westham island rod and gun club

[870]

is this a private club or is there a way for me to join?
I was out there yesterday and saw about 10,000 snow geese and would love to go hunting there. talked to one of the farm owners but he said that it private. are members aloud to bring non members? is there a website, or somehwere to get info about this place?
thanks.

John.

[Gunner]

The waiting list is full for years to come!Try Brunswick Point marsh on the other side of Canoe Pass.It's public,and I've shot lot's of snows there over the years.The chance of getting a membership at westam is about the same as winning the 6/49,maybe smaller.Gunner

[MichelD]

I thought to gain membership had something to do with the waiting list, getting recommended by a member and promising your first born son.

Don't let those 10,000 birds bother you. By mid-November there should be about 50,000. And not just on Westham.

From the Richmond news October 17

The population of Wrangel Island snow geese fluctuates. There were major dips in both the 1970s and 1980s, but over the past decade the numbers have steadily increased, due at least in part to increased survivorship of adults and young of the year during the summers in Siberia. The increase is significant: in 1972, about 20,000 geese overwintered on the foreshores of Richmond and Delta. In 2007, there were close to 90,000. This number may be too large for any one traditional feeding ground to sustain.Another factor may be the trend, which began sometime in the 1970s, of the birds to move inland to forage. The Fraser Delta is certainly the place to do so. Potato and other farms leave much to glean from the fields, and since the 1990s farmers have been encouraged to plant winter cover crops, both as a means of adding nutrients to soil and as food for waterfowl. Also in Delta, on Westham Island, are the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary and the associated Alaksen National Wildlife Area, which were established in the 1970s to encourage and preserve waterfowl -- and they have been successful, hosting tens of thousands of snow geese per year.
Meanwhile, over the past half-century, and notably in Richmond, farmland close to the foreshore has given way to subdivisions. What fields remain are magnets for geese. Playground grass, with its sumptuous roots, is a goose delicacy.

[870]

can non members go with members? or does everyone need to be one?

[branthunter]

can non members go with members? or does everyone need to be one?

Only members are allowed to hunt on the island during pheasant season --after that members do sometimes take non-members if they get permission of the individual landowner. Getting a membership is like getting a season ticket for the Green Bay Packers. Re: the snow goose population there was a major die-off of nestlings on Wrangell Is. this year and there are so few grey juveniles that it can be hard to find one looking at the flocks in the fields , with the result that getting big bags this year is going to be much more difficult--it is almost eery to be out in the marsh without snows flying everywhere as in the past few years. I was out Monday in a place and at a time when a limit would be for sure over the last three years and saw very few and the ones that did decoy (4) were after legal shooting.

[Legi0n]

Only members are allowed to hunt on the island during pheasant season --after that members do sometimes take non-members if they get permission of the individual landowner. Getting a membership is like getting a season ticket for the Green Bay Packers. Re: the snow goose population there was a major die-off of nestlings on Wrangell Is. this year and there are so few grey juveniles that it can be hard to find one looking at the flocks in the fields , with the result that getting big bags this year is going to be much more difficult--it is almost eery to be out in the marsh without snows flying everywhere as in the past few years. I was out Monday in a place and at a time when a limit would be for sure over the last three years and saw very few and the ones that did decoy (4) were after legal shooting.

let me get this straight, is the whole island spoken to the Gun club ? Including the seaward areas? (Crown land?)

[Glenny]

Forget it. Closed shop.

[f350ps]

The dyke is all private and closed to non members but there's lots of ground outside the dykes and some good shootin can be had. Tough goin eh Bob? Reminds me of the 80's and 90's. One good thing is it's gonna thin the crowds I'll bet! K

[branthunter]

The dyke is all private and closed to non members but there's lots of ground outside the dykes and some good shootin can be had. Tough goin eh Bob? Reminds me of the 80's and 90's. One good thing is it's gonna thin the crowds I'll bet! K

Not sure if the crowds are getting thinner Kelly ---I've seen quite a few new faces on the Wellington ramp this year when I go there to rinse the dogs after chasing pheasants --including some young guys, which is good to see ---but it sure is eery in the marsh and along the dyke to have no geese around. I have not even once seen any small flocks, singles, or pairs low in the marsh this year. I haven't gone out for snows so far except once a cpl. of weeks ago and I had no birds come anywhere near me until after legal shooting time when I was pulling the set and 4 glided right in silently (all white. no greys). I was hoping for a decent s'easter-- as I think thats what it's going to take to get any goose shooting in the marsh--for this affternoon/evening but nought so went and shot a few ducks in the barley (5 mallards and all skinny as hell). Lots of sky busting going on on Westham and behind the Brunswick foreshore with the result that there have been quite a few cripples and carcasses in the river and on the foreshore.

[Gunner]

Kelly & Bob ,I keep telling you there's lots of birds up here,C'mon up,I'm headed out in about 2 hours!No skybusters here but no snows either! Cheers,Gunner