While black bear season seems to be the preeminent September attraction for hunters, there’s another option that‘s garnering popularity with every passing year. More and more Crown of Maine sportsmen and a steadily increasing number of southern Maine and out-of-state outdoorsmen travel to Aroostook to take advantage of early-season honker hunting. Gunning for keen-eyed, wary Canada geese provides a true wingshooting challenge, and nearly four weeks of an early season adds variety to bear hunting and late-season fishing.
Up until the early 1960s, Aroostook waterfowlers seldom saw a goose, with puddle ducks being the main quarry. Then the Maine Fish and Wildlife Department began trapping, transporting and transplanting bunches of nuisance geese from other New England states. The small bunches grew and dispersed throughout The County with the rewarding result that this fall is the 20th anniversary of Maine’s native goose hunting season. Along with the regular Canada goose season, local waterfowlers may hunt over three months — clear into December if the weather cooperates.
Most area hunters probably own much of the gear necessary to hunt geese, and novice waterfowlers will often experience better success with the native birds than the visiting flyway honkers migrating through Maine that have been shot at all along their route. Add to this the fact that a lot of local geese are young birds born this year, more easily fooled with decoys and good calling, and the September season provides action and a learning experience for youth hunters and those new to the endeavor of honker hunting.
Obviously the primary requirement for any wingshooting is a shotgun; a lot of geese are killed by youngsters and small-framed women wielding a three-inch chambered 20 gauge, but the most popular scattergun among goose hunters is a 12-gauge with a modified choke. A certain percentage opt for larger pellet loads and a bit more distance by shooting a 3-1/2 inch 12-gauge or the heavyweight 10 gauge, but although big guns weigh a bit more they still yield significant recoil so are not for the slight of stature or meek of heart!
Selecting the most dependable shotgun shells is the next step, and federal law now requires non-toxic shot for waterfowl, so the lethal lead pellets offering longer shot and deadly knock-down power are no long usable. Steel shot provides moderate range and isn’t too costly, but other non-toxic selections, including bismuth and tungsten/iron combos, often cost $20 or more for a box of ten. Whichever legal metal you settle on to shoot, I favor #2 size pellets for the big, heavily-feathered honkers, while others lean toward the larger BB pellets. Either should be effective for birds decoying inside 40 yards.
Speaking of which, unless you’re jump shooting geese on ponds and streams, a tough way to hunt with much success, you will need some decoys. Unlike the late-season migrating geese which are very wary and wily, native birds often succumb to only one or two dozen fake fowl. Windsock and silhouette style decoys prove effective, easy to transport, and quick to set up and take down at minimal monetary output. Shell decoys and full-body forms provide a more realistic set up and can cost at least a couple of hundred dollars a dozen.
While there are dozens of sizes, shapes, and styles of commercially-made blinds such as layout, hay bale and ground blinds, it’s possible to hunt successfully in local farm fields without one. Dressing from head to toe in camo clothing, including a mesh face mask and gloves, shooters can easily blend into hedge rows, field brush or rock pile islands and drainage ditches. It’s also very effective to lie flat among the decoy spread covered with a body-length sheet of camouflage cloth that closely matches the color of the surrounding crop, vegetation or dirt.
The population of native Canada geese is appreciable, but nowhere near the numbers present during the fall migration period, so it requires a good deal of scouting and planning to assure success. Driving back roads and checking cut grain fields offers the most likely method of pinpointing where to hunt, or it’s also possible to use a vehicle and binoculars to follow geese from their roost pond to a feeding location. Since it’s likely the birds will return to that favored feed field later that day or the next morning, it’s just a matter of arriving first, setting out decoys and waiting hopefully. Your decoy spread might even draw in a few passing geese winging from one area to another.
A word about calling — bad calling is much worse than no calling at all. Learn a simple hale call to start with and don’t overdo it. Migratory waterfowl stamps are required to legally hunt Canada geese. State stamps may be purchased with your hunting license and the federal stamps are available at any post office. Northern Maine’s early goose season offers waterfowlers of all experience levels the opportunity to extend their wingshooting season and the generous daily limit of six birds is an added incentive to head afield. Goose hunting may become an addictive pastime and while it’s not too expensive to get started, I have to be truthful and explain that the more you do it, the more gear seems to be acquired. A pickup load seems about right! Most experienced gunners agree it’s worth every cent and every hour expended — try it yourself this month.
