Archery Geese and Ducks?

[Konrad]

I read a post regarding the hunting of geese (and other waterfowl) with archery equipment.

I submitted a question to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Here is the response:


Konrad,

This doesn’t sound too crazy, it’s a question we get more than you would think. Yes you
can hunt waterfowl with archery equipment, no tag required. You would need a small game license and duck stamp. Here is a link to our archery regulations as they pertain to hunting big game   http://search.leg.wa.gov/pub/textsearch/Vi...3133348&p=1   please review before going afield. Since the archery restrictions are put together for big game only, we go under the assumption that you can use whatever broad-heads you want when hunting for small game.

Hope this helps,

Cody
Wildlife Program

===============================================================


I think perhaps a turkey ground blind would work well for geese on the ground???
K

[bucksaw]

Nice to see another Konrad with a "K". Good luck on geese.

KB

[Mudd]

I have some hopes of trying for geese with my bow this fall. I've only goose and duck hunted once before in my entire life and it was with a shotgun. I found it hard to give full attention to why I was in the duck blind because I kept thinking about the huge deer tracks I saw walking into the place...lol

God bless,Mudd

[Biggie Hoffman]

I killed a goose with a bow the only time I drew a tag in Tennessee. Set up on the edge of a cornfield they were feeding in. Wasn't much to it really and honestly, I didn't like the meat.

Ducks are another matter. I stll won't shoot a duck on the water, bow or no bow. It just doesn't seem right to me. We made a TV show with Archie Pillips once, years ago, shooting ducks with a longbow. I'll bet I shot 100 arrows and killed two ducks! Now THAT was alot of fun although it did start to get frustrating near the end of theday 8-(

[Friend]

If my mind serves me well, it must be pretty tough. I was guiding Byran Ferguson goose hunting back in the 80's and he missed all three attempts.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Shoot them on the water when you can.  You don't wait for a deer to run to shoot it with your bow.  The key is to make a clean shot.  I like to use Guillotine type heads and aim for the neck behind the head.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Yeah shoot em on the water. It doesn't matter HOW you get as long as you get 'em.......the easiset way to get a turkey is to shoot him on the roost. If you can find a bear still in his den you can shoot down into the hole, you can't miss that way.

  :(

[Hopewell Tom]

I've been thinking about this very thing for the last few years as the Geese flying over here has increased noticeably in the last few years. No water here, just farm fields. My thought was about one of those "lying down" blinds, only home made. Or perhaps like Mudds bow mount turkey blind. Shots to take place as they come in to land. Be fun to try and so close to home.
 Two problems as I see it now from the above posts - Taste of meat, but may NOT be a concern if Biggie and Byron had so much trouble hitting them! Hitting them being my second concern. Actually that's probably my first concern.

[Ken Taylor]

Biggie, How about if you're in the bush, you really feel like eating meat, and the duck is pretty far and he's swimming...but swimming fast...Guilty! LOL

[bucksaw]

Biggie....as long as it's legal,ethical doesn't matter?...Come on, give me a break.

[Mike Gerardi]

[Biggie Hoffman]

I didn't put a smiley face after that one cause I wasn't laughing when I posted it.......

[bucksaw]

You're right. No smiley face, I see the sarcasm now.

[Jeremy]

We eat, and serve (~400), lots of goose breast every year.  Never had any complaints     The rest typically goes into a stock pot, but the breasts are grilled or smoked to medium.

As for shooting ducks and geese on the water (playing devil's advocate), it's still a challenge to sneak up in bow range and it's a small target at 15+ yards.  How's that any different than shooting them while on the ground or shooting a thunder chicken out of a blind?

I have bow-killed pheasant while running instead of flying and snuck up on bedded deer... I kind of see it in the same light.

[SELFBOW19953]

Ben Pearson's video shows him pass shooting ducks with a bow, fairly successfully, too.  I would be worried about my dog retrieving birds with the potential of a broadhead still in it.

[paradocs]

I grew up on a farm just off the Upper Chesapeake Bay in MD.  Two bowhunting buddies and I decided to try for the geese that were using our winter wheat fields.  Came up with this plan.  We made up 30-40 decoys out of discarded mushroom boxes and head/necks we cut out of plywood...painted black and gray with spray paint.  One guy worked at a chemical plant, and "appropriated" several white jumpsuits.  Then we waited for a good snow.  Got one that dumped a good 4-5" overnight, and was still snowing pretty good in the a.m.  We set the dekes, two of us got into the white jumpsuits, sitting right in the middle of the decoys.  The third wore a dark set of coveralls.  The geese would come off the Bay  about a mile downwind; when we saw them, we started calling, while the guy in the dark coveralls stood in the decoy set flapping his arms until the flock turned toward the farm. He then got under a white blanket. It was still snowing pretty hard, with the wind whipping pretty good towards the incoming geese.  Those things set right into the decoy spread....never saw us.  The shots were actually pretty easy; when they set their wings, they were practically hovering...probably a 15-20 yard shot at an almost motionless target.  We were all shooting Bear Grizzlys with Razorheads (Hey, it was the 70's...who didn't?)  At the time, the limit was 2 geese/day; we took our limit that morning, and to this day, just about the most fun I've had with a bow in my hand.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Originally posted by Biggie Hoffman:

Ducks are another matter. I stll won't shoot a duck on the water, bow or no bow. It just doesn't seem right to me.

Not trying to say anyone should or shouldn't....I'm just saying it doesn't seem right TO ME. Ya'll have at it!

[cbCrow]

Paradocs, I know what you are talking about. I belonged to a hunting club ,when I lived in MD.,that had a lease outside of Chestertown and we used basically the same method except we stayed to the edge with the wind at our backs. I really did enjoy those days and enjoyed many a goose dinner!  

[Chris Shelton]

This is something I have always had lots of fun with.  I started hunting waterfowl with my bow that very first year as a traditional bowhunter.  I would camo up every evening about a hour before dark when I came home from school.  And go lay in the corn feild.  No blind, no decoys, just a goose call, a half dozen arrows and a silly kid laying on his back in the feild.  The bow was by my side, and I would just lay there and wait.  Wouldnt be 20 mins later and a flock of regulars would start the process.  Their was and still is to this day a local flock of ducks that would come off the creeks and ponds and sleep in the corn field at night.  They would range from groups of 50-200 ducks at a time.  I would wear my netting mask backwards to cover my eyes and wait for them to land close to where I was laying.  This field is about 15 acres, so narrowing it down to about 2 acres, that still doesn't get me within the magical 15 yard range.  I was never hunting for guts or glory, just some meat   .  I had eaten duck once before and absolutely loved it.  So I was determined to get one.  I think the closest shot I got was about 35 yards.  I was more than capable of making a shot like that.  But it just never happened, more often than not I would be shooting in some of the weirdest positions ever, not once did I get a good solid "normal" position, not even a kneeling one.  So that probably is why I never connected.  

Time went on and I learned about this "mysterious" code of ethics towards waterfowl.  So I have not shot at waterfowl on the ground since.  But I pose a question to all that think shooting a duck on the ground is unethical-  Do you guys think that a native American would have passed up a duck because it was sitting on the ground?  If you want the meat, you want the meat.  Thats like passing up a doe because the shot was too close?  Seriously, lol!!!

Now on to the main topic, I have shot at probably over 24 different geese.  Each and every time they were not locked up, mainly because I have no decoys.  They were just flying over my head.  So that would probably be why I cannot kill one with my bow, lol.  I am almost 99% sure that if I can get them to lock up on me, and glide in I will kill one.  I shoot aerial all the time, so that is defiantly not a problem.  I think it is finally time to get some shell decoys for the field, but man are they expensive, lol

[Biggie Hoffman]

Native Americans? You mean the same guys who ran herds of buffalo off of cliffs? The same people who killed Jeremiah Johnsons wife and kid?

Nah, they wouldn't have passed up a duck that was sitting on the ground. Don't you think it's a little different when you are in survival mode?