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Only experience will teach you to read a goose's mind as they approach a spread, contemplating if they want to join this flock of fakes or not, but there are some signs to look for in a goose's actions that will help you guess right more often than wrong if you should take that 40 yard shot, or wait for the 30 yard shot that is about to happen. There are also other things to consider besides just how close that goose is, when deciding to shoot or not to shoot. Here is the story of one of my goose hunts, and some of the lessons I learned from it. I hope they help you! . On they came, a huge flock of snow geese, winging their way directly toward the spread. All the hunters were down and hidden perfectly in layout blinds. I also hunkered down as low as I could go, working a snow goose call, and hoping desperately that nothing would go wrong. This flock was close to 1000 birds strong, and that is a lot of eyeballs to have to fool. One quick last look around to be sure we were ready, and to let my guide helper know we had to get on the calls hard to sound bigger than we really were. There were only 800 dekes out, a small spread to work that big of a flock. . A minute later, they closed to 100 yards. Young birds with locked wings were leading the way, but looking like they were still too high. Sure enough, they floated straight over us about 80 yards up and slowly circled back out. . Unfortunately, some frustrated snow goose hunters would have taken that shot right then. Almost any bird that gets straight up, gets shot at, but that's NOT me. If I can't fool them close enough to have at least a real chance of killing any bird I manage to put in the shot pattern, I let them go until next trip. To me, goose hunting is more than just about hearing the gun go bang. It's about tricking these birds to good range. That is what flips my switch. I pray that's what it's all about for you, too. At least someday soon. . Fortunately for me, since I was guiding this day, the birds continued that circle back toward us again. This time they were about the same height, so I let them pass again. Third pass came and it was a little lower for most of the birds, but a small group of Ross' geese dropped out and passed directly overhead, right to left. They were at maybe 45 yards. A lot of guys would have called that shot without hesitation, and I might in some situations, but this was the first flock of the day. That flock usually works pretty well. Also, the hunters that were with me were very inexperienced goose hunters. I really didn't know if they could make a crossing shot, at near maximum effective range, while laying flat on their backs. I decided to give it at least one more pass, but was watching for any sign that the birds would peel out and leave. With each new pass, singles and doubles slipped in and out at 35 to 45 yard ranges, but still I held off. I'm sure that my clients were cussing me by now, wondering what the heck I was doing. Sometimes I wonder that same thing, especially when I get the screw because the geese don't try another pass. . Then, it finally happened. On about pass number 6 or 7, the main flock drifted the opposite direction from previous circles. They were fixing to leave us, or land among us. They didn't act scared or I would have called the shot, but I was still relieved to find out that they had chosen to land among us. It's never a sure thing with snow geese. Swinging out a bit further than the other times, this time they turned and dropped. The Ross and Specklebellies started to whiffle, dropping altitude very quickly with each slip and slide. The snows and blues were cupped winged and coming down. My heart started to really pound now. So long as nobody jumped the gun, it was going to happen. . The first birds touched down at the front edge of the spread and the rest started to pile over them and drop to the ground. In 10 seconds, that seemed like 10 minutes, half the flock had landed within shot gun range. A hundred or more were hanging just a few feet high, directly overhead. The rest were scattered between that and 40 yards or so, straight up. They all craned their necks, trying to find a spot big enough to set down, but I wasn't going to let them. "SHOOT THEM ALL!" I yelled, as loud as I could, and guns went to blazing! . When it was all over, I looked over at my guide helper and he flashed me three fingers, then one. I nodded to acknowledge that he shot three and saw one more goose go down. I flashed three fingers back and then one, to let him know I also shot three birds, and saw one more goose go down. Five clients in the spread, and only two birds get shot by them? What went wrong? For these hunters, I had actually called the shot too close, and on too many birds! That's right, I said TOO CLOSE and too many birds! . It is the tendency of every new hunter to shoot at the flock when there is a bunch of birds, instead of just one goose. Let me tell you, I don't care how many birds there are in the bunch, there is still a lot more air than goose up there. PICK OUT A BIRD! And, it is nearly every hunter's tendency to shoot at the closest goose. If that is point blank, then DON'T! I shoot at birds that are about 30 yards out whenever possible. That way, they are close enough that if I put them anywhere in the pattern, even on the edge, I have a dead goose, yet they are out there far enough so that I do have a pattern. It is roughly 30 inches across at 30 yards. At 5 or 10 yards, hitting a goose with a shotgun is about like trying to hit one with a rifle. You have almost no pattern size. Even if you do hit him, I hope it's a head shot or you are not going to eat what's left of him. . Also consider this; other than the fact that it's just cooler than heck to do it, I let most of the geese get closer than 30 yards, when I can, so that on the second shot, the birds that were at 20 are now at 30, and on the third shot, the birds that started out at 10 yards are now at 30 yards as well. I get three perfect goose shooting opportunities that way. If I called the shot when the first birds were at 30 yards, by the time I get off three, the last shot is now at 50 yards or more. . Backing up in the story, I said that if the geese had acted scared, I would have called the shot. What are those signs that tells me they are scared? . The easiest to recognize is the alarm call. If just one goose sounds the alarm, none of the birds in that flock will come in, period. If they are in any sort of shootable range, shoot. It will be the only shot you get on that group. . The back-peddle is another pretty obvious sign that you can quickly learn to recognize. A goose will back-peddle his wings just before they land, to slow them down for a soft landing. That is a good thing, but if they start to back-peddle when they are 30 or 40 yards high, it's because they are going to turn around and get the heck out of there. Shoot now! . The higher circle is another pretty recognizable sign of early departure. When a goose circles and circles, but the circles are a bit lower each time, there is a good chance that the goose will wind up low enough for a real good shot. If that circle gets higher, even once, your chances of getting that goose or geese in much closer are slim and none. Shoot if it is ethical to do so at that height. . The sudden turn out is the last really obvious sign that they are saying, "see ya later!" If a goose is approaching nicely, then suddenly turns to the side, shoot! Suddenly, is the key word here. They frequently make a gentle turn around to start another circle, hopefully at lower and lower altitude. It won't take many days before you'll know the difference. . Whiffling is great. Cupped wings are good. Locked wings are all right. BUT, if the bulk of the goose flock isn't locked wings for an extended period of time on the approach, I hope they pass over at shootable range because they are not going to work. They are just going somewhere else and trying to get the geese on the ground (your spread) to join them. . The rest of the signs are really telltale stuff that only years of goose watching will teach. We will delve into those in another article, someday. Well, I hope this will help you know when to call the
shot correctly, more often. But, don't worry too much if you second guess
your choices a few times a day. After 30 plus years of this stuff, I still
do it almost every trip. Sometimes, a few times in one trip. No one will
ever be right every time, every day.
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11 geese, almost all mature and right in the decoys. What fun! |
16 is a good morning while Texas goose hunting by yourself. |
A full limit of Texas geese means hanging them everywhere on my ATV. |