Getting into waterfowl.

[nube]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

Good advice. To me hunting water is the reason I’d want to get into waterfowl. How can one still hunt water and not “wreck it” for everyone else?

You have roost ponds and day roost ponds. Meaning after birds feed they go to a favorite day roost for the day then go feed the evening and then go back to big water or roost water.
Never shoot their main night roost water. This is usually where the majority congregate and head to the fields in the morning. If you hunt them they will vacate the area and stop roosting there.

If you shoot the fields instead they will stay there for a long time till they migrate out and you can hit them in multiple fields.

Plus if you shoot the roost pond the geese will not go to their fields they have been feeding in and if other hunters have been waiting to hunt them there they will be out of luck now

Day roost ponds are fine tho. You can hunt them and they will usually head back to the main roost water or find another day roost location

[nube]

Originally Posted by Skoaltender

Getting more into he actual hunt, what do you feel is more important. Having a good decoy spread or a more experienced caller? Are there any tips for goose field spreads? As in formations and stuff like that? I have 3 dozen or so decoys and was planning to just set up a “V”. With me sitting behind the point.

With 3 dozen you don't have enough to form any formation to be honest. Make a pile and space them out and hide where you can if you can

[bobalong]

Originally Posted by Skoaltender

Getting more into he actual hunt, what do you feel is more important. Having a good decoy spread or a more experienced caller? Are there any tips for goose field spreads? As in formations and stuff like that? I have 3 dozen or so decoys and was planning to just set up a “V”. With me sitting behind the point.

I would say a good spread, but calling/flagging (I do both) will sometime bring a flock from quite a ways that appeared to be flying right by.
I have used V, J but the last couple of years I have also been using a couple of parallel lines and setting the blind on the side.

When the geese are looking to land if they are not looking at your blind they seem to finish much better. If you let the birds get right beside the (willow) blind you will often get at least one shot sometime 2 before the birds flair. Straight on the birds almost always flair before you get a shot especially in the layout blinds.

The wind is usually a big factor for when I set up for a side shoot, if the wind is blowing from the top of a hill down the side and it is a long hill setting up just below the top of the hill works really well.
Works on the flat as well.

[32-40win]

Maybe I'm lucky, but, most of the good roosts in my area, are no hunting lands or no cover around them to set up in, one is a refuge The few huntable ponds they do night roost on, will be empty for a week or more if someone shoots them. I've learned over time, to spot in the evening, to spot from the west and the north of the zone, to keep the sun at my back as much as possible. Nothing as aggravating as being in the wrong end of the zone and spotting them going out, and losing them in the sun because you still haven't caught up to them. I always have a spotting scope with a window mount as well. Sometimes they don't come to the area you think they will, then you have to get to high ground and start scanning. Sometimes it depends on the light, they are just far enough out that binos or a scope is needed to see them in that light, even as close as a couple of miles.

[Top of the Foodchain]

Flagging in my experience should be used to get their attention at a distance, put the flag away as they get close. We always give the birds what they want, by that I mean set your decoys out to mimic what you see the night before when scouting. Similar amount of decoys and similar set up. Calling definitely works but not always necessary. If using ground blinds stubble them until you think it’s good enough then stubble some more. Keep your head down, no peeking and kill when their feet are down and they are in your face. Ha. Nothing better than a good field shoot.
All this talk is starting to get me pumped for the season.

[Skoaltender]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post all this valuable information. Not growing up around hunting and having to pick it up as an adult can be a tough task but there is definitely lots of wisdom and character on this forum which makes asking questions easier.

[Pixel Shooter]

Skoal what part of the province u in? If your not too far happy to invite you out to kill a bird or two lol. Always enjoy taking a few newbies out. Careful it’s addictive lol

[ganderblaster]

Shooting roosts on the prairies is like killing the hen that lays the golden eggs.

[sns2]

It's getting tiring seeing guys spoil good threads by puffing out their feathers. Next one gets a timeout. Depending on your track record possibly a lengthy one. Consider yourselves warned.

[drake]

Keep in mind that there are different types of “roosts”. I l have hunted lots of big roosts like Hay Lake, Bittern Lake, Big Lake, ....yeah I blow some birds out but more often then not they just pick up and move to a differnt spot on the water. It’s the smaller, typically 20-60 acre roost sloughs that nube and the gang are referring too. These types of sloughs don’t typically have much cover around the edges, and when you show up in the morning the birds are usually sitting on the water.....the way these hunts go is like this....show up, birds lift and leave the water, you realize there is no cover to hide, so you stand 20 yds back from the waters edge, the mud is to thick so you don’t even put out decoys, you sit around until 930 having only shot at a couple of teal that swam past you, when the birds return from the field; they land in the middle of the slough 100yda past killing distance, all your hard effort amounts to nothing more than an armed bird watching adventure. I have been there and done that...trust me.

Fast track 20 years and I find these “roost” sloughs, then follow the birds to their feed fields and potholes......trust me, these targets hunts aren’t as eye catching as 2000 speckbellies on a roost slough, but the rewards are 100x better.

I don’t care about “ruining” other people’s hunts, but I do care about maximizing MY time and success in the field

[drake]

Oh...last thing...I still get caught out once and a while. A couple of years ago I spotted what I thought was a slam dunk pot hole shoot....thousands of mallards puddling on “small” water. I couldn’t see the slough from the road and didn’t want to sneak in to look because I didn’t want to disrupt the birds. I was running short on time so I got permission and showed up in the morning only to realize the water was a night roost and 5x the size I thought it was going to be. I blew the birds off and set up anyways....still shot 5 limits of ducks.l, but it took 5 hours of choosing shots that were close enough that I didn’t have swim to pick up the ducks....Potholes and fields are sooooooooooo much better

[TROLLER]

All the years I guided waterfowl hunts it was considered very taboo to ever shoot over a roost.

Scouting an area will always turn up shallow ponds and puddles that the mallards prefer. Low area's at a pivot always create shallow ponds that the ducks migrate to. Roosting area's are just that, a place of safety for the birds to rest and a great place for the hunter to watch to see where the birds are going to feed.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

All the years I guided waterfowl hunts it was considered very taboo to ever shoot over a roost.

Scouting an area will always turn up shallow ponds and puddles that the mallards prefer. Low area's at a pivot always create shallow ponds that the ducks migrate to. Roosting area's are just that, a place of safety for the birds to rest and a great place for the hunter to watch to see where the birds are going to feed.

Many people automatically associate water with shooting a roost and blowing birds out if an area .
It's not always the case .
On big lakes and Rivers it is not an issue
Cat

[32-40win]

True enough there Cat. In our area they just move to the next or bigger pond/slough where there are other birds usually. Places like Crawling Valley, they just move around on the lake. Lots of bigger ponds around Brooks and what not, they just go to another spot on that pond.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by 32-40win

True enough there Cat. In our area they just move to the next or bigger pond/slough where there are other birds usually. Places like Crawling Valley, they just move around on the lake. Lots of bigger ponds around Brooks and what not, they just go to another spot on that pond.

Back when o was young where I lived if you were not hunting geese out of a sneak box , grassed up canoe or permanent water blind you were not hunting geese!
Cat

[ESOXangler]

Originally Posted by nube

You have roost ponds and day roost ponds. Meaning after birds feed they go to a favorite day roost for the day then go feed the evening and then go back to big water or roost water.
Never shoot their main night roost water. This is usually where the majority congregate and head to the fields in the morning. If you hunt them they will vacate the area and stop roosting there.

If you shoot the fields instead they will stay there for a long time till they migrate out and you can hit them in multiple fields.

Plus if you shoot the roost pond the geese will not go to their fields they have been feeding in and if other hunters have been waiting to hunt them there they will be out of luck now

Day roost ponds are fine tho. You can hunt them and they will usually head back to the main roost water or find another day roost location

Thanks

[ghostguy6]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

Skoal what part of the province u in? If your not too far happy to invite you out to kill a bird or two lol. Always enjoy taking a few newbies out. Careful it’s addictive lol

If he doesn't take you up on it can I have his spot? I'm still a newbie aren't I? I promise the Mossberg wont be coming this time.