Retterath
Veteran member
when they get here i will shoot half of the birds and then send them back south for the guys who missed out and then i will be waiting for them to come back to me
Sky Carp Success Thread
- Thread starter Hilltop
- Start date
arwaterfowler
Active Member
Anybody here ever try the cow decoy trick? Gonna give it a shot tomorrow south of Omaha.
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ElkTrout
Veteran member
My wife and I had some success today! Try again tomorrow before heading back to Colorado!
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sneakypete
Veteran member
ElkTrout
Veteran member
It was a great weekend! Ended up with 33! There were a lot of adults so the hunting was tough. We did shoot a couple really nice blues! Today we saw half as many snows as the day before. They really started migrating.
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lostriverproductions
Active Member
We only shot 5 geese but to my 6 year old it was the best weekend of the year. He had his red rider BB gun along. He swears he shot this goose and who am I to tell him differently?
My lab pup, now 10 months old, thought it was a pretty fun weekend as well.
My lab pup, now 10 months old, thought it was a pretty fun weekend as well.
sneakypete
Veteran member
Hilltop, my oldest used to out shoot us all with his Red Rider also. That gun probably killed more stuff than the Winchester 30/30! LOL. GREAT PICTURES!
I have done it with mixed results. At times, you can approach inside of 30 yards and really lay some birds down. I spoke to a hunter yesterday that did a 6 person jump with the cow decoy this weekend. They got 274 geese in one volley with 6 guns. They did 3 other long walks unsuccessfully.
I have also seen some videos with the mirror used to stalk. That is something I want to try.
Goose numbers are at a peak here for us. We had 40 to 50 thousand birds here last night. We shot 17 and should have had quite a few more. I finally got a beautiful adult blue goose for the wall last night- only one problem. He bit my lab during the retrieve on the side of his face. My puppy had no clue what to do but he retaliated and the goose lost too many feathers to be considered for a mount after that. Was entertaining to say the least... the education of a retriever is a good time.
Had another great evening yesterday. I shot 8 but really should have had 20+ birds. One of the 8 was a banded adult Ross. Very cool bird - He was banded in 2007 up in Canada. They said he was an "adult bird" at the time of banding so he is 10+ years old. The metal on the band is worn thin and isn't uniform anymore. He will make a cool mount.
Here is a size comparison with an adult snow goose to show the difference between the Ross and Snow species. The goose on the end is also a Ross. They are basically large mallard size.
This morning the large flocks are all gone. Just a few stragglers left on our main WPAs. You guys in the Dakotas should have a great hunting the next few days.
Here is a size comparison with an adult snow goose to show the difference between the Ross and Snow species. The goose on the end is also a Ross. They are basically large mallard size.
This morning the large flocks are all gone. Just a few stragglers left on our main WPAs. You guys in the Dakotas should have a great hunting the next few days.
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
Really great to get that Ross with the band. I've shot a few when I lived in California. When I first moved here in Colorado, I shot an adult Honker with a really worn band too. The information I got was that it had been banded 10 years earlier and was an adult when it was banded.
Interesting thing is that there were really very few geese here in this part of the state. I talked to the biologist that banded the bird I shot and he told me they trapped about 100 adults near Pueblo and released them here. We now have 1000's of birds here that never migrate, stay here year round. I have 4 to 6 pairs that nest on my pond we get 30 to 40 young birds every year. Kinda fun to watch, but man are they messy...tons of goose crap everywhere. There are lots of them in the city parks and the golf course. Everyone bitches about the mess, but don't want to shoot any!!! Wish Parks & Wildlife would work with the feds and set up a non-migratory season early before any migration starts with generous limits like they do in Maryland.
Interesting thing is that there were really very few geese here in this part of the state. I talked to the biologist that banded the bird I shot and he told me they trapped about 100 adults near Pueblo and released them here. We now have 1000's of birds here that never migrate, stay here year round. I have 4 to 6 pairs that nest on my pond we get 30 to 40 young birds every year. Kinda fun to watch, but man are they messy...tons of goose crap everywhere. There are lots of them in the city parks and the golf course. Everyone bitches about the mess, but don't want to shoot any!!! Wish Parks & Wildlife would work with the feds and set up a non-migratory season early before any migration starts with generous limits like they do in Maryland.
ElkTrout
Veteran member
Congrats on the band! What a great trophy. Looks like he has the warts on the bill as well.
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sneakypete
Veteran member
Hill Top, congrats on the band, I I hope the birds heading to the Dakotas are slow going I don't start hunting until the 23rd!
I'm not familiar with how fast they leave the Dakotas but the forecast looks warm even as far north as Fargo. I have had my office door open all day and haven't heard a single goose... It's a little depressing! So much fun but it's a really short window to hunt them here.
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
Ross Geese have a very short, weird looking bill when compared to other geese. Also lots of the warty looking surface on the top.
