# What do you think is the best crop field to hunt in?



## diverboy (Jul 5, 2007)

I was just wondering what you guys think is the best kind of field to hunt in? In my experience I have found that the geese are most attracted to either barley or a chopped corn field.


----------



## scissorbill (Sep 14, 2003)

The best one is the one the geese are using.


----------



## justund223 (Aug 28, 2006)

one with geese in it, the type usually changes as the season goes on


----------



## mcudwort (Jun 25, 2007)

In my area and my experience I would have to say barley


----------



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Burned barley. MMMMM, toasty!...


----------



## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

The baseball field in Petersburg...Having a hard time getting permission though!


----------



## duckbuster434 (Apr 11, 2005)

Rick Acker said:


> The baseball field in Petersburg.


Ya no doubt!


----------



## jaemersonke (Jul 19, 2006)

silaged corn field when there isn't any snow, winter wheat when snow is on the ground.


----------



## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

You will get many answers to this. The best one is where the geese are feeding at a certain point.

But I have noticed......Sod fields, pea fields, sweet corn fields (all early)
Corn, soybeans later in the season. This is for where I live.


----------



## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

Flax. Especially if you are running traffic. 8)


----------



## northerngoosehunter (Mar 22, 2006)

I think geese prefer the corn fields, but often, at least around here, get stuck eating in bean fields. In my opinion this is because hunters are a lot easier to see in bean stubble compared to corn stubble and later in the year the snow flies right across the bean stubble and gets packed up in the corn.


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Windrowed Millet or freshly harvested Mustard


----------



## nowski10 (Jan 27, 2006)

Corn is the best crop to hunt in.


----------



## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

speaking of crops they are starting to be harvested. Saw my first field going down yesterday!


----------



## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

Geese like to feed in silaged corn fields? If so, this is amazingly GREAT news: because atleast 2 farmers in my area, have over 1000 acres of corn silaged by sept 10th!!! that leaves the final early season weekend with many corn fields to hunt in....SCORE!

In the past few years during the early season, the only fields I have hunted in have been strictly wheat fields, normally plowed and disked... Eastern ND rarely has any stubble fields left by September 1st.(when i say eastern ND i mean like 20 miles away from the Red river)

I also have a question if anybody in eastern NODAK have hunted in alfalfa fields, or have even seen any geese feeding in them?

PS-I SAW 3 GEESE TONIGHT! and was amazed about how big they looked!


----------



## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

I can't believe no one said sugar beet fields. They may be hard to blind up in, but with some extra efforts digging holes you can do great. We had at least two limits in beet fields last year. This hunt was either a limit too, or one or two Canadas short. Plus these bonus blues that decoyed amazingly to the group of snows we had out.


----------



## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

Oh yes beet fields are what ithink by far the best fields to hunt in! BUT!, they are also by far the hardest to camoflage into! After the first beet field was harvest this past october, we hunted it for litterally 10 days in a row EVERY morning and limited out in the same EXACT spots...only had to dig our pits once....was kinda nice!

Somebody needs to come up with a blind that is made for the beet fields...If anybody else has hunted them, you know that there is absoultly nothing to stuff onto your blind for concealment...so when it comes to us hunting the beet fields, its back to the pit digging strategy.


----------



## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

Swathed oats and peas seem to be the best here in Sask. The only crop I havent seen geese in is canola, only stinky mule deer like that stuff. :lol:


----------



## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Silaged corn fields are good, but they don't last long. Choppers don't usually leave much behind to eat. So when the geese get into the field they usually take it from freshly harvested to completely picked over in just a few days. Once they've done that they know better than to go back.

I must ask, what are the birds eating in the beet fields? I can't say I've ever tried that, I always assumed it wouldn't work. Can someone enlighten me?


----------



## Smoke Em Boys (Jul 25, 2007)

If they could only plant one crop I would just assume it be corn. Corn is king from Carolina to Dakota.


----------



## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Diver, the geese in beet fields are eating one of several things, either dove proso or red-root seeds from the beating of the tops, cheat grass, new wild clover, or the actual sweet little white beet roots. Same with green chopped or silage corn, they rarely if ever eat corn because little if any corn is actually "spilled" that is still intact, the field is opened up for them to get to the green nutritious new cheatgrass chutes and proso seeds. That will only last as long as it takes for the sun to dry the greens up, or the frost to nip them. Of course I couldn't have come up with such nonsense unless I actually rooted through the gizzards of several hundred dead geese myself to find this out!! What can I say....I'm inquisitive 

My first choice will always be winter wheat or turf. Those honkers will come to a field of greens around here before going to any kind of corn field. Alfalfa is also a great choice for a loafing spread, or huge spread on a cold morning before they head to the corn.

Just a piece of advice for any hunter out there: take a second look....sometimes just because they're in a corn field doesn't always mean they're eating corn!!


----------



## T Shot (Oct 4, 2002)

HATCHETMAN said:


> Just a piece of advice for any hunter out there: take a second look....sometimes just because they're in a corn field doesn't always mean they're eating corn!!


So true, geese in chopped corn are more than likely eating any greens, not corn. A partially chopped field can produce all year. Early for greens, and when the rest is combined, it is killer for ducks and geese. That would be my choice if I had to hunt one field all year for my area. There also many creative hides for this type of field as well.


----------



## deerhunternd05 (Mar 1, 2007)

we have our best luck in feild peas geese love them


----------



## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Picked corn provides the best cover and excellent late season hunts.

Peas fields have produced the best hunts ever for me.


----------



## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

Pea's are what we usually try and shoot for.


----------



## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

Diver, you definetly need to experience beet hunting. It can be frustrating, especially with big groups of guys to conceal. But with only a couple of guys and a smaller spread the geese can't get in the decoys fast enough. We couldn't wait for the corn to be harvested this year to get out of those dumb beet fields.

About what they eat in those fields, when you walk through the field you can see where they are gnawing on the excess beets. They actually leave beak marks all over the beet.


----------



## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

Yes Diver, the Geese absolutly LOVE the sugar beets. Like others have said, they eat the chopped up leaves that the roater beater and harvester have left behind, along with the smaller and skinnier beets.

As for the concealment of your fellow hunters...good luck...If you have a spread of say 3-5 dozen full bodies, and no mag shells, i'm gonna bet money that very few geese will even get close to you....unless of course, you have some sort of hunting clothing made specially for beet fields!

My freind and I, have tried everything there is to try to stuff blinds in a beet field....We tried painting mud on them to the most extreme, tried fitting beets into the stubble straps, along with beet leaves, dug pits for our blinds so our blinds were even with the soil, tried putting super mag shells to cover most of our blinds...and there is a few more but they are way to idiotic to post.

So, moral of story, just dig a pit, use some goose shells to cover your body and save the hassle of geese flaring.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

mshutt said:


> dug pits for our blinds so our blinds were even with the soil,


I don't know about you, but digging a pit in a guy's field is like leaving your garbage behind IMO. I think digging pits is going to the extreme of _greediness _myself. (Again, on land that doesn't have your name on the contract.) It goes to the fact that I'll let people borrow my stuff, but it better come back the same or in better condition if you expect to borrow it again. :wink:

Sure, you can fill in your "man holes" but the next rainfall or tractor tire is going to sink that loose soil you just threw back in there. I just don't think it's worth jeopardizing the generosity to give yourself an edge that isn't really necessary.


----------



## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

yeah but in a beet field, normally the field isnt touched until the following spring leaving it PLENTY of time, with the winter pretty much right after the beet harvest, so in beet fields, i dont worry about this.

We dont dig pits in any other kind of fields except for the beet fields.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

I guess I'm just saying that I would never dare ask a farmer if I could dig a pit in his field b/c I could easily see his answer being: "You can just get the hell outta here then."

Digging pits w/o permission is about as disrespectful as driving in a muddy field.

Beet field concealment: Mud up a black sheet and throw it over you, paint your face and wear a black mudded up hat. :wink: (Go w/o the blind, sit in the middle or towards the back of the spread, and leave the "yellow" lab at home.)


----------



## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

Bandman I hunt peas like that. Get a brown sheet, a little 3m spray glue and a rake and the birds will land on you. :lol:


----------



## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

I don't know bandman....I didn't get the impression from mshutt that he was gonna dig a pit without permission. :-?

Digging a pit is a swell way to kill the geese (the standard around here), and if done correctly you will never be able to tell it was there. The important thing first of all of course is to get permission, then get ahold of a backhoe and a dump truck. Get that dirt to the end of the field in a neat little pile, and when next spring comes, get it back in the hole after the dirt is mellow enough to do so, this dirt pile will naturally be a little higher because it hasn't had the chance to settle yet. When farming time comes any ground-turning implement will smooth it right back over good as new.
The pit argument is just like the cattle or sprinkler pivot shooting argument, usually somebody knows somebody, who knows somebody's brother who got a tractor stuck in an improperly filled pit, and every farmer in the country agrees to hate the idea of digging pits over a cup of coffee at the local shop. I've agreed to pay all of the farmers I use $500 in damages if for some reason they get damaged equipment from my pit digging activities, mainly to get them softened to the idea of digging pits in the first place, I take a picture before, and after it is filled, and again several weeks later before he plows......In 20 years (hundreds of holes) we've never had even a single complaint about our activities, and I haven't paid out a single red cent for damages, now I get the farmers blessing! Of course there are limitations, you NEVER put a pit in winter wheat or other winter crop or alfalfa without a farmers permission, and usually that is done on the field perimeter. The bottom line here is to use common sense with any hunting activity and mind your overall presence on other peoples property, this way everyone is happy! Some of the older fellas can't navigate the layout blinds, and a pit is the only way they can enjoy a comfortable hunt!!
:beer:


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

HM: I guess I'm talking about the pits dug to put your layout blinds into so they're even "lower profile". I know "a lot" of farmers and grew up on a farm and haven't ever heard any of them ever say anything good about the practice.

Let's face it, people are usually going behind the farmer's backs when they dig these foot deep pits and I just don't deem it necessary. For sure; to each their own, but I've just never had a problem killing birds w/o the grave hole.

You and I are talking about 2 different scenarios and I just wanted to clarify the occasional and quick pits dug around here "w/o a tractor and a backhoe and a lot of times w/o permission".


> Bandman I hunt peas like that. Get a brown sheet, a little 3m spray glue and a rake and the birds will land on you.


 Very good idea w/ the spray glue. :thumb:


----------



## Saskatchewan (Jul 26, 2007)

Up here it seems if you can find a stuble field of any varity peas seem the best and its next to a corn field most of the time the geese will be in the pea field within 100 feet of the corn. But that doesnt mean Id go lay down for a day in any field i didnt scout the day before and seen geese.


----------



## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

This is actually a very interesting question. Obviously the primary rule is to set up in the field with the most geese in it. But sometimes the obvious choice is not the correct one. There's a lot more to picking a field than just the crop. There are a lot of day-to-day variables that you have to consider in some situations.

How many days have they been in the field?
Which way is the wind supposed to blow?
Any other weather factors to consider? snow? rain?
What's the terrain like? flat? hilly?
What's the cover in the field like? lots of rock piles? sloughs?
Are there any buildings around?
Any busy roads?
Power-lines?
Other guys out scouting? how far away from other spreads will you be?
Is tomorrow a weekend or is it during the week?
Which way is the roost?
How far is the roost? 
Is there more than one roost?
What's your gut say?

I could probably go on and on.


----------



## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Bandman....thanks for the clarification!! Yes we are talking about two different pits! SORRY BUD! :lol:

Yes...leaving any type of hole for a farmer to run into is bad business!

HM


----------



## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

bandman said:


> Let's face it, people are usually going behind the farmer's backs when they dig these foot deep pits and I just don't deem it necessary. For sure; to each their own, but I've just never had a problem killing birds w/o the grave hole.


Sorry bandman I normally never disagree with you at all, but have you ever hunted a beet field? I guarantee you if you could only hunt beet fields from mid-October to November you would understand. Last year I took 5 black sheets filled up a 20 gallon bucket with mud and soaked them all night. Let them dry and didn't even break any of the excess dirt of to make them look like a dirt field. I might have well just got 5 blaze orange jackets and we could have stood in the field blowing air horns and they would have come in better. I guess it may have been the fully flocks, but very few birds came in at all. The only way we can ever get good hunts is by digging shallow "graves" and the farmers have never cared about it at all as long as they are filled back in. I always ask, one time though I was hunting with some different guys in their scouted field we dug down and the farmer came out to see how we did. He didn't care at all about the holes once again as long as they were filled in. He just wanted every single goose off his land.

Just consider yourself lucky to be outside the Valley, where fields aren't tilled immediately after harvest and you get to hunt wheat, barley, peas, and corn all year long.

I hope this doesn't sound too pissy or worked up, its just a frustrating, but sometimes rewarding topic.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

GB: I gotcha and as long as the farmer doesn't give a hoot, give er' hell. After hunting the beet fields down here, I'm sure glad I grew up hunting stubble. I'll take hunting corn any day of the week b/c the blind disappears so easily, but stubble (especially high cut for easy blind covering) is a close second for me. Did I mention I'd way rather drive my vehicle or even walk in stubble rather than corn stalks though??!!!  :eyeroll:

I have a close friend that farms w/ his dad(who refuses to post his land.) Anyway, his paps is as laid back as they come and he wasn't too happy that someone was digging in his field w/o asking years back and I took his complaining about it to exception. It woulda been sad if that was the reason for him to have to start posting his land.

I've just always thought you should have permission, obviously in terms of respect. After that, dig away and pack it back in when you're finished. :wink:



> Just consider yourself lucky to be outside the Valley, where fields aren't tilled immediately after harvest and you get to hunt wheat, barley, peas, and corn all year long.


I've been blessed. :justanangel:



> I hope this doesn't sound too pissy or worked up, its just a frustrating, but sometimes rewarding topic.


Not in the slightest. :thumb:


----------



## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

Have any of you guys hunted swathed oats. I have had some crazy hunts for ducks and geese in oat fields. I have to agree with TB, you just described my thought process to a T when I am preparing to hunt a field that I have scouted the night before. There are so many variables that we have to think about where as the birds are just reacting normally to these conditions. Think like a goose, kill lots of geese. :lol:


----------



## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

Goosebuster where do you live? Here around the Minto area, farmers combine their crop one night, the next day is already worked up  So this year HOPEFULLY if i ask nice enough, some farmers will leave some of their wheat and barley crops unplowed so we can hunt in pure stubble :lol:


----------



## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

I once asked a wise veteran goose hunter the same question...

He told me his best fields had always been the ones he baited the shyte out of. Hope this helps!


----------



## BeekBuster (Jul 22, 2007)

Anyone ever hunted a sod field?


----------



## universitywaterfowler (Jul 15, 2007)

I have, unfortunately it was with someone that was a real arss. He wouldn't let me call so we sat there and watched geese fly by us all morning and didn't shoot a thing. I stopped after that day, and decided I would stick to my semi-trailer graveyard. Would be nice if i could get a sod field to myself, but until then... :sniper:


----------



## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

Saw my first tilled wheat field. Harvested in and tilled up in the same day. uke: . You got to love the valley.


----------



## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

For early season I'd say the best crop to hunt has to be sweet corn by far in my area.


----------



## honkerheaven (Aug 21, 2007)

i live in central saskatchewan,where we practice continuous cropping and direct minimum tillage seeding. all of our stubble stands year round with no tillage. i've found that pea stubble is the the best to lure geese though concealment is harder due to the short height the stubble is cut. straight cut cereals such as wheat and barley with their higher stubble are easier to hunt and if the birds are coming there decoying is not a problem.


----------



## magnum44270 (Jul 20, 2007)

drive around , see a field with gees in it.....thats the one you want!.
jk

no wrong answer....corn aweome..winter wheat, killer... wheat..... 1/2 inch grass cow pasture..kills em...


----------



## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I like them all. Bean stubble can get a little itchy though. :-?


----------



## WaterfowlJunky (Mar 16, 2007)

magnum good call....where the geese are....we killed them in about everything last year, my favorite is corn....the best last year was a cow pasture early season.....1/2" of grass and we still killed them...it was insane....maybe we can do it again this year


----------



## magnum44270 (Jul 20, 2007)

yeah jsut make sure to epoxy you butt on, so we dont get a replay of last year...ouch..im sorry


----------



## WaterfowlJunky (Mar 16, 2007)

yeah yeah that sucked, i made up for it the next day remember that first single....ouch is right


----------



## Duckslayer04 (Oct 2, 2005)

sweet corn stubble is my personal favorite but hey ill sit wherever they are......sod farms are fun, really easy too!


----------

