Hunting Question

[AJFedak]

I have been Black Powder waterfowl hunting for over 40 years. Prior to that I used modern firearms, so I have all the decoys (some purchased, some handmade). I started shooting lead and switched to bismuth (now shoot ITX) shot. Yes it is expensive, but I would be willing to bet that the cost per harvested duck is lower than the "Sky-busting-long-range-think-they-can-reach-'em-while empting-the-gun" shooters out there. I have harvested, ducks, Canada geese, Ross geese, and Sandhill cranes using 10ga, 12ga cap-locks and 16 gauge flintlock.
I met up with a fellow black powder waterfowlers in Katy, Texas for sandhill crane and snow/spec/blue/Ross goose hunting. We had a great time, lying flat in a wet rice paddy while it was raining.

As for being easy-- I think you have it wrong, field cameras, sitting in tree stand / ground blind and wait for deer to come into range, boring. Turkey hunting is a challenge; but waterfowl, requires proper scouting, setting up the enticing decoy spread with the right amount of decoys, calling the ducks within shooting range without spooking them.

Bucket list: East coast swans and sea ducks with a muzzle loader.

 

[Feltwad]

I have been Black Powder waterfowl hunting for over 40 years. Prior to that I used modern firearms, so I have all the decoys (some purchased, some handmade). I started shooting lead and switched to bismuth (now shoot ITX) shot. Yes it is expensive, but I would be willing to bet that the cost per harvested duck is lower than the "Sky-busting-long-range-think-they-can-reach-'em-while empting-the-gun" shooters out there. I have harvested, ducks, Canada geese, Ross geese, and Sandhill cranes using 10ga, 12ga cap-locks and 16 gauge flintlock.
I met up with a fellow black powder waterfowlers in Katy, Texas for sandhill crane and snow/spec/blue/Ross goose hunting. We had a great time, lying flat in a wet rice paddy while it was raining.

As for being easy-- I think you have it wrong, field cameras, sitting in tree stand / ground blind and wait for deer to come into range, boring. Turkey hunting is a challenge; but waterfowl, requires proper scouting, setting up the enticing decoy spread with the right amount of decoys, calling the ducks within shooting range without spooking them.

Bucket list: East coast swans and sea ducks with a muzzle loader.

Well said when geese are calling coming into the decoys it gets the adrenaline running
Feltwad

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I certain parts of the country, waterfowl hunting is quite popular, however, the Duck Commander crap on TV has got most guys into the mindset of you got to go "BOOM,BOOM,BOOM!" reload and do it again. Once again, the advertisers are dominating the sport because you have to have this certain gun and this certain ammo and this certain boat and on and on..... Nothing is ever said or shown about what can be done with BP. Those who are not knowledgeable don't want the "hassle" of shooting black powder and their fathers never taught them about it either, so they have no first hand knowledge. Therefore, BP shooting fades further away.

 

[sawyer04]

Duck and goose hunting is good around here however I don't like to eat either so don't hunt them

I don't care for the meat either, however I have had some good Christmas goose in my younger years, 60 years ago. I wonder if it is what they have to eat in this day and age.

 

[Brokennock]

I never liked goose meat either....
Until a friend of mine, who cooks and processes more game than anyone I know, started making kielbasa out of it. Browned then cooked through in the slow cooker with some of his homemade sauerkraut,,,, oh man, I could eat that every day.
I like duck meat, of ducks that have been eating mast and grain, once they eat fish they are worthless on the table. I stopped hunting ducks, with any device, because without a good retriever we were loosing too many. Even though we hunted "wadeable" creeks and flooded timber on the edge of cut corn fields, all too often that duck was went down that one step too far in whatever direction and I'd end up up to my neck in ice water with full waders. I can't stand leaving wounded or killed and lost game behind.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Wild ducks and geese are best turned into meatloaf, sausage or burgers in my opinion.

 

[azmntman]

I have hunted waterfowl with BP many many times. I have learned to do it alone as the CF buddys get overly excited as I sta there reloading and they are trying to call the ducks back around. Reasons I have slowed are:

#1 I AM FAT AND LAZY. I truly wanna get back into it but the 4:30 AM decoy set up scares the hell outta me these days. I need a new raft and I WILL BE BACK.

#2 Lead shot kills stuff dead and dead for cheap. Bismuth and Hevi Shot are truly too expensive to buy. I will get me some, fool with skychief load, get a raft and report back in 2021. see ya then

 

[Feltwad]

Duck tastes the best when they are feeding of barley stubbles and taste the worst when hard weather sets in and they feed of the sewage beds has for geese that feed on the grass fields and also the potato and sugar beet fields are also good eating , I am not keen on Canadas they are best mixed with pork and season in sausages .
Feltwad

 

[Robby]

Canadas also make good jerky.
Robby

 

[Carbon 6]

.while populations of ducks are at historical highs,

Could have fooled me, When I was young, it was nothing to see huge flocks fly over. This year I saw 4 ducks all year.
I've been seeing fewer and fewer ducks over the years. I don't see them on ponds or small streams like I use to.
I live next to a body of water, I have thought about raising ducks, hoping to attract some, or at least so I could see some.

 

[Brokennock]

Could have fooled me, When I was young, it was nothing to see huge flocks fly over. This year I saw 4 ducks all year.
I've been seeing fewer and fewer ducks over the years. I don't see them on ponds or small streams like I use to.
I live next to a body of water, I have thought about raising ducks, hoping to attract some, or at least so I could see some.

The eggs are another good reason to keep some of your own.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

if you use steel the repros with steel barrels are ok

Um........ beware of the "blanket statement". Even with modern guns, steel isn't always "OK".

Your repro needs to be rated by the manufacturer for steel. Some of the older repro SxS are not meant for steel, especially if they were made before steel was mandatory in the US, one has a good chance of finding out the gun isn't supposed to use steel and damaging it.

Further, if you have a ML shotgun that is OK for steel, but has screw-in chokes, better be sure the chokes are also rated for steel. This is true for modern shotguns as well, and some ML shotguns fitted for screw-in chokes accept after-market chokes. I had a great day with a modern, exposed hammer 12 gauge with screw in chokes. Shot a lot of geese with steel that day. Couldn't get the chokes out to clean the shotgun. Discovered they were peened into the muzzles as they were not rated for steel. (Steel choke tubes were sold separately by the manufacturer - should've read the entire instruction book ) OH well, lopped off the muzzles a bit and used that gun for Cowboy Action Shooting.

So here in the states, as mentioned, you have good waterfowling and poor waterfowling. My brother and his sons got nearly a dozen ducks last week in New Mexico. Maryland duck hunting is blah. Canada geese are plentiful, but there are many areas where one cannot hunt them and they figure that out.

With a ML, not every shot cup works well with black powder. I found out that my standard AA brand and Remington brand shot cups, for fixed shotshells, melt when used with black powder or with Pyrodex. And its a massive pain in the arse to get that plastic out.

Then you have the speed of hunting that a lot of guys are used to, coupled with the tech and the laws. So using a ML it's either SxS or single-shot. Even compared to breech loading single shot shotguns, ML's are quite slow. Many states you can't have more than one gun per person in the blind, and customarily we don't use "loaders" here. So they simply aren't popular, and it was as expensive as using a modern shell for a time. (I resorted to using paper cartridges when hunting upland birds while hunting with fellows using modern shotguns )

However shot companies are responding. I've noted that they are now making "steel" shot from soft iron, and plating that with zinc, and the price for that type of shot including shipping has come down to about a twenty cents be shell, or in our case per load. This is a great improvement over the past, and much better economics that the modern chaps get. So I'd say black powder waterfowling may see an increase in the coming years.

OH and for the chaps that don't like wild goose, you may need to try a different method of cooking. You probably will find that larding and brining will do the trick. And proper larding is not putting a layer of bacon over the outside of the bird in the roasting pan.

LD

 

[Feltwad]

Loyalist Dave
When I mentioned steel barrels I meant those with true cylinder barrels and not screwed in chokes to use steel in barrels with this non traditional choke is asking for trouble ,also the use of plastic wads is almost has bad and ruined barrels which causes barrel ripple which I witnessed many times used not only for steel but also lead .
Feltwad

 

[Loyalist Dave]

…,plastic wads is almost has bad and ruined barrels which causes barrel ripple ...

I did not know that. I only had problems with the plastic.

LD

 

[ugly old guy]

Personally, I have to wonder just how effective an ml bp shotgun would be trying to reach those high flying ducks.

Meh ... They were effective enough for hundreds of years before breech loading scatterguns and smokeless powder shot shells were invented.

Even today, shot shell boxes still give the old "BP equivalent" load in drams of powder.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I talked to a couple of guys once who told me that Canada goose is best made into sausage and then it is fabulous. He didn't say what sausage though.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Don’t cook a goose like you would a chicken or turkey, they are not the same and results will be very poor. Cook a goose by slicing breasts thin, rolling in flour and frying in garlic butter. OR cutting into cubes and rolling in Franks hot sauce and baking. OR adding to peppers, cream cheese as poppers. OR slicing and making jerky. OR grinding into chilli or taco meat. The thighs are real good with the bone removed and rolled in a coating then deep fried. If you want a sausage, get an actual goose sausage recipe off the internet. Traditional sausage recipes are not great with goose.
From an original born Saskatchewan “heart of the goose mecca” prairie boy, who has shot and eaten far too many to count.
Walk

 

[Britsmoothy]

One method of Canada goose cooking I employ is to get a huge oven pan that not only contains the bird whole but two cleaned house bricks too.
In a hot oven roast the bird for at least nine hours basting all the time.
When nine hours has passed remove from the oven and promptly trash the bird and eat the bricks!

 

[Dave Marsh]

Many years ago (44 to be exact) I shot a Canadian goose and we decided to have it for Thanksgiving dinner. My wife was hesitant but being the big hunter who eats what he shoots I of course insisted. Well unfortunately I forgot the bricks so we ended up picking up a pizza. Thanked God that day that the pizza place was open on Thanksgiving.

Dave

 

[jrmflintlock]

Walkingeagle, you have me wanting to go out and try shooting a few geese!! Sounds yummy.

Not many geese where I’m at but I knew a guy who used to go after them. Jump shoot them on the river. I may have to try it!