“If a guy spends thousands of dollars on the 200 lures you see in some fields, and he bought a trailer to lug them around, he invested,” Finger said. “He has the final say on whether you can be grounded. If a goose ends up there in the spread, the chances of you encountering it and missing all the lures are quite low. If someone has a strong feeling that you`re not shooting, you can`t be “the guy” to shoot. You`re going to hurt everybody`s experience. For more information on federal waterfowl hunting regulations, visit the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement in fws.gov/le/waterfowl-hunting-and-baiting.html. Finger said shooting decisions aren`t just about ethics, fair hunting and personal preference. Dogs and lures are also important. No one who owns one or both wants them shot. Finger said that as soon as a dog locks the blind man, the shooting must stop.
And while shotgun bullets can`t kill a decoy, they can ruin it. I could say that shooting ducks and geese on the wing is sometimes more effective than hitting the ground. After all, a mallard that is buried on your spread, the chest is exposed, is a better target than a buffalo head floating in the chop, with only 1 square inch of vital area (brain) exposed. (Seriously, have you tried smuggling butterballs when it`s wavy? You`d better keep cats.) I could also point out that shooting birds is dangerous in many situations, especially in crowded swamps or wildlife sanctuaries where other hunters may be about 100 metres away. Remember to take all possible safety precautions. A fall into the water at this time of year would likely be life-threatening. Clark proposes the following situations in which hunters may unknowingly violate waterfowl hunting regulations and face criminal penalties: (S) It is legal for veterans and members of the armed forces on active duty, including members of the National Guard and reservists on active duty, to hunt ducks, mergansers, geese and coots on 1 and 2 October; to take and own. 2022 nationally according to this rule. For the purposes of this rule, “veteran,” “active duty,” and “armed forces” have the same meanings as defined in 38 C.F.R. 101 (2017). (I) It is legal for persons seventeen years of age or younger to hunt, capture and possess ducks, mergansers, geese and coots throughout the country on October 1 and 2, 2022 in accordance with this rule. This season is known as waterfowl season for young.
Every person under seventeen years of age must be accompanied by a non-hunting person eighteen years of age or older. In addition, persons eighteen years of age or older who have the right to hunt under paragraph L of this Regulation may hunt and accompany a person who hunts in accordance with this paragraph. (K) It is illegal for anyone to hunt ducks, geese and brant geese without a valid federal migratory bird stamp validated by the person`s signature on the ink stamp or forty-five days after the date of purchase, a valid receipt for a federal electronic duck stamp or an electronic stamp. Finger encourages hunters to contact their state`s wildlife department to enroll in an advanced shotgun shooting course. The Wisconsin DNR charges $25 for the course, three of which are scheduled for July and August. “You`re not going to find better value,” Finger said. “The three main causes of casualties are poor shooting, poor distance estimation and poor selection of weapons and ammunition. These courses are of considerable help. Taylor Finger, a migratory ecologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said most hunters prefer geese that pull wings, but few become self-righteous when they shoot one after landing.
“If someone lands in the decoys, I get up and step forward to wash and shoot the goose,” Finger said. “I went home empty-handed too often after sitting and watching a bird in the decoys. If I gave him a chance to escape, I would throw him on the ground or into the water. (A) Throughout the State, it is unlawful for any person to hunt, kill, injure, take or attempt to take or possess any of the birds specified in this rule, except as provided in this Regulation or other rules of the Administrative Code. For the purposes of this rule, the state is divided into northern, southern, and swampy areas of Lake Erie for hunting ducks, barnacles, harganes, coots, and geese. He was right. In the huge scheme, it makes no difference if one hunter`s wing draws its limit of six ducks in the classic way, while another pops six birds while they swim to his lures. The bottom line is 12 dead ducks. And I guess the ducks don`t care how they died.
“This was the most common and unethical problem I saw as a supervisor when working with waterfowl,” Nuse said. “And the more populated an area was, the worse the destruction of the sky became. The first to shoot always thinks they are closer than they are, and then it spreads across the swamp. You need to practice estimating the range. For training, we used to hoist decoys in the trees and let the hunters enjoy the area. Personally, I rarely go that far when I think about the subject. I just like to shoot the wing a lot more than hitting the ground. Yes, I shudder when I miss a difficult target from the air, but that`s part of the game. I`d rather whistle in front of an exploding blue beak than swim a seemingly unhappy red duck through the blocks.
Nevertheless, I know a few people who have no objection to ground crashing and even prefer to do it with geese during field hunting. Also, a pragmatist might point out that water-beaten ducks probably only have pellets in their heads, which could make them better. And a historian of our sport would quickly admit that the first North American waterfowl hunters probably didn`t waste too many arrows or other projectiles killing flying birds. Instead, they probably ambushed or filtered them whenever possible, as they only cared about livelihoods, not the concept of fair play. On Long Island, you can hunt ducks, coots and snow geese from January 26 to March 8. I recently received a question from someone I assume is a waterfowl who wanted to know what the rules are for discharging a gun near an apartment when you`re hunting for ducks. “Context is important,” Tantillo said. “The ethics and aesthetics of waterfowl are really interesting. Use your calls and place your decoys – that`s what some guys do. It is their pleasure, their challenge. You don`t need to shoot every goose that attracts or prevents every goose from escaping. But for me, I have no problem taking head pictures.
The more I hunt geese, the more I learned to love it. Now it`s much more about meat. During a season, we put almost the equivalent of a goose breast in the freezer. But the main reason, of course, is that birds that hit the ground, as Gordon MacQuarrie wrote, are “a bit rough.” That is, killing a duck or flying goose requires much more skill than shooting at a stationary target. Today, very few people depend on waterfowl or game for their livelihood. Recreational hunting is all about experience, and to improve that experience, we establish rules and codes of conduct that make things more difficult.