by Bill Graves
Have you bought your duck stamp yet? This is a bit of a trick question for several reasons. First of all, duck season doesn’t even begin until October! Secondly, and most important, despite being referred to as a “duck stamp” it’s actually a waterfowl stamp, and to be a legal hunter two different stamps are required each fall.
Contributed photo
Tom Wolters of Madawaska Lake and Jeff Bouchard of Caribou pose with a morning take of Canada honkers during the September early native goose season last fall.
The first federal duck stamp was required and issued during the 1934/1935 season and each year a new version is created and sold at local post offices. Individual states began issuing their own stamps later in the 20th century. Maine, for example, begin selling stamps for the 1984/1985 waterfowl season, and continues to require gunners to purchase annual stamps from town offices or city hall when hunting licenses are bought.
The importance of my initial question and the follow up information becomes evident when I relate that while duck season is a month away, the annual native goose season began Sept. 1. Usually this short, early season lasts roughly three weeks and doesn’t begin until after Labor Day, but burgeoning populations of local Canada geese will support an earlier and longer hunt.
Honker hunting during September is more time intensive and difficult than the open October season when hoards of migrating geese arrive to feed and fatten until the frigid weather and snow drives them south. For one thing, there are far fewer birds around, they are more spread out and flock size ranges from 10 to 40 geese. Also, with so many possible fields to feed in, each day’s flight is a random excursion.
Roost ponds are the one constant. Several families of geese will spend nights and rest during the day on specific waters; lakes, ponds, farm reservoirs, marshes and bogs may harbor 20 birds or 100 during the summer and early fall. Jump shooting these water holes is an option, as is waiting for the morning flight to leave to feed, then setting out a few decoys and waiting for geese to return to water. The downside to this tactic is that honkers need a safe haven and if a roost pond is gunned more than a couple of times the entire flock will relocate.
Hunting cut grain fields, pastures, or plowed cover crop fields offers the best opportunity to ambush early season geese. Canada geese feed every morning at dawn and usually again on hour or so before dusk. Hiding in a field edge hedge row or setting up portable ground blinds and then placing 3- or 4-dozen full size decoys usually brings hungry flocks into short gun range. A lot of these September birds are this year’s hatchlings, although they have grown almost as large as their parents, and decoy easily.
The stumbling block, however, is the large number of feeding fields and the small number of regional flocks. Native birds tend to be nomadic, just because they eat in one spot today doesn’t mean they will be there the next morning. Nonetheless, it is a sportsman’s best option, so locate a group of birds, set up the next morning in that exact location, wait, and hope.
There may be a bit of an advantage this fall for the hunters. Due to consistent rain, grain cutting is late and far fewer fields than normal have been harvested, thereby decreasing feeding options for the geese. Every sunny day will see more fields cut so get out soon to tilt the odds in your favor. Also, since honkers learn quickly, survivors become wary and warn the flock when suspicious so the best shooting over decoys occurs during the first week or so.
Only steel or non-toxic shot is legal for waterfowl hunting and shotguns need to be plugged so they hold no more than three shells total. While only two geese may be taken during the late season, hunters may shoot six honkers each day during the native goose season in September. Check the state and federal regulations before heading afield.
Honker hunting is at hand, so don’t delay, the early sportsman bags the birds. Oh, and by the way, have you got your duck stamp yet?