Boundary Bay for Canada Geese 2019 - some bad behaviour

[silveragent]

I mostly hunt Brunswick - yes I am stuck on public land - so I tried out Boundary Bay yesterday as I had heard it was better for Canadas.

My friend and I were the only people to set up decoys. (not that they helped). The geese seemed to be transiting from the tidal flats to the golf course or some other place inland. They were there. Saw maybe 4 different flights between sunrise and 9:30 when I quit. Of course the moment I started coming out a flight passed just over where we had been. :lol:

Everyone there seemed to just pass shoot or skybust. Later someone told me no one bothers with decoys there and that it is all pass shooting. Ok fine, I will leave behind the extra load next time.

My problem is that I saw a group of hunters just standing out in the middle of the flats in the open with a stand up blind. I mean it was just so obvious. They had this screen and they were just gathered around it like they were watching a car rally. I watched them all morning to give them the benefit of the doubt but IMO they were just showing the geese where not to go.

Worse: I am certain there were other hunters close to 64th who were clearly within 150m. I mean not even 50m. I saw a flight get peppered in that area (two or three went down that morning). Yes, I am a bit jealous since I got skunked but I really wonder whether some of those shots were toward the dyke.

It would not surprise me if COs showed up and started issuing tickets and seizing guns. And they should. From what I read about that area, the greenhouse nearby has had complaints in the past about damage to their glass and of course it would be horrible if any dogwalker, rider or dyke walker claimed to be hit by birdshot.

EDIT: from second reading it appears you can shoot toward the dyke providing you are outside of 180m from the dyke.

[silveragent]

I went back today while everyone was working - yay unemployment! and potted my first and second geese twenty minutes after sitting down.

[dak0ta]

I went back today while everyone was working - yay unemployment! and potted my first and second geese twenty minutes after sitting down.

Pictures, or it didn't happen :) Congrats, what distance?

[silveragent]

Here's a pic of the two of them and my SX4 (https://i.imgur.com/oD634eQ.jpg).

After picking a spot I laid down for about 20 minutes before hearing the melody of the honkers coming close. A quick glance confirmed that three were headed directly over the log I had camouflaged myself behind. I waited until they were about 15 away before knocking down one and then using my remaining two in the second. The second tumbled and nearly landed on the log while the first I had to collect from about 10m away.

Really the easiest kills I've ever made that weren't decoyed.

Processing them in my kitchen was fun too. My gf went at it like it was a science experiment.

[Ron.C]

Good job!!!

[Linksman313]

Congrats on your success and welcome back to the reality of public land hunting. My Bro and I hunted here religiously through the 2000's and it was no different, try packing only a small amount of deke's in with you and laying down with them all set up feeding around you, might just be enough to break a couple tail gunners off the main flock to check you out and get a shot. Oh and call, Good luck and hunt safe out there, thanks for the post.

[silveragent]

Linksman313, thanks. I went at it diligently at first with decoys and calling - my calling sucks. I know snow geese better.

It's funny, I've done this enough now I know exactly what you mean by the tail gunners. Like one or two geese who decide to leave the party because they didn't like it and want to check out another group.

I'm used to seeing videos of all those boys in the central flyway calling dozens down into their fields with A frames and fifty decoys. But I do have a nice pack in decoy bag that won't wear me out going in there. I'll see what happens the next time to see if this was just random luck or whether I'm doing something right.

[f350ps]

^^^Well done, look like really nice birds! Enjoy! K

[244 rem]

Since they drained the Serpentine Fen,the geese are not frequenting the area between the Serp and the Nik River system! Any answers as to why they drained it when the ducks and geese almost require it due to all the Blueberry farms taking up all the terra firma

[silveragent]

Spent all morning at Boundary this morning. All the flocks were keeping away: flying between whatever is south of Beach Grove and the farms immediately behind the dykes. That's it for me until October.

[silveragent]

244 rem I looked up about Serpentine Fen. I know next to nothing about it since it isn't huntable. Only visited it once.

https://www.surreynowleader.com/community/feathery-invasive-losing-battle-at-south-surreys-serpentine-fen/

Feathery invasive losing battle at South Surrey’s Serpentine FenEradication efforts leading to ‘dramatic’ reduction in South American intruder

Four years after it launched, an effort to eradicate an invasive aquarium plant from South Surrey’s Serpentine Fen “seems to be working,” according to the area’s caretakers.
“We’ve seen a decline in the total area” affected by parrot’s feather, Ducks Unlimited Canada conservation programs specialist Matt Christensen said this week.

Parrot’s feather (myriophyllum aquaticum) is a dense plant with feather-like foliage. Native to South America, it was found in the Serpentine Wildlife Management Area – located between Highway 99, King George Boulevard and the Serpentine River – in 2014. It’s believed it was introduced into the fen through someone dumping the contents of an aquarium.
By the time it was discovered, it had already invaded to the point that “a big dense green mat” covered the fen’s east marsh, Christensen told Peace Arch News. And without sunlight getting through, the wetland was basically suffocating, threatening the habitat and rich foraging grounds that millions of waterfowl depend on to refuel during migration.
Given it spreads “easier than blackberry,” simply pulling the plants out was not an option.
So that first summer, DUC – which is responsible for managing the South Surrey WMA – initiated a plan to reclaim the marsh by taking advantage of drought conditions to conduct a “drawdown” of the wetland. The hope was that the draining would render the marsh unfriendly to the aggressive intruder.

In the years since, a pump that had been used to help maintain the water levels has simply not been turned on, Christensen said, creating the same “drawdown” effect.
Christensen acknowledged the results, to anyone not in the loop, may leave the impression that the fen has “silted up,” as one PAN reader noted earlier this month, in an email expressing concern the WMA is “returning to a field.”
“It might not look as healthy because it’s not as wet,” Christensen said.
However, the “drawdowns” have actually benefited native plants such as smartweed (Polygonum punctatum), a peppery edible which Christensen described as “a waterfowl super-food.”
It “has started to regenerate…due to the change in conditions,” he said.
PAN first reported on the presence of parrot’s feather at the Serpentine Fen three years ago, when Ducks Unlimited Canada officials shared details of its impact during a public event to unveil signage for the Wildlife Management Area’s 30th anniversary.
At that time, officials predicted a need for “something more dramatic” than draining the wetland. However, patience with the process appears to have paid off.
Wednesday, DUC conservation specialist Megan Winand told PAN she has noticed a dramatic reduction in the presence of the invasive in the past year. A survey in 2017 showed it was an extensive problem across the east marsh, but this year, “we had a hard time to find it,” she said.
But that doesn’t mean they can let their guards down, she said.
“Even if you think you’ve eradicated (it), you still need to be out there looking for it,” Winand said, noting ongoing monitoring will continue.
“You’re never really done with invasives.”