As I age, I find I do more catch and release while fishing or enjoy watching others take the first shot during a hunt. One bragging-sized trout or salmon on a fly I tied myself is far better than a full creel caught on a commercially tied pattern. Calling in a flock of geese or ducks to watch a rookie down his first bird outshines a limit for myself.
Growing up in Aroostook County, I became a waterfowl hunter in the early 1960s. There were lots of ducks on regional ponds and streams, but no Canada Geese. I traveled to Maryland, Connecticut and New Brunswick to hunt these huge, wary birds and became obsessed with it. Migration routes shifted and flocks began to rest and feed each fall in my region until snow and freezing weather forced them farther south.
A dozen or so years ago, having enjoyed hundreds of hunts with family and friends, I decided to upgrade my autumn experience by trying to bag at least one goose with every legal gauge of shotgun.
There’s about a 50-50 chance the flocks you’ve scouted will return to the field where you saw them, let alone be fooled by decoys and calls or fly close enough for a shot. A Canada goose has eyesight 10 times better than a human’s, so imagine how well a flock of a dozen or more birds with such acute vision spots danger.
I worked my way through the big 10-gauge, the 12, the lesser known 16 and then the 20-gauge shotguns.
I’d known that the lighter loads and smaller pellets for the 28 and .410 gauges would be the most demanding shooting. My buddies all knew about my quest, offering to let me shoot first at any geese that flew inside the 25-yard limit I’d set. If I wounded a bird that kept flying, backup shooters with the big guns would prevent losing a crippled goose.
I downed two geese with each of the smaller gauges with quick, clean shots. Toward the end of the season, I used a black powder shotgun to bag geese from two separate flocks one afternoon.
The challenge made my whole season more exciting and gratifying, although somewhat humbling, than past seasons.
With that success behind me, last fall, I decided to try to shoot my limit of geese, two birds daily, with each of the legal gauges using only double-barrel shotguns.
Since my last challenge, I had added over/under .410 and 16 gauge guns to my inventory, but did not realize how difficult it would be to locate a double-barrel 10 gauge. I finally found the Ithaca NID 10 gauge with side by side barrels that was manufactured in 1937. Only 887 of them were produced over a three-year period. It arrived less than two weeks before the season began.
I’d decided I would use the .410 and 28 shotguns first this time because they are the most difficult and could require multiple outings.
Two buddies and I set up my hay bale blind about 3 p.m. in early October in a cut grain field. It was 62 degrees, breezy and intermittent sun and clouds. Our fake flock of 46 full-body and silhouette decoys were about 25 yards from where we hid. I had set 35 yards as my outer shooting limit. Within 15 minutes a pair of geese showed up at the far end of the field and made a beeline for our decoys.
I picked the closest bird as the duo set their wings and the diminutive pop of my .410 was followed by the boom of my friend’s 12 gauge and both birds tumbled from the sky. The next group arrived 20 minutes later, but the birds were skittish and circled wide offering me no shore shot. My hunting friends dropped three.
Another flock swung by for a look but didn’t commit. Suddenly there was a honk right overhead. Three birds had arrived silently, and I threw open the cover of the blind and took one of the geese that was set to land about 20 yards away.
My every-gauge goose hunt ended exactly 14 hunting days from my start date, excluding Sundays. There were seven outings, although one produced no geese. On the other six, I managed the daily limit in order from small bore to big bore scatter guns.
Besides the short time span, the accomplishment was made more memorable by three doubles, bagging a goose with each barrel of my 16-, 12- and 10-gauge guns from one flock on consecutive hunts.
The very unique cherry on my goose shooting sundae was tumbling a pair of honkers with one shot from my Ruger Red Label 20-gauge.
Several of my goose hunting buddies and a few other waterfowling friends are talking about doing their own every-gauge ventures. Others are thinking about getting their limit of geese and ducks on the same day, or perhaps bagging six species of ducks on an outing.
Hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing, outdoor photography, birding and a dozen other woods and waters pursuits are fun, but after a few decades perhaps you’re seeking a bit more of a challenge. Take a page from my book. Alter your methods and goals a bit, and it’s likely to improve your drive, determination and delight in your favorite outdoor activities.
