be down from last year and so were the hunters. Heard some shooting but not much. The outlook for duck opener looks promising.

[Flick]

Had a great weekend hunting. Came back to the cities from school at NDSU. Saturday we only got one but after the morning we found a great field for Sunday. Ended up shooting 18 for four of us on Sunday morning, it was amazing, plus I got a band. It was a great weekend back.

[Long Gray Line]

BigLakeBa$$, nope, it wasn't white but it did have numbers painted on the sides. A couple of sand hill cranes almost bought it though when they popped up over some trees right in front of the blind. Drum sticks are too long on 'em for my liking. I'm kinda regretting that 20lb'er is in the freezer now. I'm thinking I should have had the thing mounted at that size! Course I would have had to knock out a wall to fit it in.

[This message has been edited by Long Gray Line (edited 09-20-2003).]