5 Tips for Taking More Snow Geese

They formed up beyond the horizon, thousands of them all making noise, and headed directly toward us at high speed.

Heavily armed men hiding in a trench braced for action. Some buried themselves as deeply as possible in the dirt. Others stroked their weapons in eager anticipation of the command to open fire.

“Now! Take’em,” the leader ordered.

No, this didn’t occur in 1917 France. These goose hunters hid in a dry irrigation ditch bordering a rye grass field in southwest Louisiana. Snow geese, their smaller Ross cousins and blue geese, really a darker color variant of snow geese, love to feed in crop fields.

Snow geese commonly gather in immense flocks numbering in the thousands. To bag geese, find where they already want to go and get there first. Unless disturbed, snow geese regularly return to the same fields until they consume everything edible. Then, they move to ravage another field, perhaps miles away. Thousands of geese can quickly turn lush fields into mud. Therefore, many farmers encourage hunters to shoot geese on their properties.

1. Be Mobile

After finding snow geese, never attempt to hunt the main body. No matter how skilled, sportsmen can never fool thousands of eyes watching for danger. Hunting massive flocks directly will only chase them away. Instead, find a good position between two flocks, but some distance from both. Pick off geese flying between the two concentrations. Smaller groups would more likely come into range than thousands of birds.

“When snow geese gather in huge flocks, they are extremely difficult to hunt,” advised Erik Rue with Calcasieu Charter Service (337-598-4700) from Lake Charles, Louisiana. They are incredibly smart and alert. To consistently kill snows in larger numbers, people must move around with the birds. Let them feed for a couple days and get used to coming there. Then hunt that field. We can only hunt a field one day and then must move to another field.”

2. Digging In

Lucky hunters can hunt from pit blinds dug into fields. For sharp-eyed white birds, use total concealment. Veteran birds that survived many hunting seasons can instantly spot anything out of the ordinary. If possible, fly a drone over the blind before hunting to check out the bird’s eye view.

“Blind concealment is absolutely essential for bagging geese,” explained Brant Theunissen with Cypress Cove Outfitters (337-384-2095) in Gueydan, Louisiana. “We absolutely must have the proper brush to blend in where we’re hunting. For geese, we must put brush across the top to cover the blind completely, so it blends in with the surroundings.”

Many hunters use ATVs to reach their blinds. From the air, such vehicles leave tracks that look like a superhighway pointing to the blind. Run the vehicle back and forth to obliterate everything. Create a maze of tracks to confuse the birds.

People without permanent blinds must find cover or bring something portable. In dry fields, use reclining layout blinds or hide in any natural cover, such as an irrigation ditch, hedgerow, tree line, thick grass or other available concealment.

3. Fake Them Out

Years ago, hunters could sprinkle white rags around a field and bring in birds. Now, people need realistic full-bodied decoys and lots of them. Some decoys swivel on stakes with the wind to mimic geese walking. Add a few white windsocks to create more motion.

“By the time snows get to Texas, we have to do some creative thinking to kill them,” opined Lance Stancik with Backwater Waterfowl (979-966-7732) in Eagle Lake, Texas. “Even the realism of full-body decoys changed over the years.”

When it comes to decoys, nothing looks better to a goose than a goose. Any taxidermist can make decoys from goose kills. These stuffed birds won’t exhibit the fine artistry of trophy mounts, but they cost much less. Real feathers ripple in the breezes, adding lifelike motion. In addition, glue or tie real wings onto decoys. In the field, prop up early kills with grass clumps or sticks to add more realism.

Some people use “flying decoys,” light goose replicas attached to lines hanging off poles. Adjust the height on each decoy to make some appear to fly and some making a final approach to land. Some twist in the wind, but on others, an electric motor spins the pole, making the decoys appear to fly.

4. Add Movement

“Snow geese are the smartest of all geese,” affirmed Richie McKnight of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, a Mossy Oak pro staffer. “Decoy movement is the number one ingredient for goose hunting. Watch large flocks of snow geese across fields. They don’t sit still. As soon as they land, they run around grabbing everything they can. They get up in the air and hop around.”

Many duck hunters use spinning wing or other mechanical decoys, but those devices scare geese. Instead, try “flagging” geese. Wave white plastic flags on sticks to create flash that simulates geese landing. With incredible eyesight, geese spot the movement from great distances. Curious, they might fly over to investigate.

“I’m a big fan of flagging geese,” Stancik stated. “The movement sends a signal to incoming geese that other geese are landing in that spot for a reason. That makes incoming geese want to land in the same spot. We call and flag at the same time to get birds into the correct position to shoot.”

Also string white flags along lines about six to eight feet off the ground. Anchor two poles into the ground off to the side of the blind slightly away from it. Stretch a line between the poles. On the line, tie several white flags. When the wind blows, the flags or streamers dance in the air currents.

If a goose hunter says “go fly a kite” don’t take offense. A white kite mimics a flying goose. Geese see the white movement and think a goose is flying over other geese. When birds approach, pull the kite down, simulating a goose landing. Gregarious creatures, live geese might follow the fake one to the ground.

5. Making the Call

Finally, goose hunters need to know how and when to call. A lonely single, a pair or a small flock would more likely swoop down for a closer look than an enormous flock. Even in small flocks, highly vocal snows make a boisterous racket.

“Snow geese make a lot of noise,” said McKnight, a former world champion goose caller. “Work as a team. Four or five good callers all make one or two different sounds. Together, we sound like a flock of geese.”

While snow geese offer more challenges today, sportsmen who accept the challenge will score. With long seasons and liberal limits, sportsmen can enjoy many opportunities to outwit these wily white birds.