Canadian Goose Hunting Beginner

ATD, is correct, Goose are the only game bird I hunt, I get all my access to the best farms that most goose hunters cant because of one thing... I neutralize their coyotes, crows, woodchucks, pigeons and rats.... You help the farmers with the varmints then they will be more than happy to let you hunt geese...
Then get a few decoys, and learn to call...
 
Layout blind, decoys, a call, non-toxic shot. More decoys, an extra layout for your friend who doesn't have one, but wants to hunt with you. More decoys. A boat to start hunting some big water. An enclosed trailer to haul and store all of your decoys.
 
Canadian geese are any species of geese in or from Canada. A Canada Goose or Canada Geese are a specific species of goose commonly hunted.
 
+1 aws. Canada's like a realistic decoy rig and the dekes need to be set in the general area the geese want to be. We kill tons here and it's really just because we use good rigs on the flyway in areas that hold food
 
Just saw this, we use Bigfoot and the GHG pro-grade. Started buying them 12 years ago. The originals bigfoots are a larger full body decoy, take up a lot of room. We started buying the BD2 a few years back, we can get 10 in a bag so they are much easier to store and transport. We bought a dozen GHG pro-grades last year and I have to say they are nice, you can get 12 in a bag, they are on real motion stakes witch makes a spread look really good in a light breeze. The only down fall I have with them is the heads will break in cold weather, fix that trouble by plastic welding the heads on this year. Get a flocked head weather you buy shells or full bodies, I think they make a spread look realistic, they don't reflect like plastic does. We have a few shell decoys, but I will tell you to spend the money up front on good decoys. We spent 5 years buying cheap decoys and didn't get a limit until we added a dozen flocked head decoys, it was like night and day the way the geese reacted to our spread. Also, we had a bunch of lookers in our spread for several years, this year we sold a bunch of them and replaced them with feeders, I think we have 1 looker per dozen feeders now, the geese seemed to commit sooner for us this season. Our spread was 4 lookers per dozen before that, they would commit to it, but they looked it over 2 or 3 times before they would, this year they didn't waste time looking our spread over, just came in first approach. Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Russ
That's an interesting observation regarding the lookers, I will investigate that in my spreads, we also repainted our old decoys with UV paint and found that made a difference...
 
Russ it makes sense about the "the lookers". One in about 10-20 stand "sentry duty" if you watch them. Never thought about it, but the percentage of looker decoys is telling the incomers some things amiss- coyote , humans or what ever they are scared of. Maybe try flocking the entire decoy-doesn't cost that much if you go online and buy from a art/craft store.
 
Last edited:
Probly a third of our 5 dozen fullbodies are sentries. I like a relaxed look which means more feeder and sleepers. The most important part about waterfowling is being where the birds want to be and the 2nd is staying hidden
 
The only real "must" haves are a shotgun with non-toxic shot, a few decoys, and a call. Pretty soon you'll get snakebit and find out there are all kinds of things you "must" have. I "needed" a boat, a trailer, several dozen floaters, about 12 dozen full bodies, several layout blinds, a dog, a dog blind, a bunch of raffia and grass mats, heaters for the blind, a ton of clothes and waders, an ice eater, a mallard machine, a generator to run the ice eater, more shotguns, more calls, more calls, and more calls, a trailer to haul it all, and a four wheeler and four wheel drive truck to get it there.

The biggest thing you need is a good place to hunt and a way to hide. I had some of my best hunts over a couple dozen home made silhouettes and a blind made out of a section of hog fence. Now I have a small fortune invested, but I love every minute of it.
 
Hunting here in WY, I've found windsock decoys a big plus. Doesn't take much wind and they'll really put life in the spread. Your shot size will vary some, We used to shoot lesser canadians in the TX panhandle and #1s and BBs worked well. Here in WY we have the big ones and BBB and T is needed for good kills. I have found Hevi Metal to be good waterfowl loads, but really like Winchester Blind sides for close shots, 30 yards and under. So I usually load top barrel with the blindsides and the hevi metals in the lower.
Before I got to deep into your Wife's Christmas account, go on a couple of guided group hunts and see the equipment. Also, find some partners so you can pool your assets. I have 8 windsocks, 1 dozen decoys, and do some calling. My partner has several dozen decoys, calls, and usually has a good spot on the Platte river to hunt. Some networking will really keep your startup cost down
 
Back
Top