First goose of the season

[WojtekWeaponry]

Got my first goose of the season on 9/1. Archery hunting these persnickety little buggers is challenging and I really wish I could use a shotgun but keeping the peace is key.
Could have done a little better with the processing but that just leaves room for improvement. Ate the skinned breast today, mixing up a cure and spice mix for the other one for pastrami, the drumsticks were stripped and are soaking in milk and the head, neck and leg bones were turned into stock. Next time I will save the keel and more of the bones for stock.

 

[pv600]

Yes!!! How do you cook it?

 

[pv600]

Sorrry…. Didn’t see the text when I originally clicked post. Sounds delicious!

 

[Dennis in MA]

F’ers wetr all over the lake this am. Hours of honking. Probably from 6 to almost 10. Gonna git me a shotgun and shoot all the gooseys I see. Lol.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

F’ers wetr all over the lake this am. Hours of honking. Probably from 6 to almost 10. Gonna git me a shotgun and shoot all the gooseys I see. Lol.

There's too many of them and it is the special season until the 25th.

 

[Buck F]

Meh, I got my share of geese back in the day… fun to hunt but taste like ass. About the best you can do is smoke the breast and make a pate and pretend to enjoy it to justify the kill. Eventually I stopped and stuck to ducks.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

Meh, I got my share of geese back in the day… fun to hunt but taste like ass. About the best you can do is smoke the breast and make a pate and pretend to enjoy it to justify the kill. Eventually I stopped and stuck to ducks.

I rather enjoy it myself. I would get into ducks if it weren't such a pain in the ass to get into them or had someone to go with.

These particular geese are a nuisance and fit well into my varmint-hunting mindset. Just sucks I can only use a bow.

 

[whacko]

I rather enjoy it myself. I would get into ducks if it weren't such a pain in the ass to get into them or had someone to go with.

These particular geese are a nuisance and fit well into my varmint-hunting mindset. Just sucks I can only use a bow.

Why are you limited to a bow?

 

[TJ4]

F’ers wetr all over the lake this am. Hours of honking. Probably from 6 to almost 10. Gonna git me a shotgun and shoot all the gooseys I see. Lol.

In nh they’re the pigeons/rats of the lakes region. You should be able to dispatch them anywhere and anytime.

 

[Buck F]

I rather enjoy it myself. I would get into ducks if it weren't such a pain in the ass to get into them or had someone to go with.

These particular geese are a nuisance and fit well into my varmint-hunting mindset. Just sucks I can only use a bow.

That was actually the same scenario when I was goose hunting, more like varmint control at a lake I used to work at. But we'd go primarily for duck and then also get goose sometimes.

 

[whalerman69]

A buddy makes a pepper jerky with the breasts. Very good.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

Why are you limited to a bow?

My particular spot is bordered by a two roads, has walkers, no cover and power lines. The only safe way is to use a bow.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Meh, I got my share of geese back in the day… fun to hunt but taste like ass. About the best you can do is smoke the breast and make a pate and pretend to enjoy it to justify the kill. Eventually I stopped and stuck to ducks.

Strange. I only hear that around here. Plenty of goose hunters all over. Maybe it's an eastern corridor thing???? Like ocean swimmer ducks taste like fish? Eastern corridor Canada's eat the wrong stuff versus middle-of-the-country geese?

Damn. Early Canada season - daily bag limit is FIFTEEN!!!!!!! Wow. Normal bag limit is 2. Right now - 15. LOL

Here's another strange one - you can only have 2 Mallards per day, but 3 Wood duck. I'm not sure in my travels I see 3 Wood ducks a year. Who the flip is bagging 3 or more per day?

 

[Mesatchornug]

Strange. I only hear that around here. Plenty of goose hunters all over. Maybe it's an eastern corridor thing???? Like ocean swimmer ducks taste like fish? Eastern corridor Canada's eat the wrong stuff versus middle-of-the-country geese?

Damn. Early Canada season - daily bag limit is FIFTEEN!!!!!!! Wow. Normal bag limit is 2. Right now - 15. LOL

Here's another strange one - you can only have 2 Mallards per day, but 3 Wood duck. I'm not sure in my travels I see 3 Wood ducks a year. Who the flip is bagging 3 or more per day?

We pulled down 5 wood ducks between three of us last year, and a mallard and two geese - Zone 9, right near 495.

I enjoyed the goose I had last year, and the livers. But I'm not a great leader for taste.

Those early/late numbers are because our resident population shows no sign of slowing. Want to see some real craziness?

Goose Seasons & Bag Limits - Tennessee Hunting

Goose Seasons and Bag Limits Species Statewide Daily Bag Limit Possession Limit Canada Goose Sept. 3 in all other Phases The possession limit for Canada goose, white-fronted goose, and brant is three (3) times the daily bag limit, except on opening day and the second day of the season when the…

www.eregulations.com

Light Goose Conservation Season* (Blue, Snow & Ross's Geese)

The following provisions apply during the Light Goose Conservation Season only: Unplugged shotguns, electronic calls, shooting from 30 minutes before official sunrise until 30 minutes after official sunset. Feb. 13 - March 20

no daily bag limit

There is no possession limit for blue, snow and Ross’s geese during the Light Goose Conservation Season.

* A free Light Goose Conservation Season Permit is required to hunt during the Conservation Season, available at GoOutdoorsTennessee.com. No Federal or state waterfowl stamps are required to hunt during the Conservation Season. Hunters must possess a TN Light Goose Conservation Season Permit and have a valid hunting license, but the license may be from any state. A post-season survey is required.

A person with a license in their home state could visit TN in season and take (appropriate) geese to their heart's content for the cost of ammo.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

We pulled down 5 wood ducks between three of us last year, and a mallard and two geese - Zone 9, right near 495.

I enjoyed the goose I had last year, and the livers. But I'm not a great leader for taste.

Those early/late numbers are because our resident population shows no sign of slowing. Want to see some real craziness?

Goose Seasons & Bag Limits - Tennessee Hunting

Goose Seasons and Bag Limits Species Statewide Daily Bag Limit Possession Limit Canada Goose Sept. 3 in all other Phases The possession limit for Canada goose, white-fronted goose, and brant is three (3) times the daily bag limit, except on opening day and the second day of the season when the…

www.eregulations.com

Light Goose Conservation Season* (Blue, Snow & Ross's Geese)

The following provisions apply during the Light Goose Conservation Season only: Unplugged shotguns, electronic calls, shooting from 30 minutes before official sunrise until 30 minutes after official sunset. Feb. 13 - March 20

no daily bag limit

There is no possession limit for blue, snow and Ross’s geese during the Light Goose Conservation Season.

* A free Light Goose Conservation Season Permit is required to hunt during the Conservation Season, available at GoOutdoorsTennessee.com. No Federal or state waterfowl stamps are required to hunt during the Conservation Season. Hunters must possess a TN Light Goose Conservation Season Permit and have a valid hunting license, but the license may be from any state. A post-season survey is required.

A person with a license in their home state could visit TN in season and take (appropriate) geese to their heart's content for the cost of ammo.

HOLY CRAP, that is incredible.
Snow goose regs are really loose all over it seems.

 

[Mesatchornug]

HOLY CRAP, that is incredible.
Snow goose regs are really loose all over it seems.

Depends partly on the season. I was reading a bit about it over the last year. There was also a guest on one of the recent Meateater podcasts who talked about it.

Basically, there was a really successful reintroduction effort that resulted in resident populations where they would normally migrate through. There are also things like corn and soy crops that make them bigger and healthier than ever before, so the flocks are getting huge. Interestingly, rather than die off from overpopulation in their winter range, they've been shifting ranges.

Now there are polar bears who are shifting part of their diets to geese, due to decreased seal populations. Apparently, there's now one or more triple points where polar, grizzly, and black bears fight over some of the geese...

 

[Dennis in MA]

I was just listening about that on MeatEater last week or the week before.

100 years ago, there were barely any snow geese. Dying out. In the intervening years, conservation and a healthy flyway in the central part of hte US and Canada has caused populations to explode.

The problem with snow geese is that they flock in HUGE flocks. So getting one to turn into your spread is very difficult. So many eyes trying to pick out if that's a good spot or not.

So while the limits are unlimited, the chances are small.

 

[Buck F]

Strange. I only hear that around here. Plenty of goose hunters all over. Maybe it's an eastern corridor thing???? Like ocean swimmer ducks taste like fish? Eastern corridor Canada's eat the wrong stuff versus middle-of-the-country geese?

Damn. Early Canada season - daily bag limit is FIFTEEN!!!!!!! Wow. Normal bag limit is 2. Right now - 15. LOL

Here's another strange one - you can only have 2 Mallards per day, but 3 Wood duck. I'm not sure in my travels I see 3 Wood ducks a year. Who the flip is bagging 3 or more per day?

Most people I know who hunt geese take the breast meat and smoke it or make it into jerky, anything to make it more palatable. I don't think that's an Eastern corridor thing. Canada geese fly a lot & the meat is tough and not very pleasant tasting. These aren't domesticated, farmed geese.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

Speaking of, I made my first goostrami and its fantastic!

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

Simple sandwich.

 

[REM870]

HOLY CRAP, that is incredible.
Snow goose regs are really loose all over it seems.

They have become a problem. Basically there feeding habits/destruction you could say they are boars with wings.

 

[Bodhisattva]

First time out for goose. Had a hell of a time. Saw a lot of birds that circled several times, but just wouldn’t commit to land. Still managed four birds. So many different moments, created a memorable day beyond the meat harvested.

 

[WojtekWeaponry]

First time out for goose. Had a hell of a time. Saw a lot of birds that circled several times, but just wouldn’t commit to land. Still managed four birds. So many different moments, created a memorable day beyond the meat harvested.

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My man! Nice!