Geese And Glory

Alan pays tribute to these big, beautiful birds which signify the pinnacle of the sport, and relays occasions when both determination and luck played a part in getting them in the bag

- Alan Jarrett

Of all the quarry available to the wildfowler, it is the geese which arguably represent the pinnacle of the sport. This was certainly the case when I started out on this path in the late 1960s, when a young wildfowler would dream of bringing these birds to hand.

There were two reasons for that: firstly, being new to the sport, geese were the ultimate prize; secondly, there were comparatively few geese in the south-east corner of the country.

Only towards the end of the year when the first of the European white-fronts arrived did an opportunity arise, and then success was confined to the lucky or the determined. Frequently, you had to be both.

In recent decades, the number of home-bred birds has begun to burgeon in this area, largely as a result of the work of the Kent Wildfowlers who brought greylag goslings and eggs from Scotland for release on club marshes, accompanied by what eventually became a 10-year moratorium on the shooting of them.

Similarly to the greylags, Canadas were introduced and spread, until today the estuaries and marshes of Kent resound to the cries of these wonderful big birds. Paradoxically – due, many of us would say, to global warming and shortstopping on the continent – it is the white-front which is less common today.

Now, if you show perseverance it is possible to eventually get that goose, even if it may be home-bred rather than truly migrant. Irrespective of their origins they are still a worthy quarry, and are just as good on the plate.