The hunt starts like any other goose hunt. Two hours before dawn hunters stumble into a clubhouse greeted by the smell of cigar smoke and brewing coffee. The fashion statement of the day is brown camouflage. The more ragged and dirty a hunter's clothes appear the more respect he receives from those whose time in the field can't compare.
Cased shotguns line the walls. You'll find no lightweight 20-gauge over-and-unders in this group. The standard shotgun is a 3-inch magnum pump or auto-loader, with a few 3-1/2 inch 12's and a 10-gauge or two mixed in. Boxes of maximum charge BB loads are considered the only serious medicine.
The conversation in the clubhouse is mostly small talk centering on past hunts, current weather conditions, and the odd dirty joke. Hunters range in age from 12-year-old first-timers to gray-haired men who never grew up.
Guides stick out of the crowd like Lawrence Welk at a rock concert. Their call lanyards decorated with dozens of silvery goose bands set them apart from those who only wish they have shot as many birds. A man with a necklace full of bands has spent a lot of time hunting. It's not every goose that wears a band and not every hunter who's lucky enough to shoot one with jewelry.
The hunt coordinator breaks up the crowd into small hunting parties and gives a quick report on the status of birds in the area and expected hunting success. In order to reduce pressure on the private land leased for hunting, he explains that some hunters will visit the nearby DNR managed waterfowl area known as the Todd Farm to get in on the morning drawing.
Getting drawn in the top 30 almost guarantees hunting success on the Todd Farm. Decoy spreads are placed in disked corn or wheat fields while hunters hide in strips of standing corn.
Hunters who pull poor blind sites at the Todd Farm drawing are quickly shipped back to the private lands where they will enjoy a productive morning hunt from permanent pit blinds.
The goose hunting operation I've just described is one of the best organized and productive commercial shoots in Michigan. Managed by Dave Engel and Bill Bale of Best Chance Charters, hunters find outstanding success during the early, regular, and late goose seasons.
Three Keys to Success
The key to their daily hunting success is a three-part equation. Knowing how to spread out their hunting pressure, so as not to hammer the birds in any one spot is critical.
"Canada geese are difficult birds to lure into shotgun range consistently," says Dave Engel. "Heavily hunted refuge birds are the toughest birds to fool. Letting prime fields set idle between hunts allows the birds a chance to begin working the fields again. Also, taking occasional road trips to managed hunting areas like the Todd Farm reduces pressure on our private lands while offering excellent opportunities to harvest geese."
Second, the Best Chance boys have spared no expense in their decoy setups. Top-of-the-line Big Foot full-body decoys, super-magnum shells, and floaters make up the sets. Each pit or blind receives enough decoys to justify a second home mortgage.
The decoys are expertly positioned. "We set most of our blocks facing into the wind with the majority set slightly upwind of the pits," adds Bill Bale. "Setting our decoys this way helps insure that shots at incoming birds will be as close as possible. A few decoys are also scattered in every direction of the compass to add realism, and motion decoys are rigged to fool decoy-shy birds."
Expert calling is the knockout punch. Dave, Bill, and their staff of guides are all hotshot goose callers. Both high-volume flute and short-reed-style calls are used. Watching these guys work a flock of birds is worth the price of admission alone.
Typically they start calling with a series of loud honks. As the birds respond, the honks are replaced with more excited clucks and double clucking. If the birds stray off the string, pleading moans jerk them back on line. As the birds approach inside 100 yards, a combination of clucks, double clucks, and feed calls commits the birds. The last calling sound you hear is a soft nasal like whistle the guides call the laydown call. They should have named this call the grab your gun call!
The Effectiveness of Flagging
In addition to vocal goose calls, you'll see first hand how effective flagging can be.
"Flagging is a calling technique used to simulate birds on the ground flapping their wings," says Bale. "A 24-inch square of black cloth mounted on a dowel rod makes a perfect flagging tool."
The flag is waved rapidly a couple times to catch the attention of passing geese, then repeated as necessary until the birds turn towards the decoy setup. A technique used to lure geese that show signs of being call and decoy shy, flagging is most effective when the birds are spotted in the distance.
Other motion-type attractors are also incorporated into the setup. Finisher decoys with a moving neck, Northwind Windsock decoys, Pole Kites that simulate flying geese, and Flapperz--a plastic wing that attaches to a shell decoy and moves in the slightest breeze--help animate the spread.
Collectively the decoys, calling, and motion attractors lure in geese like no other system I've seen. Most of the shots are taken at geese dangling over the decoys at 30 yards or less!
Private Lands
Hunters who end up on the private land will be hunting from cement pits, complete with wire lids camouflaged with natural cover. Rubber boots are standard foot gear in a goose pit. A camo rain jacket and pants are also must have items.
While watching for birds, hunters typically stand in the pits with the lids propped open. When birds are spotted, hunters crouch down into the pit and sit on bench seats. The lids are closed and the guides begin their calling and flagging trickery.
From inside the pit the hunters are invisible to the birds and can move about while keeping track of the circling geese. At the moment of truth the tension inside a goose pit is almost unbearable. The last few yards the birds seem to approach in slow motion.
When the lid pops open on the pit, the situation turns ugly. Guns pound out a three-shot volley, birds flare and crumple in mid-air, and the dogs whimper for their chance to participate. Within seconds the barrage is over, the calls are silent, and the hunters begin to asses the damage.
Immediately the dogs are sent out to recover dead and crippled birds while the hunters quickly reload and flash smiles at each other. A vital part of goose hunting, the highly trained Labs not only recover birds that might be lost otherwise, they allow the hunter to remain in the pit at ready if more birds come on the string.
State Land
Hunters working the DNR managed fields experience a similar hunt except standing corn strips are used to hide hunters from approaching birds. In some cases, stakes and strips of die-cut camo cloth are used to improve the hide where the corn has been beaten down by the weather.
At both hunts most of the geese harvested are from birds coming off the refuge each morning to feed. Many of these birds have their minds made up and no amount of calling or decoy magic will interest them. The birds with the steady wing beats are usually in route to some pre-determined place.
"It's the birds that come out of the refuge and fly in wavy strings and small bunches that we're watching for," says Engel. "These birds are looking to feed and in many cases are new arriving migrants that have no idea what's waiting for them in the fields below."
Ironically, bright clear days produce some of the best hunting success. On a blue bird day geese can spot decoys and movement from tremendous distances. The accurate colors on the decoys work to the hunter's advantage and goose calls carry well to distant geese.
A stiff wind improves the setup even further. Wind puts the Flapperz, Northwind Windsocks, and Pole Kites to work luring in birds. A stiff breeze also makes it easier to predict exactly how incoming birds will respond to decoy placement.
On clear days geese begin moving at first light. During rain, fog, or snow, geese are often slow to leave the security of the refuge. Prime time on these days can be 9:00 or 10:00 a.m.
Recommended Firepower
The recommended shotguns for goose hunting are heavy duty 3-inch and 3-1/2 inch 12-gauges and big 10-bores. Doubles and over-and-unders are fine, but a little difficult to open and reload in the confines of a goose pit. Most veteran goose hunters settle on a pump or auto-loading version.
"Geese are hardy birds that require maximum loads of heavy steel shot," says Bale. "A 1-1/4 ounce charge of No. 1 shot is considered the minimum load for geese over decoys. I recommend that our hunters use at least a 1-3/8 ounce loads of BB or better yet magnum payloads of T and BBB shot."
Hunters who book a trip with Best Chance will need to bring their gun, ammo, camo clothing, rubber boots, necessary licenses, and a thermos for coffee. Decoys, guides, pits, or blinds and other related equipment is provided. To inquire on hunting dates and prices, contact Bill or Dave at Best Chance Charters 616-857-4762.
Hunters interested in waterfowling equipment will find a wide assortment available through Knutsons Recreational Sales. Call 800-292-0857 within Michigan or 800-248-9318 in the USA or Canada for a catalog. Also Herters stocks a wide variety of waterfowling items. Call 800-654-3825 for a free catalog.
Copyright (c) 1996 Mark Romanack. All rights reserved.
Home | Library | Hunting | Wing Shooting