[Miller]

Guys nobody is talking about this but everyone knows.I went driving by an area that shouldve been loaded with geese but it was bare.Im not talkin a few i'm talking none.I keep hearing from people that the farmers are shooting geese all spring and summer.whats up with that?

Im sure the reason is because of the birds creating crop damage,but shooting every bird in sight is flat out ILLEGAL.In the hundreds of miles Ive driven,it appears to me we dont need an early season;the farmers have clearly taken care of the population.

 

[Old Hunter]

Miller what area are you talking about? MInnn or ND.

 

[bioman]

Miller:

Show some class, you can't post irresponsible threads that throw out blanket accusations. Do you know for a fact that this is happening, or are you simply trying to spin this as an anti-landowner argument :eyeroll:

 

[Decoyer]

Maybe they are shooting geese, but can you really blame them? Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think the gov't or insurance will reimberse them for small grain crop that is damaged in the spring- early summer from geese. What we should do is have a reimbersement program that would pay farmers for lost wheat in the spring based on the predicted yield before the birds got in the field. And remember that it was perfectly legal for farmers to shoot geese this summer. I think they were allowed up to 20 on one permit.

 

[Field Hunter]

Old hunter,
They have been shooting them for depredation in MN for years so I assume he's talking about ND who gave the permits for the first time this year.

You have to really wonder sometimes what the game and fish department is thinking.

The sportsman in eastern ND don't have much for hunting opportunities anyway and then the GNF department gives out permits to shoot the geese before the early canada goose season. Just a suggestion but I bet they could find several hunters that would be more than happy to shoot 20 geese from an area if they were asked.

Ok I know they're a problem but there isn't that many geese out around the country side. Pay the farmers for depredation the geese are responsible for but don't blanket kill them off an entire area.

 

[Miller]

Dont take my word for it, call up your local landowners that you know REALLY well, and theyll tell you the same if its going on in the area.If you are from a rural community,you wouldve heard it in the coffee shop.I would say most didnt do any shooting this summer, but the ones who did had a good impact.

I dont have any proof,go scouting and make phone calls and see for yourself. The reason we have an early season is because of the large cananda population,so I know this is a privelage and not a right to hunt them in september.But the thought of people shooting birds on the nest is very disturbing to me.

 

[prairie hunter]

By September the crop depradation issues are becoming relatively minor. They want to shoot them long before harvest. Flocks of geese can eat a lot of emerging plants - they think its grass.

Most of the shooting occurs on molting parents and young geese that have not flown yet or much. They are popping them with 22s. In MN many hire "sharpshooters" to help out.

Look at how Canada geese and mallards rush to the barley fields in October after they green-up. Geese like green.

 

[honkerhntr]

Wow I have never heard of such a thing, here in Wyoming we do not have a early goose season.... Well in the flyway that I hunt we don't. I didn't know that they game and fish did that. I guess I can't blame the farmers for wanting to I am sure that they loose a good chunk of change with the geese.

 

[hunt4life]

When I was hunting snows last spring every land owner I talked to said it was OK to hunt the snows, and each one also added shoot those damn Canadas too!

I told them I could get in trouble for doing that and they told me just to leave them lay in the field. I didn't dig too deap because I was only interested in gaining access to the snows, but it was kind of troubling.

 

[Matt Jones]

I've personally talked to several farmers from both MN and ND who have told me they shoot geese on sight. I was at work blowin' some calls when a gentlemen came up and talked to me (this was on Saturday). He asked if I hunted geese and told me how much he hated them. He was Fergus Falls and flat out told me he shoots them all the time. Last spring when hunting snows north of Devils I was in a small town cafe/bar and got to talking to a few farmers...after talking to them a little bit they told me they hadn't seen any snows lately (this was end of April) but that if I wanted to come to their property I could shoot all the Canada's I saw...saying it would save them the trouble.

Although I don't think the problem is as big as some claim it to be, I do think it's a growing problem. I think the permits are basically licenses to kill. You can kill twenty on a permit but you're supposed to just leave the geese to rot...so how are the geese accounted for? Who knows if the farmers are shooting 20 or 200? I think we really need to do something. I'd like to see a $10 stamp for the early season geese. All funds raised through this stamp would be put into a crop depradation fund, and then eliminating the permits.

Also, there was a group of farmers in MN who were caught illegally shooting geese this spring. Illegal shooting of geese does happen, and more often than we think.

 

[big_duck_hunter]

Hello, I am new to this board. I am a avid waterfowl hunter in ND. In my opion the farmers shooting the geese is to protect there way of income. The farmers have it harder than we do, since they have to protect there income from geeese, coyotes and ect. Also they have 100,000 of thousand dallors invested in growing our food. And when they get done with harvest they may be pocket 30,000 dallors for themselves. So I would do what it took to get paid and not loose my money also. Yes, I think there is maybe an alternative way to do it but, I dont blame them either for tring to make a living.

Big_duck_hunter

 

[duxnbux]

I think that Matt Jones may be on to something. There is no doubt in my mind that the number of resident geese is being reduced bylandowners, and the fact is unless they are compensated for the lost acres/money, the trend will continue. We need to work with the Game and Fish Department/USFWS and with landowners to develop an alternative option to the current methods of reducing the nesting geese. I have really enjoyed the September Season, especially over the past few years with October's pressure. Let's work with landowners and develop a win/win plan for all parties involved...including the geese.

 

[tsodak]

Not going to enter the fray to much on this one, but one other thing. On our Farm in SD before I left, many of the nesting attempts were unsuccesful because of the extremely cold May. I beleive that this had some impact on the situation. I have seen damage from molting flocks that could make your head explode. This is a really really tough issue. Tom

 

[Brad Anderson]

How about ducks ruining fields?? They might be a 1/4 the size of a Canada but when there is 100x as many, they should be able to do some damage. Just a thought.

 

[tsodak]

The difference is more in feeding habits instead of in size. Ducks feed more inside the wetlands, while geese are more terrestrial grazers. Farmers dont mind so much ducks feeding in fields in the fall, it is more the crop damage that geese do in the spring. Tom

 

[kazman2611]

first off there are an abundance of canadian geese population isnt out of control like snows but there are plenty of geese. However i agree there probably is an alternative to farmers obtaining permits and killing them and leaving them lay. perhaps farmer that has a crop depradation problem submits it to the dnr or GF&P they schedule a weekend hunt open to hunters who register with and be qualified to be able these special hunts. for farmers to just purchase a permit which im sure isnt expensive to shoot 20 geese and just let them lay is wanton waste therefore should not be allowed. For the government to pay the farmer for crop depredation is out of line i think cause government has plenty of other places they can or should distribute funds. I can remember some years back when Lac Qui Parle Lake in western minnesota had a number of geese die colera because there was an enormous number of geese on that body of water , and instead of DNR extending the quota or extending the season many geese died until they finally went south for the winter. I give a hats off to DNR this year for allowing a 2 bird daily limit in regular season . this makes more sense thanmaking season longer or moving season back or ahead a couple of weeks because in doing so doesnt necessarily mean more birds would be taken if season is longer because the numbers of geese that are coming down on their way south depends on the weather conditions up north. for the early season that was put in place to help with population control of the local goose population . I think most farmers that are sportsmen themselves or conservationists are not gonna go out and spend time shooting unwelcome geese to just let them lay. referring to the comment about farmers shooting them with 22. cal is illegal in minnesota during early season and regular season so i dont think its would be legal under a farmers special permit. IN response to MILLER you almost sound like an animal rights activist with that being said let me ask you would you allow 20 or 30 geese eevryday in the spring and summer to come and sit on your lakefront yard and leave their excrements for you to step on?