recipe required.

[denty632]

HI

we shoot the Upland Goose
http://www.falklands.net/BirdGuideUplandGoose.shtml
and
http://www.falklandsconservation.com/wi ... land-geese

gander is a little smaller than a domestic goose but good huntin'!

Contrary to the Falklands Conservation site, they are a pest, it is said that 6 geese will eat as much as one sheep. We mostly shoot over re-seeds or areas where farmers want rid.

I also run game shoots for local military chaps, the odd Hi Ho Henry wonders when we will ever get to the peg and asks after the beaters, until I tell him that it is very much rough shooting!

I also help out on the military airbase culling their birds, an inbound flight took a gander in through the engine a while back... quite a mess!

All good fun, we also take Teal Ducks in season and there is the odd hare or two to go after with the .223, just not so keen on eating those though!

[yotmon]

Thanks for that. It's seems strange that the sexes have different plumage - all our wild geese sexes look the same, its ducks that are different, with the exception of the Selduck, which was once thought to be a link between the geese and ducks.
I used to enjoy wildfowling - I would go locally on the Ribble estuary or travel up to Scotland and shoot on the Solway firth. Your link mentions that the Upland goose is quite tame - not the Pink-foot ! They reckon that hundreds of years ago they were nocturnal feeders like ducks, but shooting pressure changed their feeding habits to daylight hours. Don't know if you have the same species of Teal as us, but it was my favourite duck to shoot and to eat. Although half the size of a Mallard they were like little 'butter balls' if shot over barley stubble in the Autumn. I still have a book that I 'borrowed' from the public library years ago called 'The Wildfowler in the 1970's, think its a bit late to take back now after 33 years !

http://www.desibucket.com/db2/01/11759/117591.jpg


Ste.

[denty632]

the female is brown as she huddles down in the grass at this time of the year and nests, with no natural foilage she has no alternative but to nest in the grass. Good old Darwinian theory.

Our Teal Duck is much smaller, but such fun to shoot, they are pond feeders so an acquired taste

http://www.falklands.net/BirdGuideSpeckledTeal.shtml

they fly very fast up and down estuary's and are quite hard to get a hold of.

as for our geese being tame, they can be as thick as mince and stand there whilst shot, others who have been shot regularily are a little more flighty and are often shot on the wing.

If I want a big kill for sausages etc, I will shoot with a .22. if you lay in the field prone and wave your legs around, they flock around you haveing a look at what is happening! never believed it until I tried it!

as a serving constable I will leave the book comment alone

[yotmon]

as a serving constable I will leave the book comment alone

Ah - well, I've completed my 30 years of service, so must have got away with it !



Ste

[Dogfish]

100 geese might be too many to pluck but when we'd do Canada's in Alberta (including a couple with six foot wingspans) I'd use soft, thick rubber fish cutting gloves...they are kind of sticky and peel the down off when you rub it. We'd also use wax. The birds looked almost as clean as store bought.

They hang pretty well too and so long as they're cold enough and not gut shot they can hang around for a day or five.

Google the Whizbang Plucker and take a look at what it can do.