Someone tell me about the Greater Canadian Geese in the Mid Western Flyway

[Just Duke]

Someone tell me about the Greater Canadian Geese in the Mid Western Flyway
We plan to raise the Geese offered for sale at Murray McMurray Hatcheries but I sure would not pass up a good importunity to nail some of these bad boys.
TIA,
Duke

[quilbilly]

Their numbers on the Pacific flyway have been growing for years and they have become a ridiculous nuisance on beaches and golf courses. Hunters would love to get at them but for some reason, they don't decoy worth a darn like the smaller varieties. They are huge though. They don't seem to migrate much either.

[Just Duke]

Are you saying the Greater Canadians now in the pacific flyway?

[tomme boy]

We shoot quit a few of them here along the Mississippi River. Most seem to migrate down to the Peoria, Ill area. They stop around that area. They are a huge bird. The largest I have shot was 15 lbs 3 oz. We took it and spread the wings out and they went from the inside of my truck box over each side. 79 chevy pu.

[quilbilly]

Those big birds are all over up here in Washington. I don't know if you can really call them on the flyway since they don't seem to migrate, just move in and take over. I have a flight of about 50 of them that flies over my house twice every day year-around at about 250 feet (just out of range) back and forth from cow pastures. There are thousands around Lake Washington living on residential lawns and there are now even resident ones out at my favorite desert fishing lake in the Columbia Basin south of Moses Lake. I will bet they are a tad greasy since they don't have to work hard for a living. I have heard some call them "Great Basin Canadas" as well. Since they don't decoy, I just carry my 20 gauge for ducks on the bay (shooting is great for pintails right now).

[reloader28]

Sure is fun hunting them, but I cant stand eating them. We grind em up and make jerky if we cant give them away.

I've had Canadas cooked and smoked about 4 or 5 different ways and dont like any of them. Tastes like liver to me.

[swheeler]

I believe it CANADA GOOSE or greater canada goose/geese, not canadian

[tonyjones]

See if your library has a copy of Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America by Frank C. Bellrose. This book is considered by most to be the definitive source on North American waterfowl. The four flyways are: Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic.

Best regards,

Tony

[Just Duke]

See if your library has a copy of Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America by Frank C. Bellrose. This book is considered by most to be the definitive source on North American waterfowl. The four flyways are: Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic.

Best regards,

Tony

Thanks Tony I'll check that out.

[Duckiller]

Giant Canada geese started around Minneapolis Minn. and have spread. F&G depts initially wanted them and would trade for eggs from Minn. F&G. They seem not to migrate much. They take over golf courses and city parks. Mich has an early and late hunt to lower numbers. City of Alpena MI had a hunt in their city park to try an reduce the numbers pooping on city sidewalks. You may want to check with MI F&G for the down side of these birds. If you get some and they escape don't let your neighbors know that you are responsible for the goose poop in their yard. Neighbors and golfers may tar and feather you and run you out of town on a rail for messing up lawns and golf courses. If you can keep them out of town and off golf courses you may be a hero to hunters.

[357maximum]

I have and do shoot alot of them, they are a nuisance animal with federal protection. We either layout in greenchop corn stubble or pass shoot them on their way into and out of sewage ponds...depends on the time of year. I got a banded 6.5 year old bird a few years back...it was huge. I shot it about 6 miles from where it was banded as a chick......migratory birds my ****. The early september hunt is the one you wanna be in on in these parts.....big fun even if it is a bit warm most years.



I think they are great eating...southern fry the breasts and let the coyotes have the rest...make great arrow fletchings too.

[Hamish]

In the 70's the strings would go on 24 hours a day in Southern Illinois, and we thought we were Kings. It was easy to kill out every day of season. Now, with the power plants at Springfield, and more especially, the Snow Goose, the numbers are pitiful.

If you get the opportunity to hunt for decent money in an area with good numbers, you will have a ball. There is NOTHING in the world like almost being hit by a dead pinwheeling honker.

Just remember, you may be able to kill them pretty reliably at 50-60 yards with some of the new wonder ammo, but better to get them inside 30. I've seen them killed with 20ga. when deked correctly.

It sounds like I need to go visit Mike! I was just looking at the duck decoys the other day and thinking about selling.

[jaysouth]

Come to my subdivision in Nashville. We have some idiot neighbors that feed(the same idiots voted for obama, go figger!) them daily. There is an acre pond in the middle of the subdivision that sometimes has hundreds of the nasty things. If you throw corn chops on the ground, they will eat from between your feet.

Personally, I would not waste a shotgun shell on them. The non-migratory birds are tough and taste awful.

Please come down here and kill a couple of thousand for us!

[Beau Cassidy]

357Maximum mentioned something that sorta made me decide I was done duck and geese hunting- sewage ponds. You ever see how many of them land on sewage ponds? No thanks.... I think I will pass on any more ducks and geese. Geese are a nuisance animals almost everywhere.

[CLAYPOOL]

They are getting started around me and I say that NOT knowing that these are them..I have a small number of locals around here that stay close where they are save..

[DIRT Farmer]

I had a good day on geese today, out with my brother and a friend. They came in to the decoys, I didn't need my ten, 15 yards anything will work.

We landed three groups.

[Alvarez Kelly]

You asked about the greater Canada Geese. They are bigger than the other sub-species. Here in Southern Illinois, we get some migrators... They will often run 14 pounds, and occasionally a mature bird will be over 15 pounds. The more common Canada geese sub-species usually run around 12 pounds. Other than that, they hunt and decoy the same.

[JeffinNZ]

Whatever you call them they are now soooooo numerous in NZ they are considered a pest and it is open season on them. Shoot tell ya blue in the face then.....shoot some more.

[nanuk]

in Southern Manitoba, the white fronted geese are such a nuisance that IIRC, they have 9 mo of season, and high bag limits.

When I lived up in Churchill Mb, the Polar Bear Capital of the World, the Canada's numbered in hundreds of thousands. and the white geese were over the million mark.

And when the nesting pairs were counted, IIRC the numbers combined were near 500,000.

there was an area called La Peruse Bay that is a couple miles across, perhaps 5, where from the ground, it looks like it is completely snow covered, as you cannot see ANY ground, only white geese.

Canada's have now adapted to where, if there is ANY open water, they'll stay all winter. Odd to see geese at -40.

[pls1911]

If you can believe it, I watch a flight of about 20 every morning year round west of Fort Worth. Occasionally if it's foggy, I think I could harvest dinner with a broom stick.

[Ozarki]

I grew up on the Horicon Marsh. a federal preserve in the 40's-50--there were 2000,000 of them that came by migrating. They would wake us up in the middel of the night with their honking.

Wes

[DIRT Farmer]

I saw an amazing sight this afternoon, I was returning home from St Louis on I-64 just West of the Little Wabash river in IL. There is some water out from the Wabash and Little Wabash in the low ground. Just north of the I there was a string of geese West bound in groups of I have no idea how many along a strech of 11 miles. I have seen a lot of geese leaving refuges before but nothing like today. Every goose in the tri-state area must have joined up.

[357maximum]

357Maximum mentioned something that sorta made me decide I was done duck and geese hunting- sewage ponds. You ever see how many of them land on sewage ponds? No thanks.... I think I will pass on any more ducks and geese. Geese are a nuisance animals almost everywhere.

You would spin over and die if you seen some of our hunts then. Shoot them on the way in and then go retrieve them with a bass casting outfit and a large dowel wearing treble hooks...kinda like a 2inch diameter 4 inch long ZaraSpook. :lol: You proably would not wanna pick the tomatoes that grow on the bank in the tampon and condom drifts either eh? apparently tomato seeds float...who knew?

[Hamish]

Every goose in the tri-state area must have joined up.

Cold spell bringing them down. That's about the northwest end of our fishing area back in the 70's when grandpa and I were doing our best "Old Man and the kid" routine.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Duke. About the best comparable description of shooting a Canadien Goose while you are in a blind with them either coming in to a call and decoys or them flaring over you is assuming you are shooting down a Boeing 747! I`ve hit a goose with a 12 gauge using #2 shot 3 times, looking like I was tearing a feather pillow apart - and the goose still flew over 1/3 of a mile across a lake and marsh before crash landing STILL ALIVE! Trust me when I say these birds DO get your heart pumping!Robert

[Hickory]

Here in the swamp of Northwest Ohio, they don't even fly south anymore.