How my fall went

savagelh

savagelh

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
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Location
Saskatoon Saskatchewan
I was just sitting here recapping my fall and thought I'd share it.
Everything started out well with me tagging my first ever deer with archery tackle, A muley doe at 51 yards. I made a great shot and she didn't go very far.
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I also did quite well for sharptails and hungarian partridge in September and early October. I was out for one goose hunt (which I think will be my last) I got a few but injured way too many. Steel shot is garbage.

I got a few coyotes in chicken season with the 17 hmr which as it turns out is way too small for big sask coyotes. None of them died instantly, I ended up tracking all 5 and using a finishing shot with the 12 gauge.

I found some cool new spots in a part of the province I just started hunting in last year.

I did a little hunting with the muzzleloader but didn't see the big boy close enough for a shot.

I shot my whitetail on the 6th of november. He's a decent buck a 5x5 that grosses 149" I shot him at 125 yards with the .308. He's no monster but I couldn't be too picky this year as I didn't have a lot of time to get out. I also saw a nice bull moose the same day that had one antler broken off.
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I was out hunting with dad on nov. 29th and shot a gopher with the 22-250, I figure thats noteworthy. It was a very dry and warm fall here which seemed to screw up the rut a little bit. All the bucks were very inconsistant with the time they started to rut. We were seeing bachelor groups of bucks into the beginning of December.

All in all it was a great year. Now its time for the coyotes to look out because I'm planning on getting out lots this winter. Soon enough I'll be out pounding the buck brush for sheds.

Hopefully next year I'll do better in the big game draw and I should get drawn for antelope and hopefully moose in zone 24.
Happy Holidays.
 
Sounds decent to me. If your having troubles with the geese, maybe let them get in a bit closer, tighten up your choke, or switch to a bigger shot size, or all of the above. I have wounded a bird or two with steel, but not in the ratios you speak of. I am sure if you work at it, there is a way you can get your kill to cripple ratio up. A good dog will also help in bringing the crippled ones back for you too.
 
220Swifty said:
Sounds decent to me. If your having troubles with the geese, maybe let them get in a bit closer, tighten up your choke, or switch to a bigger shot size, or all of the above. I have wounded a bird or two with steel, but not in the ratios you speak of. I am sure if you work at it, there is a way you can get your kill to cripple ratio up. A good dog will also help in bringing the crippled ones back for you too.
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Hmmm...not sure tightening the choke would be the answer......many shotguns shoot steel better with more open chokes but you are correct that it would be worth playing around with chokes and patterning the gun to see which choke offers the best performance plus shooting at closer ranges.

Looks like an awesome season savage...congrats. I just came off one of my toughest seasons ever including being skunked on three what were basically dream hunts for me.......it just seemed Lady Luck was not my friend this year!
 
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Looks like you had a great hunting season!

I agree with the 220 and SH, I wouldn't give up on the goose hunting yet, pattern your gun and let them get closer. You may want to shoot a few rounds of clays with steel, you might have to adjust your lead. Steel sucks, but if you make the right adjustments it shouldn't be bad enough to walk away from it.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I still don't know if I'll go after geese again though. I'll probably keep buying licences but thats it. I'm shooting a rem 1100 3" gun that had a full choke but was opened up for steel. It seems to pattern quite well but I just can't seem to knock them down. I know I'm peppering the birds as I can hear pellets rattle feathers so I know they're probably just going to die back on the water later.
I'm also not a huge fan of goose meat! LOL I like it in jerky but thats about it.
As for getting a dog for retrieval I plan on it someday but my life's just not in the right place yet. It would be unfair to the dog. I can't wait to have a chocolate lab someday though.
 
savagelh said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I still don't know if I'll go after geese again though. I'll probably keep buying licences but thats it. I'm shooting a rem 1100 3" gun that had a full choke but was opened up for steel. It seems to pattern quite well but I just can't seem to knock them down. I know I'm peppering the birds as I can hear pellets rattle feathers so I know they're probably just going to die back on the water later.
I'm also not a huge fan of goose meat! LOL I like it in jerky but thats about it.
As for getting a dog for retrieval I plan on it someday but my life's just not in the right place yet. It would be unfair to the dog. I can't wait to have a chocolate lab someday though.
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Geese are a big bird and for the novice hunter, usually appear much closer than they actually are. I'd suggest letting them get in closer and you'll find that steel does work pretty well. If you are pass shooting where allowing them to get closer is not an option, then you may want to try some tungsten or similar alternative but even then, they have to be in range. Steel definitely doesn't have the range that lead did or tungsten does but we are only talking about a 20 yard difference. I've seen lots of people pound away at geese and rattle lead pellets off them with no effect either. Neither sucks, they just need to be used within their performance limitations. Don't give up on it, just modify what you are doing!
 
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