Rochester Goose Report

[rippinlipz]

How has the goose hunting been in Rochester. There should be a good amount in town by now.

[g'eye pilot]

There are some substantial #'s of geese down here right now... The biggest challenge is that there are numerous refuge fields available for the birds. A couple weeks ago, if you had a picked field, you were golden. That has changed since we had some nice weather. A lot of crops came out, opening a lot of options for the geese. On the nicer days, it seems like a ton of birds are hanging on the grass throughout the day, and making a late feeding flight.

There's been some fantastic gunning north of Rochester. Probably a few thousand birds staging around Oronoco - Lake Shady and the river. The area is less pressured than the immediate Rochester area.

You will find geese on just about every gravel pit, pond, or river around Rochester. If you have time to scout, there are definitely some birds breaking the refuge line. You just have to dial them in and shoot them in the lips!

[FOOT]

Yup G'eye Pilot is right on.

One thing we've been able to do, as of late, is to "waste" and afternoon driving and scouting. Watch what fields they are using in the late afternoon/early evening and then get permission and be there the next morning.

7 guys, 45 minutes, 14 geese Sunday.

It took a couple of guys doing some monumental scouting but they found them. They also got turned down a couple of times asking permission. Just keep trying and you might get lucky.

Heard yesterday some guys have had some luck floating a couple of the streams/rivers in the area. One shooter and one person to steady/paddle the canoe/boat. Can't vouch for the accuracy of this, heard it 3rd or 4th hand.

[buzzsaw]

I don't know if you guys want to answer this on a public forum or not... but is there any good public land to hunt geese down in the Rochester area? I was thinking about heading down if it makes sense....

[g'eye pilot]

That's an easy one, and I'm sure FOOT would provide a similar response. Public land for goose hunting around Rochester - nope, doesn't exist. What is out there are some public pass shooting blinds along the refuge lines. There aren't many of these remaining, so there is fierce competition for them. You might get an occasional "tall" shot. But I'm guessing you're looking for a higher quality outing?

The picked corn and bean fields that are good for decoying are all privately owned. A good percentage of these are leased by private parties or guide services. It's not out of the question to get on private land. But you have to do your home work to find out where the birds are going. As refuge food gets eaten up, and that is beginning to happen in some instances, the birds will travel distances outside the refuge to feed. I've scouted and hunted them as far as 10 miles out of town. As you get further from Roch, it definitely seems easier to get on land. But as I mentioned, you have to find some birds first.

If you don't have time to do the homework, and it can certainly take a lot of time to be successful, consider contacting one of the local guide services. A lot of them offer unguided hunts, which are (usually) quite a bit cheaper than fully guided. You call your own shots, shoot your own birds, and you're usually hunting out of pits on premo real estate.

I know some guys also float some of rivers and do pretty well jump shooting. Although personally, I have never done it. I'm either in a pit, or free-lancing with lay down blinds. Hope this helps?