Very Large Honkers?
 

Is it just me, my bi-focals, or are there a new/bigger species of geese out there.

I just saw a pair that were almost swan size. Has any one else seen anything like this? Maybe I should just lay off these political debates.

I don't know if it's a new species,but there are some really big ones out there.

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Im not positive if it works this way but I would guess the birds we see return first are the big nothern Canadas that migrate south late in the year.

There are some big birds out there Im gonna make it a habit to pack my digital fish scale out this year as I know we had a few last year getting close to the 15lb mark.

Me thinks thou hath consumed too much mead!


Kidding.

I wonder if it's an optical illusion brought on by not seeing any waterfowl for several months. I know they look bigger the first week or two, but at least for me, they don't look so big once the Swans arrive.

With the Alberta goose population growing over 2000% the past 20 years, we are seeing a lot more geese. Which also means a lot more bigger geese.

Here is one I got last October. Just to put things in perspective I am 6' 250lbs.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...3bigcanada.jpg

There is around 7 different subspecies that fall into the Lesser and Greater species groups. Some are REALLY BIG, scary big. Most are average

Yes the Big Honkies come up first and head down last.

Oh geeze Dan there you go posting photoshopped pictures again:sign0068:.

Jk but you seriously just made the waterfowl opener seem that much further away......next your probably gonna post a pile of specks too. Ahhh I can't wait!!!

i laugh when guys tell me they kill 12 pounders on a regular basis.....

Just for interest sake the biggest Canada Goose that was entered for the 2010 season in Alberta was 14lbs 7oz.

Of course I will :D

In the late season, I coud see this possibly happening. The area and time of year that me and you kill birds in I would say 10-10.5lbs is pretty common. Of course lessars being 6.5-7.5lbs.

geese
 

X2!!! The best stories are when guys say they were all 12, and a few were easy 15, and a couple had to be 20!!!....too funny. (they were either all white or you shot a crane:sign0161:) Then they go on to say they had to walk in, carried their 100 pound limit out I guess :) ? Truth is most will never shoot a 15 pounder, if you don't believe me take the digital fish scale out this season. 4 1/2 months to go:) Enjoy!

Lol yeah just last year there were a few fields that we needed to walk into. I brought some extra strong contractor garbage bags ...... Dang carrying out 5 or 6 average honkers at a time was hard the weight sure adds up when you also have a bag of real geese over your shoulder.

Dang thats a big bird Rocky.

Agreed. There is another forum on the internet where an argument broke out over the size of geese... As many people were claiming to regularily kill geese up to 20 lbs, a high end decoy manufacturer put a dozen of his decoys on the line for ayone who could send him a 20lb Canada goose. Every subsequent year he would drop the contest by a pound... I think it got down to 14 to 15lbs with no one being able to provide him a bird before the contest fizzled out.
I'm not saying a giant bird doesn't exist, but they are extremely rare and most big goose tales are exagerated. I think the biggest issue is that people assume that an average goose weighs 12 or so pounds, so when you shoot a large one people figure it to be 15 lbs or so. But if you use an accurate scale you'll see that the average bird is much smaller and that a large bird weighs much less than expected.

WildCanuck

Judging geese is almost like judging bears. If you haven't done a lot of it it can be tough. I always get a kick out of stories I hear from my hunters about limits of 18 pounders.
I have been hunting Canadas for 20 yrs and a guiding goose hunts for 10years from Alberta down to the Dakotas. Just to throw some numbers out there, I have seen approx 40,000 Canada geese harvested and have seen 1 @17lbs, 2@16lbs, none at 15 and maybe 50 @14 pounds. Bottom line is the big ones are pretty rare.

You can't realize how big 18-20 pounds is until you actually hold a 20pound swan by its neck, and then imaginne a Canada goose getting that big.
I will agree with most of the guys on here. Most of our larger Canadas in Alberta are in the 8-12 range. I carry a digital fish scale in the field to prove this to my hunters. Try it this fall, you'll be amazed at how much lighter they are than you think they are.

WOW Rocky!
 

That is a big goose. I've never shot one that big but I think I saw 2 yesterday. Any news from Sask?

I have shot a pile of geese and haven't managed to do it either.

Here are the winning entries for Alberta in the past few years.
2010 14lbs 7oz
2009 15lbs 5oz
2008 14lbs 11oz
2007 15lbs 3oz
2006 14lbs 7oz
2005 16lbs 8oz
2004 14lbs 3oz
2003 18lbs 9oz
2002 15lbs 3oz