Waterfowl

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

So the corn around my area is coming down and I noticed the ducks and geese hitting this one field in the middle of the city. It is about half mile long by 300 yards wide. There have been no geese around in the area and then all of a sudden they are showing up. I guess about 250 to 300 geese hitting this one field in five waves in the morning.

Now I have to state that the lil city/town I live in has an ordinance that you can not discharge a firearm within the city limits. Hence the reason for attempting this with a bow.

I am going to try and go out with my hunting buddies and bow hunt geese from a layout blind. I need to practice shooting one of my longbows from the blind but then it's game on.

I plan on setting up a normal goose decoys and actually putting my blind right in the kill hole. If everything works out fine they should be back peddling at about 5 yards. Hoping a flu flu arrow tipped with a two blade broadhead will get the job done. I am going to try and document this hunt with video and pictures along the way.

Have any of you attempted this before? I have had my eye on this field for the last two years.

[petalumapete]

I'm thinking that if you are trying this in the middle of town the local PD will consider shooting a bow the same as discharging a fire arm.

You might save yourself alot of grief if you discuss your plan with your local police or game warden.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Haha funny you should mention the local pd... Been an officer in my town for 7 years. Good to go and have already checked with my higher rank officers. Bow is good to go after telling them about how the flu flu arrows only go a short distance. There are no regulations against bows... Just firearms.

[Izzy]

Geese are tough to kill, looking forward to the pics.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

I know that this will be one of my toughest hunts but I have never seen anyone attempt it in my area. The geese know this field is safe since gun hunters can't access it so hopefully I will have the advantage since they feel this is a safe place for them.

[Yankee Bill]

There was an episode on TV several years ago of Tred Barta doing this. IIRC, he had several close misses, but did finally connect on one. He shot A LOT of arrows before he did, but at his own admission, he never was a really good shot with the Longbow. He had a blast doing it though.

Sounds like you have a good plan in place, good luck and have fun    

YB

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Thanks YB... I actually saw that episode and that is what gave me the idea a couple years ago to attempt this sort of hunt. I think the difference between Tred's hunt and mine will be the way the birds are coming in. If I remember correctly a lot of his shots were birds crossing in front of him. The way I plan on setting up is to have them coming straight into me. If the first geese come in and they don't come straight at me I will adjust for the next ones.

Hopefully this will work but it will be fun no matter what!

Justin

[Yankee Bill]

Yeah, he was taking some pretty wild shots and it looked like it wasn't the first rodeo those geese had been to.

Do you recall that a Game Warden had been watching Tred from a far for quite some time during that hunt, not that he was doing anything illegal, but the warden couldn't believe someone was actually trying to Goose hunt w/ a Longbow  :cool:  

YB

[ChuckC]

I am thinking you need to take heed of Pete's suggestion.  Here in Wisconsin, "firearm" and however they have it worded could also include a bow and arrows, depending upon the city and municipality involved.  Ask first to avoid the hassle.

Hope you get to try it, it is fun.  Suggest modifying the flu flus so that they don't peter out quite as quickly and some of them do, or your arrow will not even reach the geese.  I have gone to 3-4" full height feathers to allow this.

Chuckc

[reddogge]

We've done it in MD. Chuck is correct, use either 3 or 4 fletch 5" helical and the arrows will retain enough energy out to 30 yards to penetrate a goose's body. I never hit one but have seen them hit with an arrow by a friend with a compound. Usually the arrows will carry 100 yards or so. I'd recommend some aerial target practice beforehand too.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Take some video!

[bowzonly]

Have done this extensively. Just last year they basically outlawed it in NJ.  Only flu flu's and no broadheads on aerial targets (you can use whatever you want when they are on the ground). If legal in your area I would not use flu flus. Those layout blind shots are going to be a lot tougher to achieve then you think. It is very easy to sit up in a layout and get a shot with a gun. It is a WHOLE NOTHER story with a bow.  By the time you sit up, clear and draw your bow and get your aim, that cupped and committed shot will be long gone. I have tried MANY ways to deal with this problem and have come to the conclusion that the only way to get this shot with a bow would be to have a huge pit blind covered with shoot through netting ( a very impractical setup). Your best bet is to ditch the layout and dig a small pit that you can hunker down on all fours in. Wear a gillie or cover you back with natural veg. (I have had geese land almost on top of me) Peak, or listen to see where they land then stand up and jump shoot them. Its funny cause its sometimes hard to find the real ones amongst the dekes. You would think that as soon as you stand the geese would flush immed. but they almost never do. Many times I have cut the distance on 30 yard targets by walking 10 yards closer. Bring plenty of arrows cause you don't want to have to chase after then till all the action is over for the day.

[bowzonly]

 Heres one I jump shot a few years before the law change

[Steve O]

We tried this last year. If you can get 5-10 yard shots you are golden.  I can't tell you how fun yet frustrating it is to have your arrow and goose on a collision course and then have the fluflu kick in and fade...

We are looking for a BIG field so we can use standard fletching.

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

Thanks for all the tips guys... We are gonna practice to see how well the layout blind idea would work. I watched them all land within 20 yards of the field edge where the sun hit the ground first. It was 36 here in New Hampshire yesterday morning. So another idea was to make a ground blind and wait for them to get within range then let the arrows fly. Got to watch a few more days and practice till we really get at it.

[ChuckC]

Layout with a ghillie suit !  Or kneel and wait (with a ghillie).

CHuckC

[VictoryHunter]

[reddogge]

We used the basic permanent field blind which the compounders shot out of and I had a 10" roll of chicken wire with marsh grass woven into it I used as part of a boat blind and put that around me as I sat on a dove stool beside the blind.

As luck may have it I never got a shot on the days I went but the days I didn't they'd shoot all of their arrows. The only goose killed was on the ground. It's fun but not particularly productive.

[Bow Bum]

Saw a wheel bow video of a goose hunt once. I would suggest letting them land first. That worked best for the weelie guys. Unless your looking for the arial challenge, then try them in the air.

Good luck, and be sure to post.

Regards,

Brian