Goose Id?

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 08:26 AM

Is this a cackler or a lesser?

sprigkiller09 · 01-31-2009, 09:05 AM

Lesser

Cut that bird in half and you got a cackler

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 09:10 AM

Thanks Kelly!

Adjhunt · 01-31-2009, 12:43 PM

I would have said tavener, but that shows you how much I know about goose id. LOL

thefishslayer · 01-31-2009, 12:48 PM

its a goose

Pyrojake · 01-31-2009, 01:11 PM

I can never tell the difference. The only ones i can tell are different are Honkers and Cacklers.

thefishslayer · 01-31-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyrojake

I can never tell the difference. The only ones i can tell are different are Honkers and Cacklers.

Me too

merrile · 01-31-2009, 02:10 PM

its shootable next weekend thats all I know

Eric Strand · 01-31-2009, 02:27 PM

Joe,

Is the bird in the back a honker??

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 02:29 PM

Yeah he's a honk Eric....what do you think it is?

Eric Strand · 01-31-2009, 02:32 PM

It's tough to tell but I would say Cackler or Tav. Culmen looks to be to small for a lesser and the darker body makes me think cackler/tav as well. Whatever it is it looks a little lost if it's on the eastside of the cascades.

Wingman Or. · 01-31-2009, 03:02 PM

Culmen doesn't look stubby enough to my eye for a Skip. That's the problem with pictures. It's hard to get the entire story. If he was exactly in front of that Honker at the same angle we might get a better feel for him. IF I had two skips down and he came in as a solo I'm pretty sure I pull the trigger. Is it the 7th yet

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 03:02 PM

Thats what I thought, but I also thought is was a TAD long to be a cack....
He was definitely lost, and doing that high pitch call too!

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingman Or.

Culmen doesn't look stubby enough to my eye for a Skip. That's the problem with pictures. It's hard to get the entire story. If he was exactly in front of that Honker at the same angle we might get a better feel for him. IF I had two skips down and he came in as a solo I'm pretty sure I pull the trigger. Is it the 7th yet

Just had to jab my crappy sunlight pic didnt ya Adam!!!

Your final answer is?

Wingman Or. · 01-31-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OR_Bo_Huntr

Just had to jab my crappy sunlight pic didnt ya Adam!!!

Your final answer is?

Wasn't taking a jab. Trust me I take plenty of pictures with light issues

My final answer.... I think that honkers is pretty big and makes that other goose look smaller than he might actually be. SO I shoot him & the Honker inside the zone (Even if I have two cacklers) then messure him out to what will be around 36ish (I hope

) then let the expert

at the check station tell me what I have just shot and let him/her log it how every he/she wishes.

THEN.... They ask if I would volunteer the bird for DNA testing only to find out he is a Anchorage lesser with Tav & Dusky in him

duckboy · 01-31-2009, 04:03 PM

there are 2 birds in the photo,
you did not specify which bird you had the question about...

The bird in the foreground is a cackler, the bird in the background is not a cackler.

It is not a dusky either.

So kill it
and pluck it,
otherwise,

get some glasses.

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 04:07 PM

Very helpful

OR_Bo_Huntr · 01-31-2009, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingman Or.

Wasn't taking a jab. Trust me I take plenty of pictures with light issues

My final answer.... I think that honkers is pretty big and makes that other goose look smaller than he might actually be. SO I shoot him & the Honker inside the zone (Even if I have two cacklers) then messure him out to what will be around 36ish (I hope

) then let the expert

at the check station tell me what I have just shot and let him/her log it how every he/she wishes.

THEN.... They ask if I would volunteer the bird for DNA testing only to find out he is a Anchorage lesser with Tav & Dusky in him

I have a feeling they wouldnt just ask for a DNA test if I went out and shot him tomorrow

benny boy · 01-31-2009, 08:07 PM

I would have said either Lesser or Tav. I was thinking Tav but when kelly said lesser I guess I wouldn't disagree until the bird was on the table at the checkstation and the "all knowing" told me one thing or another

BrotherWolf · 01-31-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OR_Bo_Huntr

I have a feeling they wouldnt just ask for a DNA test if I went out and shot him tomorrow

yaaaa your DNA....LOL but I would go with a Lesser

buckhunter · 01-31-2009, 08:25 PM

I thought they were ducks,,,,,,,Sorry, I can't help myself.

BH

BerettaMan · 02-01-2009, 08:00 AM

Even the check station can not be sure Tav or Less in some cases. Bill looks a bit long for Cackler but who knows???

jeff

Gun Rod Bow · 02-01-2009, 08:10 AM

Lesser

duckhunter · 02-01-2009, 10:51 AM

The front bird with the dark breast is a cackler as Eric stated. The larger bird is a tav or lesser.

OR_Bo_Huntr · 02-01-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckhunter

The front bird with the dark breast is a cackler as Eric stated. The larger bird is a tav or lesser.

Adjhunt · 02-01-2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OR_Bo_Huntr

Thats what I was thinking Joe.
Man I thought I wasn't the best at goose ID

OR_Bo_Huntr · 02-01-2009, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adjhunt

Thats what I was thinking Joe.
Man I thought I wasn't the best at goose ID

At least we can agree the front one is a dusky ..................

Adjhunt · 02-01-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OR_Bo_Huntr

At least we can agree the front one is a dusky ..................

True that!

But what the heck is that little guy in the background?

sprigkiller09 · 02-01-2009, 01:18 PM

Ok bird in back without a doubt is a western. Everything about it screams honker. Culmen, color, neck, body shape.

The front bird is tougher but is def not a cack. Way too big. The culmen is much too long and the neck is much too long. The color is i think what is throwing people off. That is a very dark tav/lesser. Here are a few pics for reference.

1. Cacks with honkers

2. Lessers with honkers: Side note: I even threw in a dark lesser for comparison. If you are hunting in the permit zone dont shoot a bird like that....its trouble. Left two are lessers right 4 are honkers.

OR_Bo_Huntr · 02-01-2009, 01:27 PM

So its either a Lesser or a Tev, and I thought it was quite obvious the right bird was a Honk lol

Good pics for referrence Kelly!

billc_sbio · 02-01-2009, 03:56 PM

I'd call it a Lesser based on its neck.

BUT ~6 yr.s ago I shot a Lesser (lighter than the one in the pic) and it sailed a couple of hundred yards and I couldn't find it hiding in a ditch next to a country road.

When we got back to the Check Station the attendant (who knew us) asked, "Hey were you hunting the such and such field out the road here?"

He had my bird, still alive there in the Check Station!

When I told him I was 1 shy of a limit, he let me put it on my tag and dispatch it for my bag.

He said, "This other hunter, coming back in past you guys saw that goose standing on the edge of the road and he went and grabbed it."

(Meanwhile he had the almost EXACT bird, dead, lying on his table there)

"What's that about?", I asked.

"Oh that's that other hunter's bird, his first goose shot in the permit zone"

"What's it doing here still?"

It's a Dusky!

"What?!! You're kidding me? These two Geese look like they could be twins! Same color, same size, same everything!"

"Here, let me show you something", sez the Checkstation guy.

He points out this very thin, very whispy few white feathers at the break (and there WAS a clean color break to that bird's yellowish/cream breast!) that you COULDN'T SEE at anything further than 3' from the bird (much less in the sky, on the grey overcast day

)

So the Checkstation guy said that the hunter had left the Goose with him to have it "appealed" before a 3-man group of Biologists, who'd make the final determination.

The next week we were back, checking in Geese again, and I asked, "What happened with that guy's 1st Permit Zone Goose? Did they figure out what it was?"

"Yep, they called it a DUSKY!"

So...be CAREFUL out there next week!

Just sayin...

Gun Rod Bow · 02-01-2009, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billc_sbio

So...be CAREFUL out there next week!

Just sayin...

You have no idea. I have seen some pretty obvious Tavs measure out 41 mm and be 5 1/2 to 6 on color. While laying next to a tav (from the same family group) that measured 39 and had a 4 color.

Combine a 41 mm culmen and a 4 color and you have a Dusky. Even though it's a Tav.

Tavs and lessers both can often be in the darker ranges. All it takes is one with a longer than normal ******..er..uhm I mean culmen. To get you in trouble.

Shovelor · 02-02-2009, 09:58 AM

Hmmm! I find it interesting to see the different responses/reactions all generated from one picture of one goose.

Seems like some of us need to re-take our goose identification test.

xstreme357 · 02-02-2009, 01:29 PM

uneducated guess would be tav and honker but what do i know?!?!?