Whether you are about to embark on a goose hunting trip for the first time because you want to, or you have been forced by an in-law, boss, or some other authority figure in your life, knowing some basics will be helpful. More important, having some basic goose hunting knowledge may mean the difference between a good time and a bad one, a promotion or demotion, an engagement or a broken heart. Perhaps this is a bit of a stretch but hey, you are going goose hunting, can some basics really hurt?
Step one in not sounding like a complete idiot on the goose-hunting trip is to know the difference between the four flyways over the continental United States. From west to east they are the Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic. The Pacific flyway starts at the Pacific Ocean and goes east until the continental divide. The Central flyway has its western boundary on the continental divide, and its eastern boundary beginning on the west side of Minnesota, dropping south along state lines until ending on the west side of Louisiana. The line dividing the Mississippi flyway and the Atlantic flyway generally follows state lines beginning on the eastern boarder of Ohio and moving southward to the Gulf of Mexico on the east side of Alabama. Logic dictates the Atlantic flyway consists of the remaining states east of the same line.
Why is this important? Well, apart from the fact that it may serve to win you ten million dollars in some ridiculous trivia game that has yet to be invented, it could keep you from embarrassing yourself while goose hunting, or telling lies after goose hunting. For example, citing your prime goose hunting location in the middle of the Central flyway, while somewhere in southern Indiana will inevitably make you look like a fraud and a blow-hard. Indiana is in the middle of the Mississippi flyway. While it is true you will likely never have a Gun put to your head with the only means of saving your life being a proper recitation of flyways from west to east, some knowledge is better than none.
Once you find your way out into the goose hunting arena, after no doubt telling your special someone to warm up the frying pan because a goose dinner is on the way, you may here phrases like bag limit (which should be self explanatory, if not kindly put down the firearm), light geese, and dark geese. If your initial thought is to only shoot light geese because you have an affinity for white meat, you really need to put down the Firearm! However, if you are slightly confused because a goose is a goose, this is understandable.
The term "light geese" in the context of goose hunting has generally come to refer to lesser snow geese (including blue), greater snow geese, and Ross' geese. The term "dark geese" generally refers to white-fronted geese, Canada geese, brant, and all other species except those defined by "light geese". Thoroughly confused? Perhaps a wildlife guide or a quick Internet photo search would be in order. If you are under the impression the photo search should be for anything other than photos of geese, consider canceling the trip.
For whatever reason you are headed out goose hunting, have fun. If you have never gone goose hunting before, find the silver lining, enjoy the experience, and make a memory or two of an outing that may be the first of many.
You can find private land to hunt at IronAim, or thousands of products for your hunting, fishing, camping, shooting, and outdoor adventures at The IronAim Store.
Happy hunting.
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