Pennsylvania Game News - September 2019 - 18

By driving around on mornings during
this early season and using a pair of quality binoculars, you can readily locate
places that are attracting geese. Find a
fresh-cut cornfield, a recently mowed
hayfield, or a well-clipped cow pasture,
and know that Canadas likely will be
feeding there soon.

timing
For most hunters pursuing geese in
September, it's all about the mornings.
Geese often will leave their roosting
locations in the first hour after sunrise
and fly directly toward the field where
they fed the day before.
Being ready to take advantage when
birds arrive is critical, as it's unlikely
other flights or flocks will be arriving
later in the morning.
Allow at least an hour to get set up
and settled in.
During the warmer days of September, geese are more settled and "lazy"
compared to colder fall days, when they
feed frantically and fly around a lot more
during the day.

early season
The September season for resident
Canada Geese this year runs from Monday,
Sept. 2 (Labor Day) to Wednesday, Sept. 25.
The statewide daily limit is eight geese,
with special regulations in the Southern
James Bay Population Zone, located in the
northwestern corner of the state along
the Ohio border, as well as at the Middle
Creek Wildlife Management Area in the
southeastern part of the state.
To hunt geese, individuals need a hunting license, a federal waterfowl stamp, and
the state migratory bird license.
Hunters must fill out a Harvest Information Program survey when purchasing
their licenses. The survey helps to track
waterfowl hunting and harvest.
18

Typically by mid-morning, feeding
geese will leave the field and fly back to
water to get a drink and spend the middle
of the day resting.
If your scouting reveals a good midday loafing location, or a special place
where geese feed during evenings, by all
means give it a try.
Just remember that you may only have
one opportunity with geese, unless there
are multiple flocks around that visit a
common location.

decoys
If you have a flock of 20 geese coming
to a cut cornfield or hayfield, there is no
need to put out a spread of two dozen
decoys to convince the geese to return
to this spot.
In fact, a large decoy spread could
have an opposite effect if the geese flying
over aren't keen on competition.
Less often is more, and giving the
birds space to spread out is critical.
Watching feeding flocks while scouting should give you an idea of how to set
up your decoys. During warm weather,
the birds usually are spaced far apart
while feeding and likely will be with
their family groups of adults and a few
youngsters.
Two separate feeding groups of a halfdozen decoys is a pretty good approximation of what real birds like to see in
September.
Full-body and silhouette decoys work
equally well if they're in good condition
and look realistic. Old decoys with faded
paint might need touched up before use.
If you don't have decoys, plenty of
deals on dozen-decoy sets can be found
online or in stores, and searching the
classifieds is never a bad idea. Be sure
to put out a variety of decoys in different
poses, with many head-down birds that

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2019

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