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Didn't think we shot geese like this


Rob85
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Hi guys I've never had an opportunity to shoot geese and when looking up videos on YouTube I came across this.

Is this a normal way to shoot geese? I spotted near the start what in my opinion is a complete pleb shooting one on the deck.

Is this normal for shooting geese?

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Back in the 70s we did an annual trip to Scotland and for a bottle of amber you could get some superb goose decoying on farms. Then Professional guides moved in and bought up all the likely farms and the price went through the roof.  Not been back since.  We had some good labs so winged birds could be recovered very quickly but if you don't have a dog then to finish a winged goose on the deck in my view is acceptable.

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I have certainly shot geese like that. The DIFFERENCE being, there were only 2 of us and after certainly no more than 6 birds, we got out and let the rest come in, in peace.  Of course this is an advert for a commercial set up and one hopes it is several films joined into one  "For the benefit of the tape ".

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1 minute ago, Westley said:

I have certainly shot geese like that. The DIFFERENCE being, there were only 2 of us and after certainly no more than 6 birds, we got out and let the rest come in, in peace.  Of course this is an advert for a commercial set up and one hopes it is several films joined into one  "For the benefit of the tape ".

Yes, we also limited ourselves but the farmers back then just wanted them off their crops. On our first visit just west of Blairgowrie, we bought a round of drinks for the whole bar in the local and had shooting for a week within minutes AND one farmer got his missus out of bed to give us supper at 2am in the morning when we left the bar. She never blinked and made us very welcome.  Happy days.

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I suppose these guides take out large groups to maximise the profits regardless of how good the individuals are. Maybe I just find it a bit uncouth with the anti aircraft fire going up from 4 or 5 semi auto guns lined up and birds practically hovering in front of them. 

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Not my type of shooting but each to there own....no one knows who shot what, its a pure money making exercise....they were virtually landing amongst the decoys...odd ones did...always thought these folk wouldn't be so handy and shooting bags of geese if they had to carry them for a mile or so off the marsh...not having a go but as I say each to their own...atb...misser

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I have decoyed pinks in Norfolk a few times. I have also flighted them inland. The kind of shooting in this video doesn't really interest me. I would want only a couple of guns shooting. This type of shooting appeals more to people who are too old or lazy to shoot them on the foreshore.

The guns in the video also did a very poor job of killing those geese.

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I’m not a big geese shot but have taken a couple when out after ducks on inland loughs and coastal foreshore That kind of shooting I wouldn’t entertain If you want my advice the money you’d spend on couple days shooting geese on fields you’d be better joining a wildfowling club for a season and go out with a experience gun if your after geese Better shooting experience for You 

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Like many other wildfowlers on the forum, I have shot my fair share of geese and up to now have never shot one over decoys , nothing wrong with shooting geese over decoys but with all the modern calls and life like decoys they are not one of the hardest birds to be drawn into decoys .

I once watched a chap decoying geese with some type of sock decoy on a magnet , the magnet was placed in the centre of a spread of decoys that must have had a speed control wired to it , as it came round at a slow speed the wings on the decoys was flapping as if it landing amongst the decoys , this was that realistic you would honestly think it was a couple of geese dropping into a flock to feed .

We are lucky that we have got big numbers of geese during the Winter months and it don't take long to find where they are feeding on the marshes , I know that the wildfowling clubs have got restrictions on the amount shot by members shooting on club marshes , the last club I was in was four a day and no more than six in a week , also on a lot of the land on club marshes that grow crops there is a ban on decoying geese .

If you are on private marshes then you can shoot as many as you are happy with , one bloke who I was talking to said he got nine one morning and up to the time I was having a yarn he recon he had shot getting on for 60 , what he do with that amount god above know , those numbers don't interest me one bit and I am more than happy shooting the few I get knowing that each one will be going to a good home .

 

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This guy in the video operates out of Aberdeenshire where there are loads of goose guides and loads of geese. We get tens of thousands of pinkfooted geese up where we are between the loch of Strathbeg, Dunecht and the Montrose basin. He is a bit different to other guides in that he seems to operate a 'harvest package' where you can shoot, clean and process your own animals with him which I think is pretty good, especially for newcomers.

When they land on the stubble its not so much of an issue but when you have a couple of thousand of them land on a grass field, or winter sowing, eating, defecating on and flattening the grass that you are wanting to keep for your sheep or successful crop, they get to be a nuisance. Many farmers welcome the guides and the cash they bring, some loathe them. One farmer said to me he just wishes they never landed on his fields at all because of the amount of call-ins he gets from guides.

Yes the guides are there to make a profit. More guns, more money. Some say they impose a limit per gun per flight but if you have guys out shooting for a week and they have a couple of slow flights, they are going to get their moneys worth some way or another. Some are OK, some are devious individuals and they are always competing for the others ground. Honestly this is a part of the shooting industry that has its role but leaves a sour taste, especially if they have no interest in taking them home. We still can't sell the geese on the mainland. These are the same guys that guide on the pigeons and profess to do the deer management but really shoot the trophy bucks with clients for the profit. This is my experience anyway having had a few of them come on to 'share' ground I have access to.

Believe me, they are not that easy to decoy up here when they have been shot at all over the countryside for 4 months. These guides are putting out over 100 decoys sometimes which certainly improves your chances.

If you are using the birds I don't see an issue with taking a number of them.

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Is it really any different from decoying pigeons?

I shoot both geese and pigeons, and I always give myself the biggest pat on the back for setting a pattern that fools the geese or the pigeons to dropping into my pattern!

Nothing worse than trying to work out after all your hard work why they turn away as they get closer!

Edited by Perazzishot
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I'd be hypocritical to say I've never shot geese inland over decoys but I haven't done it in years and it's not really something I find challenging anymore.

WE have such a short season over here and it was sometimes the only way of bagging a goose or two. I've never shot more than 4 geese in one flight by choice.

It was hard graft and a long carry with decoys ect..some of which where heavy homemade ply silhouettes I made myself.

I usually shot by myself or on occasion a friend or two. If geese where using the field then it was usually successful. I recall one morning 3 of us were in a field and 3 other shooters who were friends of one of the other guys showed up in the field and lined up along the hedge near us and but decoys out. I went off my head and challenged them but it turned out the other guy was on the phone to them and invited them to come into the field. I packed my stuff up and left as I wouldn't be seen in such a group in one field.

I'm a shore shooter first and foremost and could think of nothing worse than being lined up with a group of shooters and being told when to shoot.

I noticed on youtube and dvds all the American lingo ''Take em'' and Yahooing has crept into the inland shooters sport. Really!🙄 

It certainly wouldn't be my cup of tea that style of shooting.

But I suppose a lot of shooters these guides take out are not what would be termed Wildfowlers and possibly most don't have many chances of shooting a goose hence the reason for hiring a guide in the first place. So maybe it is unfair to knock the actual shooters.

 

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I’ve decoyed geese and flight lined geese inland on my own land. Just like pigeon shooting it is not as easy as throwing out decoys in any old field and walking away with a huge bag. There is considerable field craft: countless recces to find the geese are, judgement of flight paths and wind, laying the decoys, hide building, calling, choosing when to shoot, and finally the shot. 
 

Just like guided stalking or driven shooting, you can pay professionals to take care of the field craft and just concentrate on pulling the trigger if that’s your thing - it’s a similar level of skill and probably lower shot conversion than either of them at times! 
 

Geese are truly wild, their numbers are very high and growing, they do considerable damage. It’s probably the one quarry species that justifies large bags. We each have our own sensibilities, I have put my gun away on driven days when tame ducks are thrown off a pond over the guns, but don’t let this edited video conceal the huge effort and slim days that sit behind each successful flight. 

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23 geese Flightlined for 40 gamebore 3” 1s. Admittedly some long retrieves. I built the hide the night before after watching them leave, do not think I will ever be more on the money. Passed over my head 30-45 yards up in huge waves. Farmer wanted them clearing, barely put a dent in the numbers but they certainly moved on after that. 

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Canadas and Greylags 

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