The Big Thump

By Geoff Irvine for SPLIT REED

Photos courtesy of Geoff

Geoff Irvine has been putting down big Canada geese in New Zealand for the better part of three decades. With all his knowledge and experience, Geoff wanted to write an article for SPLIT REED in an effort to help share the information he has learned to better everyone’s chances of having a knockout hunt. He wants to help other hunters find success in the field, which is something hunting needs these days. Take a look, you’ll learn something.

In the Waterfowling world, there is nothing like the sound of whistling wings, except the thump or splash of a 14 pound Giant Canada Goose. Anyone that really knows me will understand that I would hunt geese over ducks any time. Geese are great if you’re looking for some new challenges- and geese will present that for sure- just don’t buy into the argument that geese will be too hard for you. You’re not scared of a challenge, are you? Whether you’re a veteran goose hunter or a newbie hunter, there is a very good chance that geese have kicked your arse, no matter what you do or try they aren’t having it and refuse to come your way over the decoys. Just remember that the smallest details or adjustments can make a huge difference in making it a good day or a great day goose hunting. Rather than I tell you my story of a great hunt, which won’t really help you at all when you hit the field for that magic hunt of your own I’d rather give you some tips on how to find success. I have been hunting geese since 1991 and have made a lot of mistakes along the way. But we change things and keep improving, and aren’t happy to be just ordinary. Try your best to be much better than the other guys hunting down from you on that piece of public ground. You guys have it lucky nowadays with good publications and the internet so eyes front and listen up.

PRACTICE.

The first tip I would give you even before you hit the field is to practice your shooting out of a layout blind. Get your mate to throw some clays, practice sitting up and shooting, also think above your angles and how far you can swing from side to side. Think about safe shooting lanes and imagine you’re bubbies beside you. Practice loading the gun sitting down too. I have hunted with a lot of new guys that can hardly get out of the blind, getting all tangled up and the like, it’s embarrassing for them and just generally unsafe. If you want to take it to the next level shoot clays in windy ‘fowl’ weather out of that layout blind then you can set the place on fire for the actual hunt. If you are taking someone out it’s your job to make sure they know the equipment.

WEATHER, WEATHER, WEATHER

Probably the most important thing bar nothing to a successful hunt. You need wind at your back so you know the direction that birds will approach your decoys, which allows you to have more control- and that’s a good thing. When watching patterns to hunt look at that first big wind event, that first snow or that big weather change. Magic things can happen around that time. Also, pay attention to your decoys according to the strength of the wind, light winds usually mean geese fly high because they have no wind beating them to death at height, which means geese will drop vertically into your decoys. Conversely, very strong winds usually mean that geese will fly low and approach your decoys low, and at times have the tendency to land a little short which is frustrating if you have done all the hard work up until now. Remember this isn’t a hard and fast rule but will help you think if the geese approach your decoys high or low are they in the right spot for you to get the best shot?

DECOYS.

Spread those decoys out. Remember that geese have a wingspan of close to 6 feet across so that being said they can hardly take off and land in a tiny area, that’s not to say you can’t have a few decoys here or there close that are resting or feeding and looking natural. If you spread those dekes out you may make your spread look a little bigger as well. If your decoys are too close the geese will land short and walk in, or stay put and be out of gun range. In that case, you have done just about everything right; close, but no cigar. It’s not a great feeling at all. Believe me, I KNOW, I’ve been there done that. I now spread just about all goose decoys about 4-6 feet apart- do yourself a favor and do the same. Set your feeders as close as you can to the blinds because geese are really only interested in one thing- eating as much food as they can- so keep your walkers on the opposite side and encourage those geese to the feeders so you can take advantage of those closer shots. And lastly with decoys, if you are hunting a pressured area, save yourself and hunt with a few decoys. Think 6-12 and don’t use the call much at all- you may surprise yourself with a few honkers to take home to dinner.

WATER GEESE.

If hunting geese over Water is your thing, make sure you keep your spread horizontal and close to the bank. Geese seem to love to land short on water and swim in. By keeping your geese parallel you have more chance of being able to hit geese close because they aren’t landing short of your decoys that are set at 30 -35 meters on the outside. If you’re taking your first shot 45 -50m, at best you’re dreaming. You need every advantage you can against these giant Canada’s. Otherwise, they will burn you every time. You can call more aggressively over water because geese usually aren’t coming there to feed so you have less control over there destination.

CALLING

The short reed goose call in my mind is the ultimate call. They have the get-out-and-reach-em sound because in general, they are high pitched. That being said, how many guys have thought about what they are saying to geese and even better how they are saying it? We spend all this time practicing how to get those perfect notes going, and really little time thinking about when to use them. We learn most of our habits from other hunters and not the geese. This is my opinion- guys that use a call don’t always call too much they just don’t have a good rhythm they go hard out like a freight train and are monotone. You need to have a rhythm like a Manhattan skyline all up and down. Geese in the wild pick up, go nuts usually in a pair, then calm right down and then pick up again with a paired sequence talking back and forth. Do yourself a favor- learn some subtle notes and mix them in with the power stuff. Everyone wants to learn the big loud notes and go fast and no one wants to learn the quiet notes. There is a ton of information out there, from DVDs and YOUTUBE. Get into it. If geese are using that paddock and feeding I would hardly call at all, I have watched feeding geese make no sound at all with other geese approaching either they are hiding and don’t want to share their food or they have a mouth full and don’t want to share when the feast is on. After all, how well do you talk with your mouth full? On foggy days call and listen and call very quietly. Don’t forget, sometimes silence is sometimes the deadliest call of them all!

FLAGGING

My advice is to get into it. I know that when we first started with flagging around ten years ago we were afraid to use the flag and were tentative and used it at the wrong times. The general rule is if geese are a long way off, or are close but not looking at you directly.Flip that flag up and down very quickly for two to three seconds and then try to simulate a landing goose by settling it down on the ground. Please make sure that you don’t wave the thing around when geese are front onto you. Flags are great because they introduce some movement into your spread especially on a no wind day in a field. If you get could out and don’t have a flag use your hat- and I hear you thinking “yeah right”, but 6 geese didn’t seem to mind Alan Hammonds hat on a high country hunt four or five years back they were flying straight up the river and coming no were near us. That hat turned them nicely and the birds were dispatched beautifully over the decoys.

WINDY DAYS

When its really windy and I mean windy, you really need to think where the geese would what to be. I have seen geese behind that shelterbelt in the low part of that paddock or behind small hills on the non-windy side. Geese hate having their back to the wind. it blows up behind their feathers. I witnessed their dislike of strong wind when we had geese of our own at home. It’s made me rethink my decoys in such wind. With the wind blowing up their rear ends, place your decoys head-on or side on to the wind. On windy days you will need to call much louder and aggressively too, but this doesn’t mean you have call more. Keep it in your pockets sometimes, chaps.

KEEP STILL

One golden rule in the blind is stay perfectly still, and don’t move until the shot is called. This is my weakness. I love watching geese- who doesn’t? Please remember this, “If you can see geese I bet they can see you way better”. This is the part most hunters come to grieve and that’s where the saying comes from that geese are just way too hard to hunt. I’m telling you just that little detail of not gawking and keeping still will put a lot more geese over your decoys and give you a better chance of bagging a few more honkers.

Never be satisfied. Keep changing things, it will work for you in the end. Give Goose hunting a try if you’re determined to get it you will, don’t be put off if you get knocked back a few times, just keep going at it hard. And remember, they are the king of waterfowl and will provide you a lifetime of memories.