The Canada Goose population has exploded in the past decade. This explosion has made the Canada Goose a plentiful and challenging game bird. The Minnesota Duck & Goose Callers Association promotes hunting geese over decoys and calling them into effective (less than 40 yards) shotgun range. This not only reduces cripples but is much more of an enjoyable hunt.
Hunting the Canada goose effectively throughout the season from early to late season requires a substantial investment. First of all a hunting party needs decoys. Early in the year two dozen will be sufficient, but as the season progresses the number needed to effectively decoy geese will increase. Some hunters end the season putting out twenty dozen or more. A good rule of thumb is the more the better.
There are many styles of decoys on the market. They include
shell, fullbody, windsocks, and sillouettes. Each one has proven itself
in the feild over time, but the top goose hunters today are using fullbody
decoys and photographic sillouete decoys. Each of these two have proven
themselves deadly on geese.
Calling geese is a passion of all of our members. We spend not only the hunting season annoying are familys practicing are calls but every other day in the year also. Calling adds more enjoyment and effectiveness to the hunt than any other aspect. Learn to be a good goose caller and it will double if not triple the average hunters success.
There are many styles of calls on the market today. They include resonant cavity, flute, and short reed calls. The resonant cavity is of yesterdays technology and is rarely used by todays top guides. The style of calls that dominate the guides lanyards today are flute and short reed styles. Each of these has killed hundreds of thousands of geese. The general rule on calling is to buy a tape, and practice, practice, and practice some more. A good goose caller is always welcome in my pit!
Flagging is another technique that is deadly on geese.
Sometimes it's more effective than calling. Flagging ussualy begins when a hunter spots
a passing flock of geese. A hunter then waves his flag up and down
trying to immitate a goose landing in the decoys, stretching its wings, or
just moving around. Some hunters stop once the geese are coming towards the decoys
but I and many other hunters prefer to flag until picking up our guns
to shoot.
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