hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

The guys that hunt the Susqy will definitely help you. They gladly give their spots to guys that just ask for them. I are usually so helpful because they build permanent blinds on public land. Being that it is public land, they feel obligated to share with the rest of the public. Just ask.

 

Let me be the first to welcome you to the state.

You can expect high pressure hunting and other people staking claims to public land.

Best of luck out there, you'll get little help from any locals. I don't know where your moving here from, but the Suskie is probably unlike anything you've seen. Stories of guys running their boats through people's decoys and fights at the ramps and 'claimed' public spots are all over the place.

I'd tell you to check game lands and swamps, lakes and what not, but your going to find crowds on any public land out there. Your best bet is to find a good local spot and blow out the other guys by going VERY early to the spot.

9 pm the night before isn't unheard of to get a spot.

Sorry, I don't have any good news for you.

 

Stories of guys running their boats through people's decoys and fights at the ramps and 'claimed' public spots are all over the place.

.

Wow. Where I came from, a guy could get shot pulling a stunt like that. Are folks out this way that crazy? Hope that is not a norm in the state of Pa. Might have to take my gunning over to Ohio before I would put up with that craziness.

 

You had some bad experiences but Ive found Bradford County hunters very welcoming and prideful that they are responsible Hunters. Remember, not many rich folks ( not judging)and getting some deer and ducks means good holiday eating for their family and friends. Of course, some idiots and you found them. A lot of guys who are proud of their hunting knowledge ,but be nice about their cockiness and they will help out flatlanders like me. I have 50 acres and myself and brothers bought it for outdoorsman weekends ( or weekdays) so learn all the mountain etiquette and unwritten rules and you will fit in fine.

 

Stories of guys running their boats through people's decoys and fights at the ramps and 'claimed' public spots are all over the place.

.

Wow. Where I came from, a guy could get shot pulling a stunt like that. Are folks out this way that crazy? Hope that is not a norm in the state of Pa. Might have to take my gunning over to Ohio before I would put up with that craziness.

You think the PA natives are crazy wait till you get to hunt arount the NYC and NJ city folk. Those fellas are dumb as a box of
$h!t its a real treat to be shot at on a regular basis

 

Things get a little crazy there is no doubt some places just get to crowded and to many inexperienced idiots out there. Pymatuning, Geneva Swamp for example are perfect examples. To many hot heads thinking they own the place that don't get the fact that its public. Plus the fact they shoot at passing birds 80 yards in the air... Not my style. Hell Don and I were nearly shot this year by some ass trying to take out our decoys.

Seriously though its not all bad. You won't shoot limits everyday hunting Pa but good water fowling can be had. You just need to look! Watch the small waters. We have been very successful on creeks no more than ten yards wide for Wood ducks, Mallards, Blacks and Teal over the years. Plenty of small ponds around to give us some pretty damn good goose hunting if your willing to put the scouting work in. The way i look at it is that its fun to go up to the big water and sometimes see a couple thousand birds a day, maybe even kill a couple. Id rather see 20 ducks on a creek or small swamp all day having them in your face feet down and leaving with 5. To me that's a good hunt.

 

Stories of guys running their boats through people's decoys and fights at the ramps and 'claimed' public spots are all over the place.

.

Wow. Where I came from, a guy could get shot pulling a stunt like that. Are folks out this way that crazy? Hope that is not a norm in the state of Pa. Might have to take my gunning over to Ohio before I would put up with that craziness.

No, this guy's out east. Different game with different players. We only have 30K waterfowlers in the state. I'd bet 22K are out east. The suskie has a long tradition. Your not just moving in on somebody out there, your moving in on 3 generations of waterfowlers. That was his granddaddy's spot, ya know what I mean?

Don't totally discount those spots Gooserslan mentioned. Lots of ducks are killed there and there are remedies for people skybusting near you. That's a different thread. Go there on a weekday, you can have the place to yourself sometimes. I've killed lots and lots of ducks at all of them. Lots.

Its going to be different, but not like out east.

Before somebody calls me out, no, its not ALL like that out east. Are they good odds? No, probably not.

Ohio has less hunters that's for sure. You can find fields over there, geese are your best bet in Ohio. The geese out of pymie fly west, not much work is needed to figure out where they are going.

 

I've never had a problem with altercations waterfowl hunting in Western PA. I've had lead rain on me and been accosted by skybusters but never any real trouble. In fact, it is just the opposite. I've had many guys offer me to hunt with them when I was by myself at the launch. I met gooserlan at a spot this year and he invited me to hunt with him. I usually invite a lone hunter or a hunter with a kid to hunt with me if we get to talking. I've had many good conversations at the launch on the way out.

It seems out east on the Susqy, guys feel they are a little more entitled on public land. Like Don said, because their granddaddy and daddy hunted that particular spot on public land for 50 years, that particular spot is now personal property of their family. I'm not sure about the rest of the east. Snow goose hunting is touchy over there in Eastern PA too. Try to make some friends and do some scouting yourself.

 

You guys are right about heading east. Lots of birds and lots of competition and a whole lot more land is leased too. Don ever been goose hunting in Ohio? Its excellent. Boardman, East Palestine, Salem and Guilford have some serious birds considering the location.

 

I am from Arkansas, so I know all about people being jerks while hunting, but thanks for the information.

 

Don. I'm not sure where on the susquehanna the guys you are talking about hunt..... I hunt atleast an 80 mile stretch that covers 4 counties and had one issue in 20 years. i have never heard of or seen anyone ever camping out for a spot...thats funny. you can actually find yourself alone easily on our river. If thats the case elsewhere ....boy i'm glad i live where i live. the hunting is great and most of the hunters i run into are awesome too. there is a whole lot of tradition here...and it is still considered a gentlemans sport for the most part.....the geese in the fields....thats a kids game....dont really care to play. that is where the conflict is around here and there are horror stories to tell...not the river. As far as feeling "entitled" you better believe it! I live here and yup... many generations before me carved out the legacy of waterfowling on our great river and passed it down.respect is a long standing tradition here and we like it that way...as far as the river being unlike something a person not from around here has never seen.....not true. Its an awesome place to hunt and most will help anyone that asks. anyone has an opportunity to hunt anywhere they please and be very successful too! vince. hunting blinds are part of the history around here. before you cut it up you should understand the culture. most of the fellas that have the old blinds been around for a long time. these are the guys that helped pioneer DU in our area and care way more about waterfowl than most of the younger generation. IMO they can do whatever they want. the majority of the time they may get one good hunt out of the blinds before the birds grow weary. they go to just get out and BS with their buddys and drink coffee. dont you think that if the blinds were such an issue that our friends in green with the big shiny badges would have them removed? the feds do police the river as does the boat and game commissions. i dont use permanent blinds but i respect the fellas that do. i guarantee if you went hunting with me and after the morning flight we pulled up to some old blinds you would be like a kid in a candy store. if you talked to the old timers you would be all ears listening to the wealth of knowledge they have and the amazing stories they tell. duck hunting here for most isnt just about killing. its alot of tradition and i hope it stays this way for my son to enjoy. I wouldn't tell a person that the susky is bad just because I heard this from one guy and that from the other. there will be conflict and isolated disputes in every county of our state on most public hunting spots...but to turn a new comer to our state away from the river that literally has hundreds upon hundreds of miles of huntable shorlines...no. take it from a guy that hunts the susky every possible day i can throughout the entire season...oh I actually live here too!!!
.....badjr05..shoot me a PM...this is a load of crap these guys are feeding you....

 

I am also moving to The Lancaster PA area from Ca around April 2012. The waterfowl hunting here in Ca is generally great and if you don't hunt public land you generally lease a blind on flooded rice or join a duck club. Do you have duck clubs in PA or can you lease property for the season? Just looking for a way to get started.

 

No real duck clubs, nothing like what I know California has. Leases are available, but you can't just open the sunday paper and find them, not that I'm 100% certain what's in the sunday paper 350 miles away, but I'm pretty sure its going to take some leg work. I'd start early securing a spot for this or next season.

When you have a lease in Pa, realistically, it shouldn't operate as well as one in California. The beginning of the season, you'll be on residents. Every survivor you leave will get wise and not come back. Migration will come in, it will get good again, but then that will slow. In Cali, guys hunt the same clubs day in and day out and see fresh migrations and birds much more frequently than we do. Much of the water is public, the majority of leases would be dry fields, mostly corn. I'd say 75%+ of you shots would be on geese and that's very conservative. Personally, I shoot 1 duck to about 20 geese while laying out in my blind.

Point is, if you want to shoot ducks, your going to have to do much of it over water. Private or public, public being far more available. If you want to kill giant canada geese, you'll do well with a field.

JMHO.

 

Thanks Don. I can see that things are going to be real different in Pa. In Ca i can hunt the bays around SF bay and get fairly easy limits of divers and little competition there. When we have weather I can hunt my club for limits of puddlers and also geese but we generally don't get the geese like you guys get. I can see its going to be a real learning curve