The 2022-23 hunting license went on sale for sportsmen in New York State last week. Although I’m still not a big fan of the pay-per-view system, I’m sure for some it works. The old system of sports and super-sports licenses, which included everything I needed, was easier for me. Now I bought a fishing license separately and if I don’t when I get my hunting license, well, we tend to forget about those things. The upside is that fishing licenses are now valid for a full year from the date of purchase. You just have to remember to get it.
The number of deer management permits will be down slightly this season for 9J. Although there is a high chance of receiving your first permit/tag, the second draw will only be fair. Remember to report your victims through the NYS Harvest hotline number, 866-426-3778.
Reporting your kill is not only a requirement, but it helps the DEC keep track of game numbers. Through this system and others, permits like DMPs are issued each season.
The 2022-23 hunting season begins September 1 with the first goose and squirrel seasons. This year should be another interesting year for local waterfowl hunters. The growing season has not been the best for local farmers. From what we can see and hear from farmers, corn could stay long after the early goose season is over.
With a 25 day start to the season and a huge 15 bird per day limit, now is the time to get into the early season wing shooting. This season – like none in recent memory – will be one that includes a lot of scouting. The traditional method of looking at a field of freshly cut corn, oats, wheat, or alpha will take a lot more work.
Understanding why geese hit one field and not another, then knowing where they are going and when they are going to be where and how to get them to set their undercarriage in your spread is a lifelong passion.
When looking for fields to hunt, I prefer areas close to water where the birds spend their evenings or roost. These fields don’t need to be right above the resting areas, but I like to get as close to them as possible.
We hunt several areas located so close that we can hear the birds coming out of their roost in the morning. They are perfect the first few days, but they dry out quickly.
Being so close has its pros and cons. Installation in the pre-dawn hours should be done very quietly and early. As the season progresses, geese become familiar with the sound of truck doors closing and the slamming of decoys. This is often all it will take for these birds to fly over your spread. If you set up near the rest/water area when the first group takes off and shoots them, the next group that takes off realizes very quickly that they don’t want to come to your spread.
For the first few days these setups may work, but as the season goes on and the birds are educated, they will stay away from the spread too close to their roosting areas.
Remember that, more often than not, geese are smarter than we think.
Back then, early season decoy broadcasts were incredibly simple, but today there are more ways to place your decoys than goose calls.
The first rule to remember is that geese will almost always land in the wind, so we have to set up accordingly. I prefer to form small family groups with our blinds in the middle of the sets. A good rule of thumb is to have decoys for several small family groups – four to five decoys – and place them in a U or V format for early season hunts.
Place your fighters outside the closed U or V area and let the open U and V areas act as landing zones.
Geese like to land in the middle of family groups and then feed in their own family groups outside the landing area. Having a good knowledge of how to set up your lures will do more for success than anything else.
Every year I spend hours before the season watching the geese land in the fields and on the water and how they communicate with each other. There’s nothing like first-hand experience before the start of the season. I learned more from sitting and watching the birds in their undisturbed natural state than from any hunting video.
Once you’ve set up your spread, it’s time to place your hunters. Over the years spent guiding hunters, I have learned many things. One thing is certain. If you tell a hunter not to look up when the birds are about to scatter, the hunters will look up. No matter how many years they have hunted or how many birds they have killed, they will undoubtedly look up. With that in mind, I figured out that the best way to keep the birds from burning is to keep my hunters well hidden. It’s a tough job when you’re lying in the middle of a freshly cut field with no cover around it.
One of the best and, in my opinion, the only way to keep hunters hidden is with portable blinds. Placing your hunters in shades on the ground is one of the best ways to conceal their movements and not scare the birds away.
There are many ways to hide hunters. In the early years of field hunting, we lay in the field with corn stalks or grass thrown over us. This system had several flaws and was not fully tested. Hunters will always move their heads as geese cup their wings, only to ignite them at the last minute.
One of the best blinds on the market for many hunters is a hay bale style blind. This style of awning is basically a retractable awning designed to look like a bale of hay in the middle of a field. With hay bale camouflage and little brushing from the hunter, these shades are perfect any time of the year.
Layout style blinds are widely used and very effective in goose fields. Once the blind is brushed, the hunter can sit down – in fact lie down – and wait for the geese. If you haven’t seen them in action, check out some of our goose chases at backroadoutdoorstv.com. The ease of installation and mobility of layout blinds is a must for any goose chaser.
We prefer to use awnings made by Avery Outdoors. Avery has been making portable ground shades for years and as hunters they understand the importance of comfort and portability.
The Avery Finisher Floor Shade is the Cadillac of floor shades. With a padded head and back rest area, it would take a lot of water to get you wet. The Finisher is not the number one blind seller for nothing. From the gun rest to the zippered signal ports and plenty of room for hunters of all sizes, it’s easy to see what makes the Finisher the best-selling ground blind in the world.
Calling geese is as much a part of hunting as anything else, but I’ve seen birds with their wings folded back when a caller calls too loudly. As with anything to do with calling wild creatures, we all need to know when it’s time to speak up or be quiet.
When choosing a goose call, I look for a short reed call that is easy to work with. That’s not to say I would use a good flute, but I prefer a short single reed for new callers.
When you call, keep in mind to use your call appropriately. One of the old wives’ tales about calling the geese is that you have to be a master caller to be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve seen first time callers transform birds and get them close enough to shoot. Now, I’m not saying anyone walks into a store to buy a call can call birds, but that’s a no brainer. Calling waterfowl is an art form. The more time you spend practicing, the better you will become, which will make you a better hunter.
Beginning to learn how to use a goose call requires understanding the basics of the call.
One of the biggest mistakes new callers make is puffing out their cheeks. Air should come from your diaphragm, not your mouth. Whether it’s feed or return calls, where your air is coming from will give you control over your calls and make your calls more realistic.
The main rule of thumb I tell new callers is to imitate the same call the geese make. Once you are able to do this, you are on your way to becoming a goose caller.
When you call, don’t overdo it. Call when the birds speak to you. Don’t overdo a call, but call loud enough that the birds can hear you. Talking to geese is exciting and some believe it to be the most important part of the hunt.
As the dust begins to settle in the summer of 2022, the minds of local hunters begin to wander as we mow the yard about that first flight of geese or the sound of twigs snapping in the woods. fall. Now is the time to begin the process of lining up all of your ducks, so to speak, for the upcoming season.
Comments are closed.