# Round 2 Stories and Pics!



## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

Alright it's round two for most of you. Although it was only round one for me this morning. I have been scouting these series of ponds in a hilly pasture and every day for the past several months a flock of a bout 60 have been there feeding swimming and roosting, never leaving. I got permission and this morning clean and simple jumped over the top of the hills and got my 1 man limit. i got there at 6:45 and left at 7:10. Nice and Easy! :lol: Well lets hear some stories from your weekend hunts and even some good pics like last weeks. Good luck to those of you just heading out!


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

Sounds like you shot up a roost... :roll: We made it out for the 1st time and played in the rain a little...Not much flying but the two of us scratched out 4.


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## mshutt (Apr 21, 2007)

Does anybody else NOT mind hunting in the rain(light rains)? This morning i absouletly loved it! The birds were flying pretty well, and with all the cloud cover the sun didnt shine at all so there was NO glare off our FB's! over 300 geese passed over our field, we got our limit of 20 and while we were leaving the geese were still trying to pile into our field!

The mess from the pit blinds though wasnt very fun, and i really do not enjoy taking my winchester apart because i can barely get it back together without anything breaking...

I look forward to tomorrow morning, as its suppose to be a bit colder and still cloudy!


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## greenwinger_13 (Oct 6, 2005)

We got our limit by 710 thursday morning in a field that either was never found or else there are some migrators becuase these birds were not quite with it... fianly cloudy, and breezy but wow what a great time.. the longer we messed around the more geese that came... when there is a truck in the field with a pile of decoys there should not be any geese coming in still within a 100 yards... gotta scout though..


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

pretty cool that u jumped the roost....

didnt get anything. set up on a public lake with about 6 dozen 50 mph winds...saw 5 geese killed 0


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Left my house early afternoon on friday to look for a field. We find a good feed going on after being turned down for the first good field we found because "its been posted since the 60's." We go to nearest farmhouse where a nice young lady points us in the direction of who she believes to be the landowner. We contact the guy she thought owned it, he doesn't. We end up going in a big circle talking to like 5 different people who are believed to own it. End up getting permission and sit to watch field from a distance until honkers leave so we can set up and campout.

Truck/trailer pulls up to us while we are looking at the field and states they have permission and they are going to hunt it :-? We end up joining forces and sit in the rain together all morning, killing 20 birds despite horrendous shooting. One of the birds has two bands, one is a $100 reward band :beer:

The camera guy cut off some of the birds..








My buddy casey with the banded bird


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

This morning was nice and foggy, could hear honks coming but couldn't see them until they were on top of you. There were also thousands of ducks swarming us and landing on us all moring. Lots of fun.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

2 days, 22 birds, not amazing but it was a good time. Lots of short stopping. Could not figure out what the problem was.


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## BrdHunter (May 17, 2005)

Rained the whole time but there were a TON of ducks and the geese finished very good. And I shot my first band!


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## james.hunter (Sep 5, 2007)

Nice pictures. :beer:


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

WingedShooter7 said:


> pretty cool that u jumped the roost....
> 
> didnt get anything. set up on a public lake with about 6 dozen 50 mph winds...saw 5 geese killed 0


Is that a bad thing?  :-? 
All the fields i scouted that had geese either had hunters gotten there before me every time or the landowner wouldnt give me permission because of other hunters.
Therefore i talked to the guy who owned these ponds where these geese have been sitting for months and never leaving and he said he wanted them out. He told me i could jump them but not set decoys. So i jumped it got a few then layed down and some geese flew in without me setting decoys. Opinions on what u all think i should do?!? :-?


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

The geese stayed there that long because they felt comfortable there as nobody was shooting at them. If they get shot at when they go feed in the fields they will still usually return to the roost. If they get shot at in the roost they often leave the area completely. So you might have screwed up hunts for the people who made it to the fields or got permission before you.


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## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

Yup, the roost is the safe place. Shoot them in the fields. They will still return to the roost. This way you can get several hunts out of the same birds instead of shooting at them once and then never seeing them again. Not to mention, you probably pizzed off some other people that had these birds patterned and had their fields lined up and spent time setting up and then waiting for the birds to come but they never did because the roost got busted. I had a hard time getting permission for opener also. But after around 800 miles on my truck and knocking on dang near 30 doors, I finally found a field. If I hadn't found a field I still would not have resorted to busting a roost. If all the fields in the area you are scouting are spoken for, then you need to scout another area. Getting permission should be easier now that opener is out of the way. Heck, the area I hunted had about 12 groups hunting in a 6 mile square area on Saturday. By Sunday morning, we were the only group out.


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Quacker Whacker...I've got your back on this issue. Sounds like from your description that the geese haven't been leaving that pond anyway. We have a shallow pond here that the geese never leave because they don't have to; they've got everything they need right there. If the geese don't leave, then it is impossible to pi$$ someone off because they wouldn't have had a shot at them anyway. If anything you might have helped someone out by spooking the birds to them. If the farmer didn't want them there, you had two choices: Shoot them, make the farmer happy and enjoy it, or let the next "purist" knock on the door and do it in your stead. IMO you did the right thing this time, but be cautious about shooting water that holds geese through the migration "a true roost" ....this is where you need to be careful because the birds depend on that water....this time of the year though, the geese can find open pockets of water anywhere ...they just chose that spot because nobody shot at them. The only thing you may have done wrong was to not invite a buddy or two along to insure a few more of 'em died!!
HM


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

HATCHETMAN said:


> Quacker Whacker...I've got your back on this issue. Sounds like from your description that the geese haven't been leaving that pond anyway. We have a shallow pond here that the geese never leave because they don't have to; they've got everything they need right there. If the geese don't leave, then it is impossible to pi$$ someone off because they wouldn't have had a shot at them anyway. If anything you might have helped someone out by spooking the birds to them. If the farmer didn't want them there, you had two choices: Shoot them, make the farmer happy and enjoy it, or let the next "purist" knock on the door and do it in your stead. IMO you did the right thing this time, but be cautious about shooting water that holds geese through the migration "a true roost" ....this is where you need to be careful because the birds depend on that water....this time of the year though, the geese can find open pockets of water anywhere ...they just chose that spot because nobody shot at them. The only thing you may have done wrong was to not invite a buddy or two along to insure a few more of 'em died!!
> HM


I am not much on shooting the roost but I agree with HM 100%. Sounds like you did what had to be done.

And like I said I don't agree with roost shooting BUT it is legal and so if that is what floats a waterfowler's boat then so be it. I think most learn in time the impacts of shooting a roost and that it is not the way to go. I think the thing that matters most is your out _*water*_fowling, having a great time, and not breaking any laws.


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## Hair Trigger Gun Dogs (May 5, 2007)

Why did you shoot up the roost? That ruins/ hurts the hunt of the field hunters in the area. In fact, that very situation ruined out hunt on the opening day.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Hair Trigger Gun Dogs said:


> Why did you shoot up the roost? That ruins/ hurts the hunt of the field hunters in the area. In fact, that very situation ruined out hunt on the opening day.


Did you read all the posts? It sounds like the birds weren't moving any how. I have seen this in the past. The birds have everything they need in one spot, its hot, its cold, the birds are lazy or conserving energy.

Lots of things ruin hunts. Numerous parties in a field, down winders, sky busters, people in the fence line, bad camo jobs, bad decoys, weather changes, forgetting your gun, forgetting to load your gun, being a crappy shot, crippling birds, getting a vehicle stuck in the field, peekers, bad calling, too much calling, gear left out side the blind, getting caught with your pants down, and yes even roost busting.

Yes it can really pizzz a hunter off when the above happens but each hunt is a new hunt and sometimes the above is a good reality check or reminds you it is hunting and not killing. It can't be perfect every time and if it was most would stop doing it.

Once again I DO NOT SUPPORT roost busting but I can say with the information provided above I would have done the same thing because one I have just made a good relation with a farmer and two someone else will end up doing it. Also we also know when the geese are pizzzing off some farmers they will take matters in their own hands and then you have a bunch of wasted birds.

Just my :2cents: and just my opinion.


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## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

Quacker Wacker, after thinking more about it and reading the posts after mine, I would agree that it sounds like it was ok to sneak and shoot those birds, as long as they were staying on that pasture and never leaving. Just be careful down the road not to shoot roosts because it will ruin everyone's chances at the birds after that day, including your own.


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## Hair Trigger Gun Dogs (May 5, 2007)

I STILL think that decoying birds the right way beats "jump shooting," even if it doesn't hurt anyone else's hunt... and those are MY two cents.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

It's nice to see a friendly discussion about this without people loosing their heads about it. 
:thumb:

By the way Leo, I whole heartedly agree with you and hatchet man.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

wow testy! Hey I am a decoyer and I as well feel that is the most satisfying way to hunt. But this is a free country and people are entitled to their opinions and methods of hunting if it is legal. I would hope we can all agree on that.

BTW does this thread take a long time to load for any one else or just me?


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## Hair Trigger Gun Dogs (May 5, 2007)

Whoops... didn't mean to sound mad. Yes it is a free country... do whatever you want within the hunting regulations. Have a good season.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

I apologize but I just took the couple of words you had in CAPS as yelling or being mad. No harm and I apologize for misunderstanding.

I think a lot of us can look back to our younger days and remember jumping at least once. Especially when sitting in a spread of decoys and the geese land in another field or in the same field. There would always be a volunteer that would sneak out of the dekes and try to push them to the spread with hopes of maybe bagging one as well. Now a days if that happens I find it is best to leave them be. For two reasons. First I have been able to call them off the ground to the spread or second you can just let the birds feel safe, eat their food, and then that afternoon or the next day you can set up on that part of the field or the other field and have success.

While stationed in AK a waterfowler did not have a lot of decoy hunting opportunities untill the end of Sep when the birds started to migrate. If you wanted to duck hunt you pretty much had to jump them or float the screams. I will admit that at times I found this enjoyable because I would sneak to the edge where the birds where and Bella and I would just sit and watch them. A lot of times I would not shoot because the show was so enjoyable. Ducks are hilarious. But when I had the urge to eat duck most times it was jump them or go to the chinese restaurant. The birds had everything they needed on their body of water and no real reason to fly. Unfortunetly AK is not blessed with the great fields that NODAK is (but there are some).


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

HATCHETMAN said:


> Quacker Whacker...I've got your back on this issue. Sounds like from your description that the geese haven't been leaving that pond anyway. We have a shallow pond here that the geese never leave because they don't have to; they've got everything they need right there. If the geese don't leave, then it is impossible to pi$$ someone off because they wouldn't have had a shot at them anyway. If anything you might have helped someone out by spooking the birds to them. If the farmer didn't want them there, you had two choices: Shoot them, make the farmer happy and enjoy it, or let the next "purist" knock on the door and do it in your stead. IMO you did the right thing this time, but be cautious about shooting water that holds geese through the migration "a true roost" ....this is where you need to be careful because the birds depend on that water....this time of the year though, the geese can find open pockets of water anywhere ...they just chose that spot because nobody shot at them. The only thing you may have done wrong was to not invite a buddy or two along to insure a few more of 'em died!!
> HM


Thank You! Thats exactly my point. They never leave the ponds. The stay there to roost to feed and swim they have everything there they need. Nobody else hunts them there or a around there and the landowner said that he kinda wants them out of there. Besides they come back everyday even tho i shot them out. Yea i have a few fields where geese fly by but not enough and people always set up right in the next field or next to me if its public and thats not that fun. Well Put :beer:


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

Hair Trigger Gun Dogs said:


> I STILL think that decoying birds the right way beats "jump shooting," even if it doesn't hurt anyone else's hunt... and those are MY two cents.


I also agree with you that decoy hunting is much more fun but like i said in my area theres a lot of hunters and SOME farmers that dont want hunters because of cattle and other reasons. Yes i have spots where i decoy but these geese just keep coming back the exact same flock wit habout the same numbers.


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## Commando (Jan 13, 2006)

It sounds like you played ball about the only way you could given the situation. I certainly wouldn't have left those birds for someone else to stumble across and would probably have done the same thing you did. About the only other thought that I had was that maybe you could have slowly walked up to the birds and spooked them off the pond and then shot the smaller groups as they came back. This way you might be able to get a couple more hunts out of that place.

Congrats on a successful hunt. It sounds like you had fun. :beer:


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

O i am not worried about a couple more hunts because them geese will stay there until i shoot all of them. Tonight went back and looked and sure enough like i said the same flock came back maybe a few more or less...either or they dont want to leave.


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## Sportin' Woodies (Jun 26, 2006)

sometimes you just gotta go kill em :strapped: :idiot: :dead: :bop: :sniper: dd: dd: dd:


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

:thumb: Get 'em boy!!


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## CDK (Aug 1, 2005)

QW I think you did the right thing, But I've hunted SD a number of times and if you can't find a good feild to hunt geese in your not looking very hard. You should try to get permission in MN for early goose then you know what tough is. I asked permission on 20+ feilds before I landed one.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

something smells fishy here.......u say the birds aren't leaving, so the farmer wants them out of there, yet he told you that you can't decoy the birds????? If the farmer knows what decoying birds means, wouldn't he know that the birds would have to leave in order for you to do that?? And i would assume that the birds would have to fly at some point or not, or am i wrong here?????


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Fishy Smishy Bottom line is THIS. Whether you guys like it or not he did nothing that violated any laws. I am a field hunter, I wish people did not shoot roosts, I will try to educate people to not do it. HOWEVER who the heck are you to judge? The guy is WATERfowl hunting. He had a great time. Who are you to make him feel like crap for doing it. Just because you don't like it don't be a jerk to the guy. People jump roosts all time. I don't like it but you know what??? Life will go on!


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

> Fishy Smishy Bottom line is THIS. Whether you guys like it or not he did nothing that violated any laws. I am a field hunter, I wish people did not shoot roosts, I will try to educate people to not do it. HOWEVER who the heck are you to judge? The guy is WATERfowl hunting. He had a great time. Who are you to make him feel like crap for doing it. Just because you don't like it don't be a jerk to the guy. People jump roosts all time. I don't like it but you know what??? Life will go on!


AGREED!!! EDUCATE DON"T HATE......


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Nothing fishy at all....regardless of what anybody thinks, there are indeed many small populations of geese that don't have to move more than 10 feet in any direction in the proper pond. I have geese on 4 such ponds since may (season hasn't opened yet here in CO). They don't have to leave until the pond freezes over. Some people just don't like geese....and the farmer is correct for wanting them gone...if they get established on a little pond like that and never get shot at...THEY WILL ALWAYS COME BACK. It's a simple clean and cut case of the farmer not wanting geese on his property, and an eager young man wanting to cure his problem. Sounds like the farmer wants the geese DEAD, and he knows that can be accomplished without decoys. The world is a funny place...what you think is a great hunting spot, and a great wildlife area a farmer may see as a haven for flying rats. Keep beatin' on 'em Quacker!!


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

averyghg said:


> something smells fishy here.......u say the birds aren't leaving, so the farmer wants them out of there, yet he told you that you can't decoy the birds????? If the farmer knows what decoying birds means, wouldn't he know that the birds would have to leave in order for you to do that?? And i would assume that the birds would have to fly at some point or not, or am i wrong here?????


He wont let me decoy because say i scare them out and then he doesnt want me decoying any back and he doesnt want me decoying any other flocks in. I really dont know thats my guess i am going strictly by his word.


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

This isnt the point of the thread we arent hear to discuss about me i just thought i would post that but i think we should get back on the subject of great 2nd weekend hunts and pics


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

USAlx50,

Somehow I did not see your pictures. Good job!! I love the one with the live ducks going up the hill!


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Leo those aren't real. They are his stuffed deeks!!! :lol:


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## Goosepride (Sep 29, 2003)

In all my years of waterfowling, the one thing I have always done is been legal. I've jumped my share of geese, shot roosts, etc. I've always been wthin the law.

Now that I'm older, I won't do those things because I know what can happen.

However, if I didn't own decoys, want to spend the money to scout, buy dekes, blind, and everything else I use now, I would probably still do what I did years ago, because it's legal and I love to be around waterfowl.

I agree 100% with Leo - Nowadays I'm strictly a field hunter and would never jump a roost...but I'm certainly not going to judge someone who does jump a roost or hunt over water. Like Mav said, it's best to EDUCATE and if the guys doesn't want to change his ways, all the power to him.

If it's legal, we can't really judge. Who's to say our way of field hunting is better? It's really only more convenient because we know for the most part, our birds will be back again.

Again, I'm not for roost hunting but if a guys want to do it, educate him and leave him alone.


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