4 Tips for Early Season Honkers

Matt Piehl of Dirty Bird Outfitters for SPLIT REED

#1 – Where are the birds?

Number one tip and it will always be my number one tip on any type of hunting is SCOUT, SCOUT, and SCOUT some more. Learn what the birds are doing this time of year. Their patterns will change as new fields are being harvested. Are they using a field until they get disrupted, or are they using the most recently harvested field? Are they hitting loafing ponds after a morning feed? Early in the season with hot temps, mid-morning loafs can be money!

#2 How many decoys?

Decoy Spreads typically change throughout our early season. We start out targeting just local birds, and around the first week of September, we start seeing molt migrators coming back south. I know that plays in for any early season. When we are targeting resident geese our decoy spreads typically tend to be smaller and broke up into family groups, when you are out scouting look at the birds you will see exactly how they are sitting out in the field mimic it. If we have a day where it looks like we may have molts pushing out of the North we unload it all. The whole idea is to draw as much attention to us as possible and bring those high flyers down into our laps.

#3 Calling Geese

As far as calling goes, I tend to go light on the calling unless we are working molts, if you have done your job scouting and have a good hide you don’t need to be out there blowing your short reed like you’re trying to win worlds.

#4 Hide!

As always make sure your concealment is on point, they may be birds that haven’t been hunted in a very long time and the young birds of the year, but why give them the opportunity to pick you out. Hide well and put them in your lap!

Two things you won’t want to forget in your blind bag!

-Bug spray, yup if you’ve ever done any early season hunting you know what I’m talking about!

-H2O for yourself and especially for them hounds, the heat is hard on a working dog make sure you take care of them.

Matt Piehl

Dirty Bird Outfitters

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