When it’s a high in the twenties – in the daytime – it takes a little of the edge off going fishing, unless you have a death wish. Striper season in the bay has ended. Deer season is over. So what’s an outdoorsman to do during the awful weeks lying ahead? Well, you can hunt ducks until January 28, you can pretend there are actually grouse somewhere in the mountains and try that, or – best bet – go goose hunting. There are plenty of those rascals around and most every farmer out there would welcome you with open arms if you asked permission. This morning on the way to work, I saw 150 geese in one field and about 60 in another. There is no shortage of geese.
Goose regulations can be a little confusing since there are basically three sets of regs within one state according to our various zones. There is the Atlantic Population Zone (roughly east of I-85), the Southern James Bay Population Zone (roughly the middle of the state) and the Resident Population Hunt Zone (roughly west of the Blue Ridge). Albemarle County is in the Southern Zone with the most liberal season and bag limits, primarily because most of our birds are resident geese. They’re with us all year long and breed like rabbits. There are too many resident geese for their own good, so the state says, “Go get ‘em.”
I don’t know what percentage of hunters go for geese, but not enough. It could be due to a lack of retriever dogs, no decoys or no knowledge about calling birds and waterfowl hunting, but it’s really not that complicated.
You’ll need a 12-gauge shotgun, some non-toxic shot, a few decoys and permission to hunt.
The choke required on your shotgun depends on the range you will be shooting. If you set up a blind along a fence line with a spread of decoys 20 yards away, an open or modified choke works fine. If it’s pass shooting, and the birds are high, a full choke works best. Somewhere between size 4 and BB shot will do the job, just aim for the neck.
By the way, geese always land into the wind, so consider that and arrange your decoys so you will have a good shot and allow the flock a place to land.
If you don’t have decoys, get a bag of black trash bags, spray some white paint on them and secure them to the ground (so they won’t blow away) and you’ll be surprised how many geese will come in, if for no other reason than to say, “What the hell is this?” Really, trash bags work. There are dozens of calls on the market. Buy one, make some noise and it will likely attract geese.
The good part is that the later we get in the season, the more generous the bag limits become. Until January 14, the limit in our zone is three birds daily. From January 15 through the closing on February 15, the daily limit is five birds.
The best time to hunt geese is when they are flying and moving, usually early and late in the day, but sometimes right in the middle of the day, especially if it begins spitting snow or rain.
One word of advice about shooting geese: Aim where they are going, not where they have been. Geese look big and slow, but they can be cruising at 30 miles an hour within seconds, causing most misses to be behind the big birds. You’ll need a hunting license, a Federal Duck Stamp, a Virginia Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and a HIP authorization. To register for HIP, call 1-888-788-9772.
It’s not that difficult. Try goose hunting. This time of year, really, what else can you do?