Dave Richey OUTDOORS

A goose is a goose, but a giant Canada honker is one big black-and-white bird. They come, on occasion, to the call or a flock of decoys on the ground but it's nothing you can ever make book on. Of course, much depends on where you live.

Most of Michigan's giant Canada geese live in the metropolitan Detroit areaand across the southern two tiers of counties. They are the birds that cottage owners always thought were soooo cool to have around, but few people share that attitude these days. If there is anything a goose does well, it's poop. Copious amounts.

They cover lawns, golf courses and farm fields with the slimy excrement, and once birds start using a corn or oat field to feed, the only way to drive them away is to shoot them. Try firecrackers, and the birds take off, cock their wings, circle back around and start feeding where they were before being so rudely interrupted.

These birds look like flying boxcars when bearing down on your blind. Things can be a bit messy if you hunt out in the open, covered from head to toe in camouflage, and getting spattered occasionally is part of the outdoor experience, although it's one most people would not wish to experience on a regular basis.

The early goose season opens on Sept. 1 in certain state areas. Consult maps and detailed information from  the 2009 waterfowl season information or from local DNR offices.

These can be very big birds and a 12-pounder looks mighty large as it comes honking through the air, head craning back and forth as they circle a potential feeding area, muttering and honking to other geese in the air or on the ground, and if they are satisfied, in they come like a horde of B-52 bombers. Get one of these birds within 20 yards, and they look immense.

Early Goose season starts September 1

Much of the hunting takes place on dry land. If you intend to hunt, keep these thoughts in mind:

• Unless you are an excellent goose caller, leave the calls home and depend on the standing crops and decoys to toll the birds within shooting range. Many goose hunters blow calls that sound like a ruptured crow, and all the toodling they do only educates the geese.
• Scour the nearby ground area and make certain there are no candy wrappers or Thermos bottles laying around. Shiny brass bases on shotgun shells or other shiny objects glint in the sunlight, and if geese spot them, they will fly away.
• Only one person should be watching the circling geese. They often make two or three circles before deciding it is all clear. The other hunters should wear camo face masks and gloves, and keep their head down. The person who is calling and watching the circling birds should say "Now," and the geese's position should be given to alert the hunters where to look before shooting.
• The bag limit is five birds, and state hunters have had five-bird limits often since the early goose season was established nearly 30 years ago.

This is one sport where the supply of Canada geese far outnumber the people who hunt them. Taking two or three limits of geese from a farmer's field will win you a stout pat on the back and a heart-felt "attaboy."

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors