Goose Hunting

[eagle74]

1st time hunting geese & have some comments, questions.

1-Setup two areas on the strawfields of northern Mullerwald but only about 275 yds apart. What is the minimum distance between setups? My initial objective was not to destroy good fallow deer need zone areas. Mixed results w this setup. You can call them in to either setup, but if you then switch to the other setup, no geese come in to calling.

2-Used to fast traveling to duck setup & the ducks are usually already there & you don't have to call them. Not so w geese. You have to call them & hope.

3-You can wound geese. Shot a few at range w both the 12 & 20 gauge birdshot. Saw the hit animation cloud, but the geese did not fall to ground.

4-Are there best hunting times for geese? I have found that time of day doesn't matter much for ducks.

5-Tried the layout blind that came w goose DLC. It worked OK, but you can't spot the geese b4 shooting due to lack of vertical movement in the blind. Duck DLC blinds are much better IMO.

6-A couple of times a flock landed but took off quickly. Was not finished spoting them. This has not happened to me w ducks. So be ready to switch to your weapon & blast away as you don't know when they are going to decide to fly.

7-While ducks are implemented ingame w true need zones that you have to discover. Geese are implemented ingame in a different way. Appears to be "landing zones" rather than need zones.

If I think of anything else I will add it. Would appreciate any help, tips.

[Woodyplank]

Shoot them with the .223?

[Ivory]

One thing I've noticed about geese; I set up my decoys, sat on the layout blind and kept calling on occasion, even when there were none around. Sometimes a "dispersed" flock would show up and circle my area, signaling they wanted to land. I don't know if the decoys were all it took to lure them of if calling beforehand did the trick. They seem to spawn at random intervals.

You can indeed wound geese, as I did. At first I ignored this because they just kept flying away but as time went on, I noticed the hunting pressure shifted a little. After a while I hit a geese that didn't go down either but this time I kept an eye on it, lo and behold, it flew away for a while and then just dropped! Walked to the next field to find two dead bodies. A lapse like this could easily ruin your consecutive harvest so be aware.

Also my weapon of choice was the double-barrel 20ga shotgun that came with the DLC, using birdshot of course, as the spread makes it easier to hit moving targets. As for best time of the day to hunt these birds; during the day basically. They can fly by at night as well but I've never bothered to test and see how it works.

PS: At the end of it, I gathered my whole setup (blind, decoys) and moved to the portable tent I had nearby. I instantly heard more geese approaching and went to take a look, they were circling the area I was at and landed! On their own! Bagged a few more, because why not? :P

[eagle74]

@ Ivory, Thanks for the help. I remember reading a post by one of the devs that stated that the decoys were enough to attract the geese & get them to break formation w/o using the caller. Have not tried just sitting there w/o using the caller.

As far as night hunting goes, it is OK for ducks, but many times you can't see them well as they fly away. So, I tend not to do it.

I liked the 12 gauge pump best but only because of the 6 round capacity. The 20 gauge SA is fine but you only get 3 rounds. Have not used the 20 gauge DBL barrel.

The other issue, for me at least, is once you call in 2, sometimes 3 flocks they stop coming. You can sit there & call for another hour or 2 game time, but no more geese.

On consec harvest, I hope that I don't get a nasty surprise as there were 2 or 3 wounded ones yesterday. If they died, it will be back to zero.

[eagle74]

2nd time hunting geese. Sure enough my consec harvest was 0% as I did not pick up a couple of downed birds last session.

Moved one of the previous setups to a northern cornfield in Mullerwald about 775 yds NE of the remaining setup. It was night, but decided to try the new location anyway, Got two flocks to come in, but both of them did not land out in the field w the decoys. They both landed behind me in the treeline between me & the next field northward. Could not see but one or two of them. Managed to shoot 4 of them between the two flocks once they got up & flying. I will probably move the decoys more towards the center of the field & see if it helps. But I suspect that something is incorrect in the programing w this landing zone. Stayed at that location for another 45 minutes game time & no more geese.

Fast traveled to the previous setup & was able to call in several flocks. The 1st two flocks did not land. They headed down towards the decoys, but when they were 5-10 yds away they would veer back up skyward. It was like they were avoiding the lvl 3 pressure. I was being still in the duck blind & the wind was in my favor, so don't know what that was about. The next flocks did land but only very briefly. So, I have about given up on spotting them b4 shooting.

Finding the downed birds at night is not easy because several of them did not display a highlight outline or glow. But this also happens w ducks. Hope I did not miss any or its back to 0% consec.

A few downed birds had 70-80% QK bonus. Don't remember ever confirming a duck that was not 100% QK.

To top it all off, the duck blinds glitched a few times & would not close behind me. Walking in & out of them a few times resolved it.

Even w all this chaos,19 birds got confirmed. Not a bad goose outing, but think that I will hunt something else for awhile.

[AintJaMama (Joe/BrotherBoaz)]

This is great information! I’ve duck hunted and feel pretty good about it but really have no idea how many decoys (I think I have 10 at each spot) are really needed and why they come or don’t. I just randomly decide to fast travel and shoot some ducks from time to time and they seem to be there.

Geese, I’ve never tried. How do you decide which field(s) to setup in? Just a nice random straw field? How many decoys are really needed (best)? Can u setup and fast travel back later to find them chilling there like ducks? This is making me want to setup a few geese locations! Keep letting us know your results/findings, thanks!

[Ivory]

They can spawn all over the map so really the question is what fields are best suited as geese hunting areas without wreaking havoc on the nearby need zones, and I find the Mullerwald cornfields, on both sides of the river, to be good candidates. Upper north, near the map's border, is fine as well as there's literally nothing there so you don't have to worry NZs or other animals.

In theory, more decoys should be more effective, but I managed to bag quite a few with only 4-5 of them. I tried to be a little more 'precious' with my decoy placement, with a sentry slightly further away and on higher ground, "watching over" the feeders and the searchers on the edges, looking for food or danger... don't really think it matters but I like to pretend. xD

No idea about fast-traveling, I just sat there on a single area and waited for them to pass by. Decoys create an "area of attraction" that can bring in nearby fowl so I figure placing another one too close wasn't going to be effective. Also didn't really had another tent with me so I didn't try.

[eagle74]

@Aintjamama, I started this thread for 2 reasons: 1-so good folks like @Ivory can help me learn how to hunt geese better as I am just starting out w this, & 2-writing detailed descriptions of my experience so that other people can learn what to do & not to do. Hope it is helpful as intended.

I have 2 setups w 20 decoys each as the devs have stated that the attraction stacks w more decoys up to 20 for geese. I assume that it is the same for ducks but don't know for sure. Fast traveling to these locations, I have never found geese already there & waiting. You have to sit there & wait & call b4 the geese will show up. Sometimes they fly over & don't come in.
Don't know if they are too high for the call or whatever. The geese also spook easier than the ducks & will either not land at all or land for a few seconds & take off again. You don't usually have time to spot them all to find the good ones b4 shooting.

The other issue that @Ivory & I have been discussing is that geese can get wounded & die later taking your consec harvest to 0%. I must stink at finding them all bc I have missed at least one everytime.

Another issue w geese is that many people have reported bugs. The only one that has happened to me so far is that downed birds don't always display the highlight outline or glow. So finding them at night is no fun. Not landing at all could be a bug but it may be intended.

@Ivory, I agree that northern Mullerwald is a good place where you won't wipe out other need zones at least none that I have found. My two setups are one on each side of the river about 775 yds apart. These seem to be working OK.

[eagle74]

Goose hunting report #3: One downed bird w the glowing highlight disappeared before my eyes as I was about 10 yds away from confirming him. Don't know if he teleported somewhere else or not as I never found him. So, there are still some bugs w geese.

Due to the issues w QK & birdshot, I decided to try buckshot, which is listed in the IB spreadsheet as giving integrity at least for the 20 gauge. Did not have any issues w QK. The 20 gauge buckshot gave 100% integrity if you hit them w 1 or 2 pellets. One bird was hit w 4 pellets & got 40% integrity. 12 gauge buckshot downed the birds OK but gave 0% integrity in all cases.

[Ivory]

@Eagle72
12ga buckshot is currently broken; gives zero integrity on both small and medium-sized game (haven't tried on bigger critters yet but it's stats are worthless for those). Don't use it.

[eagle74]

Originally posted by Ivory:

@Eagle72
12ga buckshot is currently broken; gives zero integrity on both small and medium-sized game (haven't tried on bigger critters yet but it's stats are worthless for those). Don't use it.

Thanks. BTW, have you had any downed geese disappear/despawn? It happened to me today for the 1st time.

[jimco]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1638404421
So this is my Goose hunting area.
Just some things I have noticed and use.
1.All the calling in the world will not bring them in unless you have placed decoys in the field.( I only place feeding decoys around 15-20)
2.The caller has a range of 500m so even if you see them in the distance calling has no affect.
3.If you can hear them then they can hear you so start calling until they break formation and start to circle.
4.Try to ID them as they circle to see any 4's Gold or 5's diamond.
5. I only use the .22 as you have less recoil and 10 shot's so you can take a few in flight as well.
6.They are random but I find early morning around 6:00am works for me.
7.I don't use a hide just natural cover no more than 75m from my decoys.
8.Geese do not have a good sense of smell so wind direction is less important.

Patience helps also but geese seem to attract more geese so you can get several flock's circling and landing.
Good Luck.

[eagle74]

Thanks for the FB. I do not use a rifle bc it does not "feel" like you are goose hunting. My main 2 issues w geese are: 1-sometimes they despawn/disappear from the map after you shoot them, & 2-some get wounded, fly off & die, & you never find them taking your consec harvest to 0.

BTW the duck blinds work very well for geese. You can just stand in one 25 yds or so from the decoys. Shoot them when they fly over or wait for them to land.