Meeting The Challenge Of The Canada Goose For Beginners

Jim Hansen, MT FWP Central Flyway Coordinator

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You can hunt Canada geese over water with floating goose decoys, but most of the goose hunting in Montana is done in fields .   Field hunting for Canada geese is a skill best learned at the side of a veteran goose hunter who will teach you the tricks of the hunt and help you put them into practice.

To prepare, plan to be where the Canada geese want to be. That means scouting in advance and getting permission to hunt on private land where necessary.   This is where a beginner can contribute to a goose hunt with a veteran. You find the geese and get permission, and he may be willing to accompany you with his decoys and expertise.

Montana’s goose season opens statewide on Oct. 2 and will close Jan. 14, 2005.

The unwritten “code” of goose—or any other form of hunting—is if someone takes you to “their” hunting spot, it remains theirs, and you don’t go back to it with other friends without them or their permission. You should expect the same for your spots.

With a good location, decoys and calls come into play next. Here are some pointers to get started.

DECOYS Full bodied, realistic Canada goose decoys are expensive, but work well. Some hunters prefer using a smaller number of realistic decoys rather than a large number of less substantial ones. Though shell decoys are popular, some are light weight and can blow away on a windy day. Silhouette decoys are easy to transport, but can be tough to place on frozen ground.  

For a decent spread of three to six dozen decoys, consider pooling yours with those of a friend or two.   A good placement for decoys is in loose family groups of four to seven. Leave some large spaces between groups that might “invite” incoming geese to land in the openings.

Work the wind to your advantage. Geese will land into a strong wind, so they are coming from a predictable direction and generally approach at a lower altitude. A wind of, say 15 to 20 miles an hour, may enable you to hide quite a distance upwind of the decoys, so the geese approach overhead and well within range.



CALLING I use a “Big River Long Honker” that is easy to blow.   Some of my partners use short-reed calls that sound great to the geese but are harder to learn to blow.   Many calls come with an instructional tape or CD.

  When calling, it is often best to do what the geese do. If they are calling as they approach, talk back. If they approach silently, stay quiet. Avoid calling when geese are overhead, but call to their rear ends as they circle away.   Experiment!   No one can tell you what works best in each situation.

A good time to field hunt geese is soon after a good cold spell freezes up the lakes and reservoirs and the birds head to the rivers. I guarantee that once you’re out there in that crisp air, with geese answering your calls, you’ll be hooked. Before you know it, you’ll be the veteran teaching an eager beginner.