Goose Guides?

[Whackem]

I am think of taking my 14 year old on his first goose hunt.  I am much more of a big game hunter with very little waterfowl experience.  Thinking of doing a guided trip.  Does anyone have any recommendations for good goose guides in the state. 

Thanks

[Hunting Cowboy]

PM Sent

[Coasthunterjay]

Yes i do. he is the best that i know of period. I grew up with this kid through high school, hunted the same places, he continued doing it and is more sucessful than ever...

give Ben a call and have fun.....

http://www.northflightwaterfowl.com/

goodguy, his dad and mom are awesome people.

[General Disarray]

Jay,
Does that mean you're a Bomber too? Ben shoots geese, that's for sure. 

[wastickslinger]

Okanogan Valley Guide Service. They whack em and stack all the time. The owner is a friend of mine and a great guy.

[Coasthunterjay]

Jay,
Does that mean you're a Bomber too? Ben shoots geese, that's for sure. 

No i was a Hanford falcon, and yes he shoots alot of geese....He is good at what he does....

i went to church with his family growing up so thats another reason i know him. His dads a Big fly fisherman, and his mom is a cook and a half......

[woodywsu]

Contact Paul Sullivan out of Columbia-Burbank down in Tri-Cities. They kill A LOT of geese and ducks and have some of the best decoys around. You can't go wrong there. They are right in the middle of the flyway and constantly have thousands of birds around. Plus his blinds and pits are roomy and comes with excellent guides.

[GoldTip]

Whackem, I can make a second recommendation for north flight waterfowl.  I am in one of the pics from Dec. 07.  Our first goose hit the ground at 07:45 in the am, the last of our 24 bird limit hit the ground at 08:25!  These guys know their goose hunting.  Make sure they know your bringing a kid, as the blind we were in would have been a bit difficult to shoot out of if you were very short. (sorry, not sure how big your 14 year old is)

[General Disarray]

I'm a Richland boy as well.  Miss living there when it's this time of year.  Otherwise I'm glad to be out of there!

Northflight, Echternkamps or Columbia Basin Waterfowl are the 3 best choices.  Burbank shoots geese but you don't get to enjoy watching the birds work.  It's all about hunting fields that are loaded with geese and hiding in a pit blind in silence while your "guide" sneeks peaks through the lid and when there are less than 25 birds in the area he calls the shot at the birds in the decoys.  They won't let you shoot into big flocks of birds and rarely do they shoot any big geese.  I wouldn't pay them for a hunt.

[BLUEBULLS]

I have to vote for Echternkamps on this one, he's a greta guide and a great guy in general. He'll treat you right. he generally hunts the moses lake area.

[mkcj]

I would go with Aaron Echternkamps! me and my 2 son's go with him 4 or 5 times a year. Pm me if you want my youngest son is 13 and would love to have someone his own age out there to shoot with

[Coasthunterjay]

yah ben from northflight guides hunts the burbank area alos Ide takie you out there myself if i could, i knw most of all the holes out there that are public and good also, and have alot of public property to hunt, but im busy.....but lots of recommendations....my advice would be to call either and just talk to them and see what kind of vibe you get from them....

[wadu1]

I would go with Ben )North flight) or Paul (Burbank), I know them both well and they will get the young man into geese. Here is a photo of our 2007 shoot with Burbank,

[TheHunt]

I'm a Richland boy as well.  Miss living there when it's this time of year.  Otherwise I'm glad to be out of there!

Northflight, Echternkamps or Columbia Basin Waterfowl are the 3 best choices.  Burbank shoots geese but you don't get to enjoy watching the birds work.  It's all about hunting fields that are loaded with geese and hiding in a pit blind in silence while your "guide" sneeks peaks through the lid and when there are less than 25 birds in the area he calls the shot at the birds in the decoys.  They won't let you shoot into big flocks of birds and rarely do they shoot any big geese.  I wouldn't pay them for a hunt.

Here are my thoughts why Burbank does not allow hunters to shoot big flocks.
1.  If you do shoot big flocks you just educated a huge amount of birds.  If you shoot small flocks you only educate those small flocks.
2.  You can look through the cracks in the drop down doors to see the birds work.  But if you are wear nosy clothing (gortex) those pit blinds sound like speaker boxes and amplify the sound of the clothing.  Or you have someone opening some video cassettes or who knows…
3.  If there is a large flock that comes a smart guide will wait until all the birds are down then call observer to drive by to get them off the ground then call back a small flock or make a move with a door to get the entire flock to move off but then call a small flock back to shoot at.   


The above will allow them to hunt birds all year long.  So when all the public hunting land is all shot up the Burbank guide service will have birds for their clients to shoot at. 

[Professor Chaos]

yes but also remember that this happens at burbank...

all the geese come in and you are not allowed to shoot, for various reason... too close to the pond while ducks are working, too many birds...
So they land, you kick them off and they dont come back.  This can happen multiple times.
I have gone with Paul once, wont go back.  Had to pass up lots of birds, sit in a pit where i could even see them, and then in the end not even get to shoot.

[TheHunt]

I would think that the rules have changed since I was over there.  The duck hunters earn more money for Paul (Burbank) then the goose hunters.  That is because you can get 300 dollars per hunter and you can pack 12 hunters in a group and you can run two groups a day.  Geese you only get one set of hunters per day. 

So your comments make sense.   Sounds like he needs more land to hunt the geese so the duck hunters do not impact the goose hunters.   

[niceshot]

Aaron Echternkamp will put you on the geese.  We shot our limits up there this Saturday and they have lots of geese right now and it will continue to get better.  Call Aaron and see what he has open.  You might get a field with both ducks and geese using it. 

Good luck.