Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: ricktrojanowski on September 16, 2008, 05:55:45 am
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Early goose season just opened here and I was wondering do wing feathers from Canada Geese make usable fletching?
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Early goose season just opened here and I was wondering do wing feathers from Canada Geese make usable fletching?
Sure do......
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I like them a lot, I get lots every year from my shotgunner buddies. I think they are a lot easier to use in a primitive situation than turkey. Not quite as durable. Kenneth
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Canada goose feathers work great. I use them for the cock feather and then two turkey feathers.
Alan
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As far as Im concerned,thats all them danged canadians are good for. And some okay jerky.
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I get them each june and they seem to work fine for me. Just not as durable as turkey.
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Goose feathers work pretty good. Some say they hold up better when wet....I agree. The only think I don't like about them is they don't look as good as turkey feathers when "spiral" wrapped. The vanes of the goose feathers seem to get wrinkled easily and don't "zip" back together as well as turkey.
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along waterways, in campgrounds, and so forth goose feathers can be easier to find in bulk than turkey. they are good considering how easy they are to get your hands on. SOM
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I really like goose feathers, better than turkey in some situations. Never seen much difference in durability myself.
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I wish I could find goose feathers lying around here (in bulk)....the parks I've been to yield about one feather per goose. Maybe there's a critter around here that eats feathers? Maybe other birds are making nests with them? I dunno.
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As far as Im concerned,thats all them danged canadians are good for. And some okay jerky.
Somebody needs to learn how to cook a Goose!!!!
;)
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yup all my goose hunting buddies have been told to cut the wings off and give em to me ;D
hopefully by the end of the season i will have a pound or two lol
tim
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I've got some if anybody wants it. Not feathers, meat, like eating a red tennis shoe but the shoe is better. My lab wouldn't eat it.
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Thanks for the info guys. A lot of Goose shooters around here. So hopefully I can manage a good number of feathers.
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Even the smaller wing and tail feathers can be use as fletching. Anything over 4" or 5". I like goose feathers and especially during wet weather. Like Hillbilly, I don't find them any less durable than turkey. Pat
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I use them a lot, mostly primaries. I think they're pretty durable if they are split & ground vs. being stripped and if they are trimmed down close to the oil line. Virginia has a huge resident Canada goose population, and I usually pick up a bunch when they are molting in June (I check ponds around office developements and local parks; you have to be quick to get them before the lawnmowers chew them up).
As far as the meat goes, it can be tough if you get an old bird. The problem with lots of waterfowl is if you cook them whole like a chicken to where the breast meat is cooked through, the meat dries out and the legs are like meteorites. I suggest cooking the breast of a young bird separately and only cooking it to medium rare, medium at the most. Keep the skin intact or it will likely dry out (covering the top with strips of bacon helps, too). The breasts are also good cut into cubes, marinated and shishkabobed, again to medium rare/medium doneness. The rest of the carcass- legs, back and wings- can be simmered in water to cover until the meat falls off the bones, and then the stock and meat can be used in gumbo, etc. I have also had success cooking birds whole in a brown-in-bag; stick a piece of celery, a peeled onion and a cut-up Granny Smith apple in the cavity, rub the skin with softened butter, put the bird breast down in the bag, add a cup of dry white wine to the bag, seal it and cook it according to the directions on the brown-in-bag box for a turkey or chicken of the same weight (the bag cooks with moist heat and keeps the meat moist and tender). Game meat usually has less fat than meat from domestic animals and it benefits from either long cooking with moist heat or quick cooking at higher temperatures to a lesser degree of doneness. Just my $.02...
Will
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Wow Pamunkey...great recipes!
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If you want bulk, go to any metropolitan apartment complex or park that has a pond/ lake in mid June to the first week of July(in the Midwest)when the adult geese are molting and the juveniles are growing their first set of flight feathers. Feathers will be on the ground where the geese tend to congregate.