Jackson Landers hunts Canada Geese from Helenah Swedberg on Vimeo.
Lately a documentary filmmaker, Helenah Swedberg, has been filming a movie about me and my work. The filming will continue for a few more months and then she'll be editing for a long time after that. Meanwhile she has edited and posted a few clips from what she's captured so far.
A couple of days ago she posted this great little three minute thing showing the goose hunt that I was on recently with Michael Macfarlan of Glass House Winery.
We started out trying to pass-shoot a medium-sized flock that didn't quite come within range. After that flock left we figured we'd try fishing for a while until some more geese showed up. Very quickly we heard a few geese flying nearby so I started calling them in while rapidly switching from rod to gun.
Yes, I know that I sound completely ridiculous when I'm making goose sounds but the fact remains that it worked and the three geese came right in to me. I was too slow to make the shot as they passed overhead so it became necessary to go in and get them off of the other side of the pond where they had landed.
This type of hunting for waterfowl is called 'jump-shooting.' Michael and I used a little bit of planning to take advantage of working in a pair. Geese usually take off facing into the wind in order to generate lift, just like an airplane does. By checking the direction of the wind relative to where the geese were, I could predict the path they would have to take once spooked. Michael took up a position directly along that route and remained visible. This way their attention would be focused on Michael while I started to sneak around to the other side of the pond where I could jump them from behind.
I stalked in through the trees and emerged about twenty five yards away from the geese before they spooked away from me and started to take off. I dropped two of them right there while the third goose behaved exactly as expected. Michael took the third goose with a perfect shot as it flew straight at him.
The lesson here for new hunters is that you don't need a lot of gear and money to hunt Canada geese. We used no decoys, no factory-made calls, no dogs, no blind. Even the boat that was used to retrieve the dead geese wasn't necessary. A fishing rod with a snag hook works quite well. We didn't even have to wake up especially early. All it took was a shotgun, hunting license, and ammunition. My battered old Mossberg 500 cost me around $150 used and has paid for its self many times over in geese, turkeys, and doves.
As for the goose burgers, all I did was butcher and grind the meat. Daniel Klein (host of 'The Perennial Plate', which was also filming that day) deserves the credit for cooking what I really think was the best hamburger I have ever eaten.
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