Ricky Spanish wrote:they get on them ponds behind where we set up and fly over going down to the lake. I think ppl triggervthe flight when they leave to go to work or maybe a school bus kicks them up. Have to be ready I get one pass shot maybe they'll decoy. Odds ain't good
I have had a lot of luck calling to geese that are roosting within earshot the last few years. I actually stumbled into this by accident. I will simply cold call. Just sound like geese sitting on the water. Even if I don't see or hear geese, but especially when I hear them roosted nearby. Lots and lots of calling. Not aggressive. Just what you hear when you list to a bunch of geese on the water before they head out.
I think the geese have not necessarily made up their mind where they are going first thing in the morning or maybe they just get curious, Whatever it is, I seem to have a much higher fraction of the geese head straight to me when they get up.
On occasion, I'll get a single sitting on the water that will start calling to me. So then we'll go with the back and forth calling. More or less just echoing back whatever the single goose says. One morning before work, I could hear a bunch of geese on the water. So I did what I described. Then I noticed a single call to me. So I stopped the flock noise and went to the one-on-one conversation. We went back and forth for a very long time. Then silence. About 5 minutes after that a single sailed right into the decoys. Back to the flock noise. About 15 minutes later, another single calls to me. One-on-one for 5 maybe 10 minutes. Then silence. Shortly there after, here comes another suicidal single. Third time, same thing. Unfortunately, I was out of time and had to go to work. I had my truck out in the field when a group of about 8-9 got up and made a beeline right for me. I thought they were going to land in the field with me and my truck.
I've had good luck, but you can't be embarrassed to call and call and call and ... Just basic flock noise. Do it for a few minutes, wait a bit, do it again, ... Even if you don't hear geese. I really think that explains my big increase in success relative to all the other guys in the area. The last 3 years, I've killed as many geese as all the other guys hunting in the area combined.