Beaver Lake Goose Suggestions ?

[Jeff Olson]

WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS SOME ADVICE ON WHERE WOULD BE THE CLOSEST BOAT RAMP FOR ME COMING FROM HOLLISTER THAT WOULD PUT ME IN A GOOD AREA FOR EARLY SEASON GEESE. i HAVE NEVER BEEN DOWN IN THAT AREA SO IT IS ALL NEW TO ME.IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE 1& 1/2 HR DRIVE OR SO, AND MY DUCK BOAT IS A GO-DEVIL WITH A 23 HP LONG SHAFT THAT DOESNT TOP OUT VERY FAST, SO i WOULD LIKE TO FIND A AREA TO HUNT CLOSE TO A RAMP.HOPEFULLY! i HAVE BEEN IN WISCONSIN THE LAST 3 WEEKS AND WONT BE HOME UNTIL LATE TONIGHT (WED. 29TH) SO i HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO GET OUT AND SCOUT! ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT! THANKS !

[rps]

PM Fin and Feathers. He has the scoop and shares.

[Feathers and Fins]

The Dam... If you havent scouted or know Beaver you may not want to hunt it until you do. AR Laws says no discharge of a firearm within 150 yards of a residance or 100 feet of the center line of a road. I have seen both tickets written to people who dont know where houses are on the lake or roads. Next thing to think about is 3 to 6 inches of rain we might get which will put a lot of debris in the lake as well as Beaver being very dangerous in bad weather. The birds typicaly in bad weather crawl up in people yards making them difficult at best to hunt in weather.

Not knowing the lake I suggest you make some scouting trips to it on better weather days to familiarize yourself with it. If your dead set on trying though you might find a few at point 1 or 2 but if you are at the launch and the flock on the campground is 100+ birds forget it as they came off the points to the protection of the camp ground. Trust me i have got grey hairs from those birds doing that.

[Creede]

When you're goose hunting do you set up or just look for them. I've seen how you set up for ducks on the holister area duck thread. And I've read the wonder bread bag trick. What are the rules for shooting from a boat does it have to be anchored? I havnt been able to find very detailed regulations for beaver lake waterfowl

[Feathers and Fins]

http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Documents/LateMigratoryBirdSeasons.pdf

[Feathers and Fins]

Resident geese im just killing, I know where the flocks are and just go get them. Most will let you just pull up on shore and let you shoot them. If they are in a legal gun area I shoot them with a gun if not shoot them with a bow. They are not the brightest bulbs in the package right now but come regular season and we get migration birds its decoy time and concealment. A couple flocks are a few birds less right now not just from me but a couple other groups so they are smartening up and need some time away from being pressured but should be stupid again within a few days.

As for the boat. IT MUST NOT have any motion from the motor, I usually set- up to drift into them with my motor out of water if i have to. Otherwise its a park the boat and shoot or walk up on them. Also you cannot Heard them.

[Creede]

Thanks for the link. Ive been on the agfcwebsite and was unable to find anything. I couldnt find any boating regulations on that link either.

I am a new member to the forum but have been reading the threads for a long time. You guys are very informative and I was hoping someone would have some answers.

Thanks

Creede

Feathers and fins Ive ready many of your post and know you are very informed in hunting and fishing beaver. I'm pretty new to duck hunting and I am just looking for a little help. Any tips would be appreciated

[Creede]

The second post didn't load when I sent that.

Thank you very much.

[Feathers and Fins]

Scout the lake, what is good one day maynot produce the next and other areas are very productive on certain weather conditions. It took me years to learn the lake well enough to be productive constantly.

I suggest Google earth as the tool for checking distance and areas to scout. Then put in the time on the lake to learn each area the best you can. Wind being the #1 thing to think about for puddle ducks. Divers on beaver for some reason will land all kinds of direction.

This year is going to be very interesting there is TONS of green on the shores for food which may well hold birds better than previous years. It also means it might scatter birds more as well.

My game plan on beaver I can count on every time is this.

1. Have 5 spots to hunt in any given day.

2. Never move from the first spot untill 11am

3. If boat traffic is heavy on the lake hunt points for sure

4. North wind be ready to go striper fishing by 9am ( north wind on beaver really sucks )

5. If we have freezing temps for 72 straight hours HUNT THE FOURTH AT ALL COST!

Other than that being flexable to move is a must and putting the time in scouting.

Ill try to answer any other questions you ask with the exception of GPS numbers and my favorite spots of course. An example I took Ducky fishing earlier this year and showed him probably 30 of my blind sites to give you an idea of what i mean by flexable.

[Creede]

Thank you that should be very helpful in getting a game plan together for regular waterfowl season. I live in fayetteville and will probably hunt the mid to upper sections of the lake mostly. I've read the war eagle arm has been productive for people in the past. Are your tactics any different down this way than they would be for the big water at the other end?