Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
My waterfowling buddy and I had been watching a large cut grain field less than 3 miles from my home for two weeks. Every morning and afternoon, several large flocks of Canada geese lifted from the Aroostook River, flew less than 10 minutes and dropped into the field to feed.
We had a surprise party planned for them on opening morning.
Imagine our surprise when, during a drive-by reconnaissance the evening before, we spotted three pickup trucks sitting mid-field with several camo-clad people wandering around.
Upon approaching the group, we learned that one New Hampshire and two Maine trucks held eight hunters in their 20s. They had landowner permission to hunt and planned to sleep in their vehicles all night to claim the field for the morning.
Chagrin was a mild term for how my partner and I felt.
I questioned the ethics and sportsmanship of their plan in my mind. It wasn’t illegal, but even 50 years ago I wouldn’t have resorted to sleeping in my truck overnight just to hunt birds. Certainly not now, in my 70s, regardless of my great love for goose hunting, a sport and quarry that didn’t even exist in The County during my youth.
In the theme of “work smarter, not harder,” my shooting companion and I found another way to hunt the birds.
Knowing the local area and farmers all my life, we set up in a haybale blind between the river and the field with 15 full-body decoys. The honkers had to fly right over us to reach their usual feeding field.
With a bit of calling and flagging, we coaxed quite a few to inspect our setup and enjoyed steady action.
I even got to sleep in my comfortable bed, too.
Up until the early 1960s, Aroostook waterfowlers seldom saw a goose, with puddle ducks being the main quarry. Then biologists began trapping, transporting and transplanting nuisance geese from southern Maine and other New England states.
Those small flocks grew and dispersed throughout Aroostook. This fall marks the 30th anniversary of Maine’s native goose hunting season.
The early season, followed by the regular Canada goose season, gives local waterfowlers more than three months of hunting, clear into December if the weather cooperates.
While black bear season has always been the preeminent September attraction for regional hunters, goose hunting is garnering increased popularity with every passing year. More and more Crown of Maine sportsmen, as well as southern Maine and out-of-state outdoorsmen, travel to Aroostook to take advantage of the opportunity.
Hunting keen-eyed, wary Canada geese provides a true wing-shooting challenge, and four weeks of an early season adds variety to bear hunting and late-season fishing this month. Many of the local birds are young, making them easier to fool with decoys and good calling than the October and November flyway birds migrating through Maine that have been shot at regularly along their route. The eight-bird daily limit during the early season is another asset.
Five days after opening day, another group of hunters beat us to a field.
Three of us and a very enthusiastic four-legged companion arrived at a pre-scouted cut grain field at about 4:30 a.m., at least an hour before legal shooting time. To our amazement and disappointment, two trucks were parked on the field access road and several bouncing headlamps shimmered among a distant decoy setup.
We found out later that the group consisted of a guide from downstate and four sports paying him for a hunt. They had arrived and set up the decoys and blinds at 2:30 a.m.
Disgusted but not deterred, our quartet drove a couple of miles to a small, woods-shrouded, reed-lined farm pond and set out a few floating decoys.
From previous fall scouting, I’d learned that after morning feeding time, many birds would use this pond for midday rest and relaxation before winging out for an afternoon snack and then heading back to their roost pond for the night.
Thank goodness we had a well-trained retriever along, or this option would have been untenable.
I’m not sure how well the hunters in the first field did. We could hear scattered shooting, but we had a great morning.
Regularly, a flock of honkers would arrive overhead after there was shooting in the other field, and we called and coaxed quite a few into range.
There are a plethora of geese throughout the Crown of Maine, and a lot of hunters as well, some with outlandish hunting ideas and agendas. Fortunately, there are thousands of huntable crop fields and hundreds of lakes, ponds, rivers, swales and swamps that attract them.
Goose hunting may become an addictive pastime, and while it’s not too expensive to get started, most experienced hunters agree it’s worth every cent and every hour expended.
