Ryan Barnes for SPLIT REED
It’s (almost) here folks! For hunters in some states, early-season goose hunting is just a few weeks away! This has a lot of people getting the itch to get out and start cleaning out blinds and blind bags, fine-tuning retrievers, and dusting off the calls to get ready. With September honkers and molt migrators, hunting in the early season is a favorite among many waterfowlers.
With all of the new gear that’s been unveiled this off-season, it might just be time to take inventory of what you need to add to the arsenal to help have a successful early-season experience.
PROPERTY TO HUNT
This one goes without saying, but it’s far and away the most important for the early season (or any part of the season for that matter). If you don’t have land to hunt, you won’t have geese to hunt. One of the benefits of hunting the early season is you’re hunting extremely patternable geese. If geese were in one dry field yesterday, they’ll be there today, tomorrow, and probably for a while after that. With the exception of molt migrators, early season geese seem to have an even more strict routine than those of the regular migratory geese. One major factor is they haven’t yet been shot at. Once the steel starts flying, all bets are off. That’s why it’s crucial to start locking up land now! If you see geese landing in a field, or a loafing pond, check OnX, knock on a door, make a phone call, and get that permission to hunt. Without it, you’ll just be sitting around looking at pictures on Instagram of everyone else mopping them up.
DECOYS
If there has ever been a time to buy silhouettes, this is it. Dive Bomb Industries has you covered. The V2F Canada silos and my personal favorite, the V2AF which give alternate and more realism to the spread, are far and away the best decoys to use on the market for early season honkers. For a price that won’t kick you right in the bank account, you can be setting up a fantastic early season spread that will have those early season birds landing in your lap. Don’t be fooled, though, Dive Bomb’s silos can still accomplish that well into the late season as well. You can find these decoys at www.divebomb.com and get your order in.
AMMO
Finding shotgun ammunition has been like trying to find the holy grail these past few years. It would be wise to find a shell you like and buy a case now. I know I just bought a case of Browning’s Wicked Blend 3” 2 shot for my early season goose. I took it for a ride last year and everything I hit with it died hard. However, I had to manage to hit what I was aiming at first. However, every shotgun is different, even if they’re the same make and model. I have two Browning Maxus shotguns that pattern two completely different ways. I learned this lesson from being an avid muzzleloader hunter for big game. Go spend a few hours at the range with your shotgun, with a few different boxes of shells, and see what patterns best out of your gun. It may be the most expensive bismuth out there, it may not. You simply need to find what is deadly out of your gun. That way when those early season birds set in on the decoys, they die when you aim true.
CALLS
For someone looking to get a new call for early goose I always recommend versatility. Typically you do want something with a big deep goose because most of the time, in most areas with early goose season, that’s what you’re hunting. All the same, it’s never a bad idea to have a call that you can get real funky on. My personal favorites are the Bill Saunders Traffic, or the Tim Grounds G Overhauler. Two great calls, for any time of year. I was told once, by a guide who’s killed a lot more geese than I probably ever will, that you want to call in the early season like you’re running traffic. These geese have become extremely territorial and are very vocal when telling other geese to piss off and stay away from their food. So call to match the occasion. If you are in the market for a call, I wouldn’t recommend finding a call that you use for the early season only, though. Find a call that you can use year-round. Something that you can keep on the lanyard to kill anything from early season resident geese, to molt migrators, to late season geese.
BLINDS
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back to Dive Bomb. yet again they’ve come out with another product that is nothing but top tier with their vertical field blind. At just $400 it keeps in uniform with its mantra of being built at a price for every hunter, not just the snobs. It also has versatility unlike any other blind on the market. Due to the fact that it can work like a panel blind or A-frame. This blind actually is something I myself made a purchase of, on my own, gearing up for the early season- and I must say, I really can’t wait to use it. All the things that you really don’t realize are nice to have until you have them in a blind, are in this blind. It really is a top-tier hunting blind in a league of its own.
DOGS
Finally, the early season is the best time to get dogs out and retrieve something other than dummies. But you don’t want this to be a headache with your best four-legged friend breaking or having formed bad habits. So make sure you get out and knock the rust off. Go shoot a dove, or go shoot a pigeon, get some live retrieves, then look into Sporting Life Kennel’s “Retriever University” if it’s all gone to hell. That will help you get things back on the right track. Marty Roberts has put together a great system that will help you get your dog of any age or experience tuned and ready to go for the season. Early goose or duck season opener. One way or another, make sure your dog is ready to go for that first flock because they want to be out hunting just as bad as you do!
