16 gauge goose - 12/30/22
It has been over 20 years since I killed a goose. Goose hunting in my area of Alaska was slim pickings. Lots of geese but nearly all had left the state by the time moose season was over. So I didn't get to hunt them much and the few times I did it was not fruitful.
Moved back down to the northwest in September. My step brother's ranch is right on a goose flyway now. Goose flights seem to have changed. I went by those fields for 14 years when I was trapping out in that area and rarely saw geese there. Now it seems that whole area is a goose mecca.
I didn't have any decoys at mom's house, so I bought a few older shells from a local guy on FB marketplace. Shells were in decent shape but no stakes. And of course this morning it was blowing just hard enough they wouldn't stay in place. So it was going to have to be pass shooting. My brother has a long stack of straw bales with tarps on them. One row is a few bales longer than the others so the tarp forms a canopy on that end. Perfect for hiding under waiting on geese.
I didn't wait long when a small group came over. They were angled over the long straw pile giving me just one shot at the trailing bird. One round of Heavy Bismuth 2's crumpled it. Another flight came over but in my enthusiasm I bumped the safety just enough to lock up the trigger. The perils of a lefty shooting an Ithaca with a right handed safety. I'm ordering a left handed safety today. Oh well. I'll hit it again tomorrow.
The Ithaca is a 1938 37S, improved cylinder. Not the perfect goose gun I suppose but it sure smote that goose. And it was the only non tox ammo I could find in my stash since we moved and haven't unpacked everything yet. I do have a sunburst recoil pad for it. Just need to dig it out along with my jig and fit the pad.
![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Huntin-pics/i-z3HRcQ3/0/424bfd4a/L/7634795B-4B0C-4943-8E4F-9F960A5F0447-L.jpg)
Moved back down to the northwest in September. My step brother's ranch is right on a goose flyway now. Goose flights seem to have changed. I went by those fields for 14 years when I was trapping out in that area and rarely saw geese there. Now it seems that whole area is a goose mecca.
I didn't have any decoys at mom's house, so I bought a few older shells from a local guy on FB marketplace. Shells were in decent shape but no stakes. And of course this morning it was blowing just hard enough they wouldn't stay in place. So it was going to have to be pass shooting. My brother has a long stack of straw bales with tarps on them. One row is a few bales longer than the others so the tarp forms a canopy on that end. Perfect for hiding under waiting on geese.
I didn't wait long when a small group came over. They were angled over the long straw pile giving me just one shot at the trailing bird. One round of Heavy Bismuth 2's crumpled it. Another flight came over but in my enthusiasm I bumped the safety just enough to lock up the trigger. The perils of a lefty shooting an Ithaca with a right handed safety. I'm ordering a left handed safety today. Oh well. I'll hit it again tomorrow.
The Ithaca is a 1938 37S, improved cylinder. Not the perfect goose gun I suppose but it sure smote that goose. And it was the only non tox ammo I could find in my stash since we moved and haven't unpacked everything yet. I do have a sunburst recoil pad for it. Just need to dig it out along with my jig and fit the pad.
