# Shooting geese on the water



## MarshEO1973 (Mar 31, 2005)

Can someone settle an argument for me? Is shooting geese on the water illegal? I said it was a buddy says it is unsportsmanlike ,but legal. Please help.


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## onebad800 (Apr 28, 2003)

yes you can ,sometimes your forced to with cripples.


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## MarshEO1973 (Mar 31, 2005)

Thank you, I guess I was wrong. Better safe than sorry though.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

It's deer that you can't shoot while they are in the water.


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## Jethro (May 8, 2003)

```
Is shooting geese on the water illegal?
```
...not illegal
accually with my crew, it's required


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## deputy (Feb 2, 2002)

It's deer that you can't shoot while they are in the water.
__________________


actually as long as there not swiming you can shoot them in the water! it is legal


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## ahartz (Dec 28, 2000)

It is legal to do this, sporting??...fair chase???...but legal..andy


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## Kevlar (Jul 21, 2004)

IT should be.... 

Some of us call hunting over water "ROOST Busting". To me hunting over water is just like doing a deer drive on opening morning. YOu just don't do it. You screw, everybody in the area. but now a days the "just about me" attitude runs rampid. Better senerio, (of course this one takes a little work) Find the fields they are using in the area, get permission and keep jumping around field to field and steady get action. Shoot the roost once never see them again and screw everybody else in the area. Just my opinion.

Kevlar


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## Buck-in-Rut (Apr 20, 2003)

Kevlar said:


> IT should be....
> 
> Some of us call hunting over water "ROOST Busting". To me hunting over water is just like doing a deer drive on opening morning. YOu just don't do it. You screw, everybody in the area. but now a days the "just about me" attitude runs rampid. Better senerio, (of course this one takes a little work) Find the fields they are using in the area, get permission and keep jumping around field to field and steady get action. Shoot the roost once never see them again and screw everybody else in the area. Just my opinion.
> 
> Kevlar


 :lol: Now that is funny stuff. So, what you are saying is that only the guys with permission to hunt a hot field should have a crack at the geese. Not all water hunting is "roost busting". There are many spots around that the geese don't roost overnight, but will spend the afternoon loafing around between feeding times. Ambushing them in spots like this is NO different than ambushing them on a field they have been feeding on. The geese belong to ALL of us, not just the guy with the ONLY cut wheat field in town. 

BTW, I like hunting a good field as much as the next guy, but seeing as though none of the ones I have permission for are cut yet.........I'll be "ROOST BUSTIN'" :lol:


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## sprigdog (Jan 29, 2004)

I'm fortunate to have plenty of fields but if i didnt and had the opportunity to get a good shoot over water, i'd do it in a second. yep, in a perfect world everyone would have their own wheat/oat field for the early season, then get your corn field when they take it off. But with 50,000 goose hunters in this state aint gonna happen. people that complain about "roost busting" dont no how good they probably got it, got a good field etc. how bout we all drive to the roost lakes find out who's hunting them and invite them to the fields with us? naw, probably easier just to let them hunt it and wait til the birds 50miles to the north get roost busted and take their place. Finding your own field can be hard, i can sell ice to an eskimo, but some folks are terrified of the word no.

To all the goose hunters in the state, whether your "roost busting" or in 20X4 pits buried in the ground on a major flyway, GOOD LUCK....and remember BBB is the key.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

"Roost Busting"  I've been waterfowling for 20 years and this is the first time I've ever heard that term. Does the same term apply for ducks??


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## Kevlar (Jul 21, 2004)

I wanted to mention we do have a big roost we have sole permission to hunt. We hunt this on the LAST day of the season and do good. Even though its always a good hunt, I could live without that hunt every year. It usually take about 10 - 14 day for the birds to start coming back. Of course this is inland lakes i'm talking about. No other way of goose hunting effects the geese like "roost busting" that is all my point was. After all it is just my opinion, and I aint always right....:lol: 

Kevlar


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## mydogisscout (Jun 24, 2005)

was is it legal/sportsman-like to kill birds on the water. In my opinion, especially with young hunters, and beginners it is better for them to shoot on the ground or water so they get hooked. nothing like a new hunter getting discouraged about missing all the time. as for us older, more experienced hunters, we know how steel shot is, and we've all seen the flocks of cripples left over after season ends. (fish point is a prime example) I would rather make a clean kill on the water or ground than have a hit bird sail 200 or more yards away before falling, or crippling another bird and taking the chance that it'll get away from the dog. so is it unsportsman-like???? you decide what's best for you, and stick to it.
just my 2 cents.


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## Old Hunter (Jan 21, 2002)

YES it is legal but not too sportsmen like unless its a cripple.


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## michigander88 (Aug 15, 2000)

Very well said Kevlar, about the "just about me" attitude that runs wild. Over the last 4 or 5 yrs I've noticed a huge increase in people hunting roost ponds or doing whatever they have to do to kill geese


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## Huntsman27 (Sep 29, 2004)

To kill them. Eat them........and make stuff from the feathers. Who cares where you shoot them. You hunt the fields, we hunt the water, I am not there to let the geese come and land and loaf, just like your not there to feed them, and plump them up for me to shoot right?


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## Waser Hund (May 27, 2005)

I have killed 5 geese myself in 2 days of water hunting. Nuff said. You guys kill me with this roost busting and messing up everyone else. What about the Skybusters all around on friday? I don't see anyone talking about how they are messing things up. The Geese are there, I shoot them and the DNR says its legal, This is only a topic for the morality police from this board. The skybusters in their grandmpa's field that scare these geese so they land on the golf course and won't move for the rest of the year. There is nothing illegal or ethically wrong with hunting over water PERIOD !!!


This is a bad argument. What next ??? Can we not field hunt for Ducks since they are going there to eat ? You guys will start call guys like me a "Dinner Table Buster" 

Wow !!! Some people have alot of nerve.


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## weatherby (Mar 26, 2001)

michigander88 said:


> Very well said Kevlar, about the "just about me" attitude that runs wild. Over the last 4 or 5 yrs I've noticed a huge increase in people hunting roost ponds or doing whatever they have to do to kill geese



I agree. I hunt in a very high pressured goose area and every morning you can hear numerous guys bustin em off the roost as soon as shooting time begins. We do have permission to do this at a golf course and we have shot them off the course everyday and they still keep coming back and have shot them off a water treatment pond to where we never had a goose on it till the next spring. So it actually depends on the water. I was thinkin today it would be nice to move the shootin time back even more in order to let the geese get off the water in the AM and 2 geese per day to cut down on the double dippers that get a limit every am and pm. Maybe that way we will get our population to where it should be again


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## mydogisscout (Jun 24, 2005)

Old Hunter said:


> YES it is legal but not too sportsmen like unless its a cripple.


So I guess what your saying is that if your new and can't hit them in the air, you can't hunt and be a sportsman? I thought being a "Sportsman" was ensuring a quick, clean kill??? :16suspect You must be a god if you've never lost a crippled bird or even crippled one. maybe you've never been to fish point in december and witnessed 100 or more cripples sittin on the ice? what kind of god are you to decide what's "Sportsman-like"? Come to MY field, or blind and run your mouth, and I'll show you Sportsman-like.  this sport has no room for people like you.

Sgt Matt Gaydou
U.S. Army
SPORTSMAN!


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Am I missing something here, in regards to this "roost busting" phenom?? I don't understand the rationale behind not shooting geese on or over the water. Why does it matter where they get shot, in a field or on the water? You're doing the same thing which is "educate" birds. You think because there's food there, they'll come back day after day anyway, after you blast 'em? I just don't get it. Killing birds is all about, being in the right place at the right time.


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## lwingwatcher (Mar 25, 2001)

Wow....I get busy for a few days (killin geese and reroofing the house) and it looks like I missed out on a pretty hot thread....oh well.

But, I gotta ask, what about the roosts where the land owner wants them out of there and if you don't help out---he will have somebody else do it? Ya mean to tell me that all you field hunters would forgo the hunt and loose access to the exact same area that should be killer for quackers?????

PS The name of our crew is the "Roost Busters" and we do provide a landowner service. Somedays the trailer just sits parked and we go to a smaller spread...
So, fire away field purists....I wanna hear what you have to say....I love it that it is "bad" to gun geese in the exact same place that it is "good" to hunt ducks.


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## Lil' Tanker (Jan 9, 2002)

A bird shot on the ground tastes the same as one shot in the air, it might just not take as long to clean because it might already be half done.

Fill your limits and go home.


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## Waser Hund (May 27, 2005)

Amen, and the lord said it shall be. Petty differences aside. Let's just hunt


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## Trippin' Dipsies (May 7, 2003)

mydogisscout said:


> I'm guard, however, I spent 7 years active, if you want to call my commander, have at it.
> Sgt Matt Gaydou



Sevens years active and you're only a E-5?


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## sean (May 7, 2002)

lwingwatcher said:


> Wow....I get busy for a few days (killin geese and reroofing the house) and it looks like I missed out on a pretty hot thread....oh well.
> 
> But, I gotta ask, what about the roosts where the land owner wants them out of there and if you don't help out---he will have somebody else do it? Ya mean to tell me that all you field hunters would forgo the hunt and loose access to the exact same area that should be killer for quackers?????
> 
> ...


I think the pots been stirred long enough. We dont need to keep stirring it.


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## Trippin' Dipsies (May 7, 2003)

Someone kill this thread and then go kill some geese................ :chillin:


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## duckmeister (Dec 4, 2004)

I am late coming to this thread and haven't had the time to read all of the entries (technically it's not allowed to read any entries at work), but I believe that many who replied are missing the point of the question. I may be wrong, but I believe that the original question refered to flying vs. swimming geese. While it is not illegal to shoot a bird on/in the water (unless it is a cripple in which case you have a responsibility to finish it off) I personally wouldn't shoot one off of the water, but that is just me. Some people view this as unethical, but then again it is a personal choice. As for those who said this is a good way to start a youngster off hunting, I believe that this is the wrong example to set. We should be teaching them that the hunt is not necessarily about the kill, but about the experience shared with friends (those with four legs especially). Now don't get me wrong, I like jump shooting waterfowl as much as the next guy, I just have a personal preference that I don't pull the trigger until they clear the water. I figure if I can get that close to them without them seeing me, they deserve an equal advantage by flying and me missing :lol:. Anyhow, this is just my two cents worth and I don't mean to criticize or demean any of the other previous entries.


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## Jason Adam (Jun 27, 2001)

duckmeister said:


> I am late coming to this thread and haven't had the time to read all of the entries (technically it's not allowed to read any entries at work), but I believe that many who replied are missing the point of the question. I may be wrong, but I believe that the original question refered to flying vs. swimming geese. While it is not illegal to shoot a bird on/in the water (unless it is a cripple in which case you have a responsibility to finish it off) I personally wouldn't shoot one off of the water, but that is just me. Some people view this as unethical, but then again it is a personal choice. As for those who said this is a good way to start a youngster off hunting, I believe that this is the wrong example to set. We should be teaching them that the hunt is not necessarily about the kill, but about the experience shared with friends (those with four legs especially). Now don't get me wrong, I like jump shooting waterfowl as much as the next guy, I just have a personal preference that I don't pull the trigger until they clear the water. I figure if I can get that close to them without them seeing me, they deserve an equal advantage by flying and me missing :lol:. Anyhow, this is just my two cents worth and I don't mean to criticize or demean any of the other previous entries.


I agree. I have never shot a bird(duck or goose) on the water that wasnt crippled. Probably would have got my ass handed to me by my hunting partners if I had. Where is the skill. See a bird on the water, bead it and shoot it? Why have decoys, why learn to call, why shoot any clays(i.e. practice)? I guess if you are just out there meat hunting, more power to you, but it doesnt give the animal much of a sporting chance. I too am sure the original post was questioning the legality of shooting a bird on the water vs. hunting over water, and I think that has gotten blurred here as well. To each there own, but you should be able to recognize why many hunters find it "un-sportsmanlike" to shoot birds on the water...


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