Cackling Geese...

[Brydog]

I got a nice pair of Cacklers this morning. I saw at least 12 to 1500 Honkers in all. They were pitchin into my dekes even after I had my limit,,, and wouldnt you know, I left the camera at home this morning.:sad: Boomer did some great retrieves due to my poor shooting. I winged both birds. The first one hit the ground about 80 yds. outside the dekes. The second one went down about 300 yards out. I sure wish I had a picture of him with that little Cackler in his mouth. He was SPENT after that volley.:dizzy:

p.s....also saw a flock of Snows (25-30) headed south at about 5000'.

I just did a body count and these two birds are Boomers 100th and 101st retrieves.
Not too shabby if I do say so myself !!!.....he's only 19 months old !


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/HPIM0173.JPG (http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=50676&size=big&cat=500)

[waterfowlhunter83]

They don't really look like cacklers...those birds look like Interiors...plus we do not get any true "cacklers" here in Michigan. Most time when people here refer to cacklers they are talking about a Richardson goose (aka: Hutchie, Baffin Island goose, etc.).

Chad

[stacemo]

From what I heard, Richardson's and Hutchinson's have been recatagorized as Cackling Geese or "cackler's".

[joefsu]

nice limit bryan, but I agree they look a little big for cacklers. Maybe it's the picture tho.

[waterfowlhunter83]

Yes...I just forgot...that was like a year or two ago right? My mistake...

[Brydog]

You're right, It was changed 2 years ago.

I weighed both birds at 6.5 lbs. and im convinced they're Cacklers. I know they're the smallest geese I've shot in 35 years of waterfowlin'.
I'd mount em' but they're full of pin feathers.:sad:

[Long Spurs]

We do get true Cackler's in Mich. though a rarity. I shot one about seven years ago, in Jackson co. The bird weighed a little short of four pounds and it had a one and a quarter inch bill.

[Remnar]

The best way to tell if they are cacklers is to look at the bill. They have a shorter bill than a lessor canada if my memory is correct.

Remnar

[sprigdog]

I weighed both birds at 6.5 lbs. :

if their combined weight was 6.5, no ifs. ands or buts they are the "newly re-named" cacklers.

the pic may be decieving. every cackler i've killed looked like a mallard on a tailgate with a tad longer neck


nice pic and a fine looking pooch

[Branta]

Look like Hutchs to me.

too light in color,
too big,
bills too long.

Stacemo and Waterfowlhunter are both correct, but if you had this on your final exam in FW 203..... you'd better define it a bit more accurately! ;)


BC hutchinsii Richardsons or Hutch


Bc Minima or "true" cacks (before all the others were lumped in) are really small, much darker, a chocolate feather coloration and their bills are extremely short/stubby.
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/ChibanaCAGO.JPG
Cackling Goose (left) and Aleutian Canada Goose (right)

http://www.carolinabirdclub.org/gallery/images/cacg_dcarter45.jpg
...The smallest subspecies, usually weighing 3 to 5 pounds (1.4-2.3 kg), and they have a distinctive high-pitched call. Cacklers nest only on the outer coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska and winter primarily in California's Central Valley.

Hutch and Cack in bottom left of image below-
http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Birds/Home/birds-Goose-Canada.jpg

Cack...Hutch, doesn't matter.

We just call 'em both "dinks"!! :p

[Brydog]

Thanks for the info Branta,

So I shot a couple of "Dinks" I never said I was a Waterfowl Biologist.:o
I guess I'll go out and see if I can get a couple more "Dinks" today. Then maybe we can debate what a "Dink" is...........:evilsmile

[Far Beyond Driven]

Goose on my wall was 2# 14oz. Got a picture of it on the scale at the Todd Farm.

Biologists at the bird check confirmed it was a juvenille female Richardson's. It was a really buff color compared to most other geese that have more gray in them.

[Branta]

anytime. Think of it as a little public service message.

Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of collegiate study, research, time and effort.... I give to you for free!!

Now you can go out and impress your buds! dink and honks!

next lesson will cover: "when geese are migrating in a V, why one side is always longer than the other".

Did my thesis on this phenomenon!:rolleyes:

[bvd7]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155587
Check out the post by FLAVO in this thread. We shot three of these cacklers during the South Zone opener for ducks in the Jackson area. ( I took mine home with me and he took this pic at home) What do you think of these. We thought they were cacklers, but I would like to get your opinions..........As FLAVO's post says....his dad is putting it on the wall.

Branta the answer is simple....there are more geese on that side................

[Bmac]

next lesson will cover: "when geese are migrating in a V, why one side is always longer than the other".

Did my thesis on this phenomenon!:rolleyes:

I think I read it! Its because there are more birds on that side.

[Lil' Tanker]

BVD7

I don't know a whole lot about the subs like Branta does but I would bet that has to be a cackler. The field mallards we have been shooting are bigger than that thing.

We shot a couble Richardsons last year but they were a little bigger than that little thing.

What a cool trophy congrats.

[Brydog]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/541/medium/S4020483.JPG

These little beauties are much smaller than the two I have.:eek:

I think you're right Branta,,,, Richardson's or Hutchies ! I did some surfin on the subject, and thats what I came up with. I also measured their beaks, both were 1 7/8" .

[Branta]

I think I read it! Its because there are more birds on that side.

Dang! that didn't take long!! :D :lol:

I did get a research grant for that though! :evil:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not to be argumentative, I'm really just trying to enlighten our membership on some of the nuances here.

that's a Bc hutch just above - not a minima.
See how it's basically nothing more than a mini version of the honk to the right? a "cack" would be tootsie roll brown throughout the body/chest right up to the black neck. Not only would you say that bird was smaller than the others, but you'd also note a distinctly different coloration from the honk.

(here's a cack in the pic below. compare chest to pic above)
http://www.badboybirding.com/Images/11302003a-074.jpg Plus, true cacks are pacific flyway birds with hutchs coming in from nunavut arctic regions, it's 1,000x more probable you're busting hutchs than cacklers here in michigan.

and all this conjecture "is it this or that bird" is just one of the reasons they simply lump all the subs into just the two classifications now.

like I said, a more correct answer would be B.c. hutch's (richardson/Hutchinson) not Mini's (cackler).

Anyone ready for taxonomy of Parvipes or Occidentalis ?!

[Mike L]

Every year I see a flock of them, but I've never had a chance to take one.
He or she will be on my wall if I ever do get one..........
Nice birds congrads...........:)

[Bmac]

I'd agree that it is very unlikely to shoot a true cackler (B.c.minima) in Michigan. I have seen a few Richardson's and a buddy shot a couple a few years ago. Of course I didn't hunt that day.:mad:

I'd say what Brydog shot are just small interior (B.c. interior) birds and not Richardson's (B.c. hutchinsii). As he said, his are much larger than the ones in the thread by Flavo and the culmen (beak) length fits interior birds (2") better than Richardson's (1.5").

In any case, there are only a couple more days in this part of the season so I'm on my way to try and get a couple more.