Outdoors With Kevin Fox: Canada Goose Season Reopens

I am a waterfowler hunter — so much so that I would rather be hunting ducks this week than whitetail deer. Everyone has a favorite, and judging by how many side‑by‑sides and four‑wheelers are at the convenience stores and how few boats are loaded down with decoys, I must be in the minority. Prior to last week in general, and more accurately Nov. 11, Canada goose season reopened in what would probably be known as the regular goose season. Later in the year, after duck season closes, I’ll be left to hunt only Canada geese if I am to hunt waterfowl at all. But as of right now, I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone — or in simpler terms, I’m hunting both ducks and geese at the same time.

Opinions on how to do this are as varied as everything else in hunting. Some believe you shouldn’t mix the two decoys, but I do not fall into that camp. I’m sure someone has seen — or knew someone who had seen — geese turn away from duck decoys or even geese that were turned off by motion duck decoys and, because of that, keep the two species separate. I only know what I have seen in the wild. I also try to keep the two species apart, but not completely, as I’ve seen ducks swimming among geese many times. It’s not as if they segregate themselves. So I have on occasion tossed a couple duck decoys among my goose decoys. I do not, however, toss my goose decoys in the middle of my decoy spread. I tend to put a wall of goose decoys — perhaps a couple lines — on the up‑wind side of my decoy spread, which acts like an almost wall for ducks, since they tend to want to land before they get to the geese. That said, I know someone will say they can’t get geese to come in if they have to fly over a duck spread. I know full well that I’m being vague with my information, but there is no hard‑and‑fast rule as to how to place your decoys — and even if there were, Canada geese cannot read. It’s a little like turkey hunting: if they don’t want to come in, you cannot make them; if they do want to come in, it’s hard to do enough things wrong to stop them.

As a kid, we might get a couple geese a year if we were lucky. If we did get a goose, it was usually on the river — and not on Rose Pond. Because of the rarity of getting one, Canada geese had a special kind of mystique to me. Ducks were like a working man’s waterfowl, and going after a goose was a lot like trying to outwit a college professor. I still hold them special in the waterfowl world because of that, but I have since seen them do some pretty dumb things and the school of hard knocks was not forgiving.

We had put nine or ten goose decoys on the far left of our decoy spread as we had a southwest wind. We had placed them in the dark and when it got lighter we could see and hear two of our goose decoys bumping into each other. With nothing in the sky, one of us went out to separate the two decoys. That had just been completed when I heard a honk from across the lake and a lone Canada goose was heading our way. I yelled to the buddy in the water to turn his back on the approaching goose and bend over making himself somewhat smaller. The goose kept coming and, after I gave him a couple calls, he locked his wings and appeared about to land among our goose decoys — and my hunting buddy. However, when I stood up in the blind the goose attempted to gain altitude — but it was much too late. There was another time when duck season was nearly over and I found myself hunting with Mark Drummond. We had taken a number of green‑winged teal, and I had Bailey, my yellow lab, out making retrieves. Mark suddenly began calling with his goose call. I laid down in some grass perhaps 50 yards to the right of my blind. The geese kept coming and when they came in he dropped two of them. I’m kicking myself for being out of the blind — but these things happen — and just as suddenly the geese turned, came back and even landed in front of the blind. Mark stood up and got his final goose, and the rest of them came closer to me when they got up — and I dropped two of them. So much for the high esteem I held them in.

I have enough gear to hunt Canada geese in the field, but this time of year I am on the water, as I started this story out with. So what do I do to make the floating goose decoys I’m using look more natural? To do this, make your spread appear as it would in the wild. Not every goose will appear the same — such as alert with their heads up. So if I have a dozen decoys out there maybe two are sentries with their heads held high, a few have their heads tucked low against their chests and maybe a sleeper or two. If I have a few silhouette decoys out they will be in shallow water as though feeding. Not because I’m lazy, but early in the season I may just put out four or five decoys as though a family group has just dropped in. I think geese are more vocal when on the ground or when approaching decoys on land, so often I call less — and softer — on the water. But if they don’t respond, I throw everything I have at them since I’ve got nothing to lose. If geese are approaching, say within 100 yards or so, I will give those excited double clucks rather than just a long drawn‑out honk.

I know decoys play a huge part in fooling them. In a field situation where you’re hunting over a large spread, you can get by with lesser‑quality decoys since you’re playing a numbers game. But I believe that on the water — with a smaller spread — besides using a variety of poses on decoys I use my best decoys. Geese on the water have no way to get dirty, so they will not be faded and covered with dust. If you do not want to get new goose decoys, try adding some paint to your faded decoys — it makes a world of difference. I used to laugh at this but I think if it looks like a goose, it will fool a goose — at least fool it enough to bring it in close and “close” is everything when shooting a goose. They are a big bird and can take some punishment and keep on going. And because they’re so big, they appear to be closer than they are. I have taken a lot of geese over my years and I’ve seen geese taken close — but I do not recall seeing a goose that was too high up.