10 hunters, 20 seconds, 90 geese

[paragon]

No less than five times did Drew Burton interrupt his story of an amazing Delta goose hunt last Sunday at Isola to say, "the funny thing about it was. ..."

Apparently, the 10 hunters involved had a lot of fun for about 20 seconds that produced 90 geese.

"The funny thing about it was that it didn't last long, at least the hunting part didn't," Burton said.

"We were standing around shooting the breeze and we could hear those darn geese out there in that rice field, which is only a couple hundred yards behind the camp."

Duck hunters, especially those who leave crops as duck food, hate geese. A small gaggle can eat a lot of duck food. About 10,000 of them, the estimate in the 35-acre field, can wipe out an entire field.

"I was thinking about them eating my duck food and it ate at me," Burton said.

"The funny thing about it was, Drew and I and Walt Fagan had shot 30 of them the day before. They came back and brought a few thousand more."

The guides, their clients and a few friends decided to make another hunt. That would involve a stalk through one gumbo-mud-filled rice field to reach a 5-foot levee on the other side to another rice field and the geese.

"Took a long time, and a lot of work and the funny thing about it was, the geese had this one sentinel goose in the first rice field and we jumped him," Burton said. "He flew over the levee and all 10,000 of the geese took off.

"The funny thing about it was that Drew Slater got mad, stood up, kicked the ground and threw his hat down. He thought it was over."

But Burton noticed something.

"The geese weren't leaving, they were circling wanting to land so I got everybody to kneel and wait and they came back," he said. "They lit, and we started making our way to the levee again.

"When we got there, we needed a few seconds to get our breath - that mud's tough. Then we spaced out about 10 feet apart and Drew and I counted 1-2-3 and everybody raced up the levee."

The geese rose, guns roared and geese started falling from the sky.

"We each shot our three shells and then some of us reloaded and shot some more," Burton said. "Then it got quiet and we started hearing the thud of geese falling into the mud with a thud. It was loud.

"And the funny thing about it was that we thought it was over, but it wasn't. We were all using 12-gauge, 3 1/2-inch shells with BBs and you don't just shoot a goose and kill it."

They soon noticed many of the 90 geese they'd shot were running off.

"I guess the funniest thing about it was the 10 of us chasing those geese around in the mud," Burton said. "There was actually more shooting then, but we got them all. We didn't lose a single one."

Burton couldn't resist one more.

"And the funny thing about it was that the whole time we're chasing those geese and shooting and all, the rest of those geese were circling, wanting to come back into that same field," he said.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article...8/1100334/1127

[Ben Segrest]

weak

[89breaker]

Let m get this straight....

These "hunters" are mad because an animal besides a duck is going after the food they put down to bait ducks so they could shoot them?


Then people wonder why I don't like hunting if THAT is what you call it.



I will say I respect those that wear normal clothing, don't bait, stalk, and kill their prey using traditional firearms or even better a bow & arrow.


But yea, those guys are weak.

[paragon]

let's see who else doesn't understand.

[Rockit]

Explain then.....

[paragon]

Originally Posted by Rockit

Explain then.....

see if someone more knowledgeable can.

I had a similar reaction when I saw the article. Just goes to show that context, in everything, especially in hunting means everything.

[89breaker]

What this supposed to be a lighthearted piece?

Hell, killing something isn't hard.....especially when the sky is full of birds trying to get at bird bait.

What am I missing?

[InDaRed2]

Originally Posted by Rockit

Explain then.....

These are snow geese. Pretty much rats of the sky. Most states have no limits and you can use as many shells as your gun can hold and many use extension tubes to hold lots o' shells.

[WillyPete]

I'm sure it would have been funny had we been there.

But we weren't.

[4runner]

ever see what they can do to a wheat field?
and I am not talking about duck bait here...they can ruin it and you will lose your crop.

killed a many of them, but since pickign them up would be illegal, we leave for the yotes and it is called varmint control...

[89breaker]

Originally Posted by InDaRed2

These are snow geese. Pretty much rats of the sky. Most states have no limits and you can use as many shells as your gun can hold and many use extension tubes to hold lots o' shells.

So is this news article kinda like in the old south when you would turn the lights off for a few minutes and then turn them back on and try to kill as many crickets on the floor as possible?

[TEX]

We had an old-timer at our church when I was a kid. He told a story of when he was about 12 (probably around 1912) and he & his brother crept up over a pond dam to see the water COVERED in geese. They both popped up and unloaded with their shotguns killing close to 30 of them. They were SO proud to bring them home until Mom sent them out back to start plucking.

[Halogrinder]

saiga. with drums.

[89breaker]

Try this.

Two of each.....


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[Aces'n'8s]

Originally Posted by 89breaker

What this supposed to be a lighthearted piece?

Hell, killing something isn't hard.....especially when the sky is full of birds trying to get at bird bait.

What am I missing?

Your missing the idea of a group of hunters/farmers cultivating a duck crop (middle/east AR it's most likely milo/millet/corn) which takes many months of working the land, planting, and irrigating (if rains don't cooperate) only to have an ungodly amount of geese, mainly snow geese, come in and DECIMATE IT IN A MATTER OF MINUTES!

In my mind, baiting constitutes dumping a load of corn from bags/hopper on the ground and sitting over it.

While geese aren't smart birds, they are skiddish. Therefore, many a times, I've belly-crawled across muddy fields to get within range of them while they are eating winter wheat. Otherwise, we'll hunt in concealed blinds/stands.

[89breaker]

Originally Posted by Aces'n'8s

Your missing the idea of a group of hunters/farmers cultivating a duck crop (middle/east AR it's most likely milo/millet/corn) which takes many months of working the land, planting, and irrigating (if rains don't cooperate) only to have an ungodly amount of geese, mainly snow geese, come in and DECIMATE IT IN A MATTER OF MINUTES!

In my mind, baiting constitutes dumping a load of corn from bags/hopper on the ground and sitting over it.

While geese aren't smart birds, they are skiddish. Therefore, many a times, I've belly-crawled across muddy fields to get within range of them while they are eating winter wheat. Otherwise, we'll hunt in concealed blinds/stands.

Were the birds after a farm field?

The article mentioned them waiting on ducks so that is why I figured they were your average lazy weekend hunters.

Not from the midwest so pardon my retardness here.

If they were protecting their crops then see my recommended contraption above.

[Aces'n'8s]

Originally Posted by 89breaker

Were the birds after a farm field?

The article mentioned them waiting on ducks so that is why I figured they were your average lazy weekend hunters.

Not from the midwest so pardon my retardness here.

If they were protecting their crops then see my recommended contraption above.

What does it matter if the field was a farmers field or not? If I grow a crop for human consumption or to attract ducks, I sure as hell don't want gaggles of geese eating it all up.

Most waterfowl hunters don't look at these geese the way a small child does as they feed one at a park.

When the sky darkens and the cackle of geese sounds like you're in a casino, it's almost resembles a Biblical plague of locusts. Oh yeah, geese leave turds about the size of cigars....

[89breaker]

Oh ok, so they were just killing to kill.

Looks like the flock could use a little thinning anyways.

[DRM]

Before I saw geese like that in person, I didn't understand what it was all about.


Think locust swarm of Biblical proportions.


Seriously - if you've never experienced it, people find it hard to believe what it is like to see that many birds in one place.

[paragon]

yep. they are a problem. as a federal migratory bird they pose more of a problem up north though. seems they wipe out their habitat.

when the congregate in areas in that size of groups they can do some damage.

and yes, dudes converted catfish ponds in to rice fields to duck hunt over.

it's been 10 years since I've duck hunted and thought they were talking about their populations then. I didn't realize they were still a big a problem as they are a

[Ben Segrest]

To clarify, I think it's weak that they only killed 90 birds.

[muddinmike]

I've done the same shit with "mud ducks" pop over the bank and unload the scatter gun at the river. always kill 3-5 per 3.5" black cloud shell do that with a few of your buddies and its a good time i dont care who you are

[afroman006]

Thats why I usually have two scatterguns when goose hunting. Sometime you dont have time to reload I'll probably get an extended tube for late season goose hunting this year...

[Snowbird13]

Originally Posted by TEX

We had an old-timer at our church when I was a kid. He told a story of when he was about 12 (probably around 1912) and he & his brother crept up over a pond dam to see the water COVERED in geese. They both popped up and unloaded with their shotguns killing close to 30 of them. They were SO proud to bring them home until Mom sent them out back to start plucking.

My dad and uncle did the same thing when they were younger. After cleaning 15 geese in one setting, my dad never went goose hunting again.

[techteacher]

I would have loved to have been there sounds like a great time. Shoot as many as you can. They are rats with wings.