Goose hunting

[Bagel]

I am new to hunting. Last season, I tried a lot to hunt Canada goose but no success. I want to hunt public land. Like DUC sites or ACA sites. I have spent long hours searching online but no info.

As I said, I am new to hunting and do not have decoys. I bought a some homemade decoys from Kijiji and i think they are ok. I do not know where to go.

I live in Calgary and I do not want to drive 6 to 8 hours.

Any help is appreciated

[Chief16]

http://www.albertadiscoverguide.com/search.cfm

If you want to hunt DU sites or ACA land, this is the best place to start. For geese, private farm land often is the best. Go drive around the area surrounding Calgary and talk to landowners. Most are very welcoming to hunters.

[Grousegetter]

I'm hunting out of Edmonton but I hunt about an hour out of the city and have had good success with getting permission for waterfowl hunting. Just make sure to be polite and respect for to the landowners and if you don't get permission, find another field and keep asking. Geese love peas but will be in wheat + barley fields. You will definitely be better off on private land though.

[wwbirds]

Are located by driving around looking for feeding geese determining who the landowner is and seeking permission. some one saying they saw geese feeding near "xyz" yesterday or last week will do you no good because they often change fields daily or every few days.
No easy way except getting out to scout and driving miles. Even after you find them and secure permission it is very advisable to know exactly where they feed in a specific field and watch them feed until dark (putting them to bed) the night before you intend to shoot. Many a shoot has been disappointing because someone else shot the field you were scouting, something spooked the geese or they just left for a better location between the scouting and shoot date.
Almost any reasonable decoy will work if you are set up on the X they have been feeding on and want to return the day you are there!

[Joezam18]

Originally Posted by Chief16

http://www.albertadiscoverguide.com/search.cfm

If you want to hunt DU sites or ACA land, this is the best place to start. For geese, private farm land often is the best. Go drive around the area surrounding Calgary and talk to landowners. Most are very welcoming to hunters.

Thanks for sharing this! I have never seen or heard of this site before. If I find a conservation site on this map that allows hunting, can I just go there and hunt? Or is there still someone who I need to get permission from?

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by Joezam18

Thanks for sharing this! I have never seen or heard of this site before. If I find a conservation site on this map that allows hunting, can I just go there and hunt? Or is there still someone who I need to get permission from?

It depends on the site, some of them have contact information specifically listed about who to contact.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by wwbirds

Are located by driving around looking for feeding geese determining who the landowner is and seeking permission. some one saying they saw geese feeding near "xyz" yesterday or last week will do you no good because they often change fields daily or every few days.
No easy way except getting out to scout and driving miles. Even after you find them and secure permission it is very advisable to know exactly where they feed in a specific field and watch them feed until dark (putting them to bed) the night before you intend to shoot. Many a shoot has been disappointing because someone else shot the field you were scouting, something spooked the geese or they just left for a better location between the scouting and shoot date.
Almost any reasonable decoy will work if you are set up on the X they have been feeding on and want to return the day you are there!

And that is how to be successful at killing geese, rather than just hunting them. If you do the scouting, get the permission, set up where the geese are feeding, set up your decoys in a realistic manner, are well hidden, and don't move as the geese come in, your odds of success are good. I spend an average of 6-8 hours of scouting for each hunt, and over the past two years, we have killed geese on every hunt.

[wwbirds]

I also don't spend much time hunting geese during warm spells like we are currently experiencing around Calgary as the geese do not have to feed for food energy to keep warm. Cold weather forces them to be a little more predictable as they have to feed every day twice and once they find a food source are more likely to keep coming back. I like snow on the ground. Right now they are feeding casually pretty much where ever they want as there is food pretty much everywhere.
In addition to the blind and not moving information elk11 provided you also must be very competent on judging distance or allow someone with more experience to call the "shoot". We have had guys invited to hunt with 12 gauge shotguns and 3.5 inch magnum shells that thought they could bring down 100 yard geese. Opening up on a flock out of range ruins the chance for everyone on the shoot so if you can't actually tell how far 40 or 50 yards (max) is and open up it is pretty much guaranteed you will never shoot with the same group again. Consider knowing all "etiquette" first and if not sure ask. Experienced goose hunters spend hours locating shoots and quite often invite new shooters to participate (join goosebusters social group on this site) but if you make a rookie mistake it ruins your chances of further invites.

[32-40win]

Most DU sites are on private lands. They will have an access sign explaining access on the bulk of them. Some need landowner permission to be accessed as they are cooperative sites with the landowner, or may require crossing private property to get to them. Property map will usually show if it is a Co-op or DU property, a landowner name and a DU site on the same quarter generally indicates a Co-op. Nothing says the birds will use them outside of spring, either, most will hold fall birds, but, some are dry in fall, some are just nesting sites. The birds have their preferences, as to how close they are to a preferred feed of the day, and some DU sites are not on their night roost or day roost list. And there are sometimes better places that are more readily accessible, but, just need to have you check in when you are there. When you get weeks like last wk, you likely don't want to have you breaking ice to put out dekes or your dog busting ice to get to downed birds, either.

[Bagel]

Thanks guys for all the info. I think goose hunting needs to be postponed till next season. I am not even sure where to start. someone told me to check Town of Hanna. I went there 3 times. lots of geese but all are sitting in the water bodies that are too big (i.e out of reach). so each round trip i put 450 km>>> total of almost 1500 km >>> nothing to show for.

another hunter told me to go east but not sure how far east i.e Brooks, Taber, Medicine Hat.

any idea about east

[tikka250]

Originally Posted by Bagel

Thanks guys for all the info. I think goose hunting needs to be postponed till next season. I am not even sure where to start. someone told me to check Town of Hanna. I went there 3 times. lots of geese but all are sitting in the water bodies that are too big (i.e out of reach). so each round trip i put 450 km>>> total of almost 1500 km >>> nothing to show for.

another hunter told me to go east but not sure how far east i.e Brooks, Taber, Medicine Hat.

any idea about east

If the birds are on the water when you see em that usually means they are on the roost. In the mornings and evenings they will leave the roost and go to a field to feed then back for mid day or overnight.
So where you were was likely a good spot just wrong time of day. I usually start scouting at dawn and stop after about 3 to4 hours then in afternoons about 3 hours before dark until dark.
Hope that helps

[elkhunter11]

At this time of year, I head out scouting, at about 7:30am, and around 10am, I head home. I head out again at around 5:30pm, and head home around 7pm. I see many birds in the field, but I also see some in the air, and follow them to the field. I do my scouting within 30 minutes of home, or it would take even more time and fuel. And by scouting the same area all the time, I get to know the landowners in that area much better, which makes obtaining permission much easier. There are no shortcuts to goose hunting, the scouting is the most important part of the hunt, if you want to be successful. It doesn't matter how much gear you have, or how you set up, if no geese come to your field.