How to goose hunt in south Texas

[sobi1998]

I hunt down in atascosa county. During the winter I see geese flying up high. This is a broad question I'm sure but Does anyone know how I could get them to fly down to shoot them? I recently acquired a 10 gauge shotgun and would like to use it!
There's a tiny pond on the property but majority pasture


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[Bozz10mm]

Decoys?

 

[sobi1998]

Decoys?

I've never hunted a flying bird besides dove and quail so I'm gonna sound really inexperienced.
Put out decoys and use a goose call when you see them?


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[Bozz10mm]

I've never hunted geese or ducks either, but decoys and calls sound reasonable. I don't know if throwing out corn or something is legal.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Here's some goose hunting tips from Ducks Unlimited

http://www.ducks.org/hunting/goose-hunting-tips-tactics/12-tips-for-hunting-geese

 

[Bozz10mm]

Okay, so baiting is out:

A hunter may not:

• hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area
• hunt over any baited area until 10 days after all baiting materials have been removed
• hunt waterfowl or cranes over manipulated planted millet, unless the millet was planted more than one year prior to hunting
• hunt waterfowl or cranes over crops that have been manipulated, unless the manipulation is a normal agricultural post-harvesting manipulation in accordance with official recommendations of State Extension Specialists of the Cooperative Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

No person may place or direct the placement of bait on or adjacent to an area for the purpose of causing, inducing or allowing any person to take or attempt to take any migratory game bird by the aid of baiting on or over the baited area.

 

[Younggun]

1. Find a goose

2. Shoot the goose

3. ?

4. $$$$

 

[TxStetson]

1. Find a goose

2. Shoot the goose

3. ?

4. $$$$

3. Drop the shotgun while yelling obscenities.

4. Rub shoulder while mumbling obscenities.

 

[sobi1998]

This'll be me with that 10 Ga. haha


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[Moonpie]

Goose hunting is either awesome or suck.
There is no middle.
If the geese decide to come in you can stand out in the open in bright orange and they will still come in.
If they decide not to nothing on earth will make them.
Their vision is extraordinary.
Big decoy spreads take a lot of cash to purchase and time to set up.
Be prepared to haul heavy loads across wet muddy fields. Then you get to lay in it.
You'll have on waders. So you'll sweat like a pig doing labourious decoy set up.
Then you lay down on the ground and freeze to death because you're drenched with sweat and you can't move for fear of spooking the geese.
If its warm you will be besieged by blood thisty vampire mosquitos so thick they get in your ears and nostrils.
Then you get to pack all that crap out. Plus any heavy ass geese you've shot.
And lets not forget your hunting buddy Bubba and his wonder dog Rufus.
Rufus is a yard beast on most days. Never worked since he was trained as a puppy to retrieve. Rufus hits the ground running and is soon chasing the landowners livestock or covered in the most offensive goo he could find says screw this and goes back to the truck climbs in and does a nice twist and shout in the cab.
Then there is the cleaning. You will discover mud and goo in places on your equipment you have never even seen. The cleaning of dead geese adds to the thrill. Ah I still remeber the smell.
Cooking geese involves a lot of booze.
You baste the goose while cooking with bourbon and scotch. When done you throw out the goose and drink the gravy.

 

[sobi1998]

The cleaning of dead geese adds to the thrill. Ah I still remeber the smell.
Cooking geese involves a lot of booze.
You baste the goose while cooking with bourbon and scotch. When done you throw out the goose and drink the gravy.

It can't smell worse than turkey guts
Would you says it's the same total process for sandhill crane?



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[Moonpie]

Sandhills actually taste pretty decent.
They're smart and have extremely good vision.
They're tough to hunt.
The areas where you can legally hunt them are restricted so be sure you're in the correct hunting zone or Mr.Fishcop will not be happy with you. BIG fines.

You'll need non-toxic shot.
Pro tip - keep a few low power 12ga non toxic shot shells in your pocket. Use them in your 10ga to shoot cripples.
Yes they will work. No need for a full power 10ga round.

 

[TxStetson]

It can't smell worse than turkey guts
Would you says it's the same total process for sandhill crane?



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Ribeye in the sky. Sandhills are great to eat and really fun to hunt. Laid flat on your back looking up. Just remember to hold your fire until they look like an airplane about to land on you. With their 6’ wingspan they look much closer than they are.

 

[Sam Colt]

Call Will at Avian Skies. Once the season opens he can put you within spittin' distance of a mess of sandhills. If you can't shoot one of the birds he calls in, go back to pinatas, baby, cause shooting isn't your thing. LOL

 

[sobi1998]

Call Will at Avian Skies. Once the season opens he can put you within spittin' distance of a mess of sandhills. If you can't shoot one of the birds he calls in, go back to pinatas, baby, cause shooting isn't your thing. LOL

Reasonable pricing!


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[sobi1998]

Would 12ga. 2 3/4" be enough for close range geese or crane? I'm thinking about my dad if he went with me. Ha has a 2 3/4"


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[Sam Colt]

You can shoot at geese with 2 3/4 12. That's what we used 40 years ago. Just make sure to get the best heavy shot you can. Steel is going to be a challenge. But if you shoot at the head, not the body, you can kill 'em deader than Ezra with a 20 gauge. :-)

Crane are the same way. Shoot 'em in the head. the head is the size of a dove. It's just hard to focus on the head when the body is the size of a small plane.

 

[gdr_11]

Have done a lot of goose hunting in my younger days. Generally, when geese are flying high, they are moving from one location to another and not likely to respond to small decoy spreads, water or feeding grounds. The best way to see if they will come around is to get their attention with a large (repeat LARGE) spread of attractors...notice I did not say decoys because I am talking about 200 - 500 spread out over a space of 1/2 - 3/4 of an acre. Best thing to use are cloth diapers or terry bar mops....the large display of white cloths looks like a bunch of snow geese from way up in the sky and will often cause some of those high fliers to turn around and come down for a look-see. Calling does little unless the geese are already low and you simply want them to turn in your direction until they see your decoys. If you don't have a field suitable for them to be attracted to (harvested corn, rice or green pasture) your best bet is to hope for a foggy day when the geese will fly low enough to give you the opportunity for pass shooting.

Nothing gets the heart pumping like looking over your barrel at a flock of 12 - 14 lb Canadians coming in with feet down. Good luck!

 

[mantawolf]

Can use those plastic white grocery bags too, tie them to stakes in the ground. Cheap solution for a large spread.

 

[karlac]

Can use those plastic white grocery bags too, tie them to stakes in the ground. Cheap solution for a large spread.

Don't need to tie them.
Make stakes out of coat hangers with a loop bent on one end and just push it through the plastic bag.
Easy to carry a hundred or so.