If you drive along the Front Range and Eastern Plains of Colorado you will catch a glimpse of the wonderful goose hunting opportunities there are and will know that those opportunities are available to you, as well. If a guess was going to be taken, it would be a good one to say that there would be a lot of hunters with their trailers who are putting out their decoys at sunrise and sunset.
Goose hunting is not the typical practice makes perfect game because there are always new approaches to learn that you too will notice when you scout, plan and get out hunting in any situation. With a lot of challenges and cutthroat competition comes a lot of fun and high fives. There is not set way to hunt for a goose but each person definitely has their own style and will usually let you know how they think it should be done. Finding the right location by scouting, where and how to place the decoys, building a concealed blind, flagging for attention and calling are all things in each hunt that will have some likenesses but there is really no specific way that it has to be.
Here are a few so called tips and information that anyone can take into consideration when hunting for the allusive goose. Just remember that there is always someone who will voice that they have a different style and approach and that is what really makes this sport so interesting because there is so many ways you can hunt. If everything was the same how thrilling would it really be?
First off when discussing decoys some will like the very large spreads of thirty five or more dozen, which does look cool but in the end you may have the same results with only having a half dozen. A good thing to remember when deciding how many to use besides doing your scouting homework is to use the weather to your advantage because in most cold cases the geese will huddle up close together to stay warm and as you may have seen they will sometimes do it in large groups. When it is hot out just like you will try to stay cool so will the geese and they will usually give themselves plenty of room between each other. To give the appearance of a large grouping of geese spreading them out can also help. Using the most realistic looking decoy could also help and as you will see in snowy conditions a goose will almost always lay on their stomachs and this is where using half shell decoys will be important in making your setup look as real as it can get.
You will notice that in a natural setting most geese will have their heads down picking and feeding while only a few out of a whole flock will be standing tall giving the lookout for approaching dangers. Geese also move around a lot and on a less than windy day you will need to add some movement to your group of decoys and there are a ton of options on the market for that as well as options for those days that the wind is howling. Be sure to leave an opening for incoming geese to land otherwise you may end up watching the birds work out of range. Also make sure the opening is in front of your blind and your backs are in the wind so that when those dirty birds use the wind to help them land they will be directly in front of your barrel.
Concealment will go a long ways in achieving that nice pile picture. Being invisible to oncoming birds is a win-win situation and that will only come with the dedication to completely secure your blind from the many eyes that will try to pick you out and apart. Use materials that are natural to the area you are hunting, as corn in a winter wheat field will stick out like that sore hunter who has not got any action. Pits are used a lot in the fields of Colorado and the best thing to do with your pit is to make sure your lids and easily closed with a good top coverage of whatever is in the field and that the whole pit is flush with the ground. Layout blinds will also need heavily stuffed to blend into the surroundings. Concealment is a huge factor so make sure you are covered up well in all situations.
Flagging geese is a good way to get their attention when distant and it is best to try not to flag them when they are really close, directly facing the blind. In some instances they want to see the wing movement or flagging all the way to the ground as the flag is used as a very good attention grabber and as a very good way to keep attention when the geese are on the edges of the spread or going away. Using a call is similar to using a flag and generally you do not want to call real hard or flag real hard when they are looking right at you in close proximity but it can work both ways. If they are right in your face try to call or go soft on the geese with clucks that are slow and murmurs that resemble the feeding sounds and then go after them hard and loud if they look like their leaving. Smaller geese or cackling lesser geese are usually quite vocal and loud so when they come over have all the callers blow their call and see the results.
Do not think twice about changing something if it appears to not be working. You need to go through all the trials and tribulations to accomplish a small understanding of what the geese are trying to communicate and being able to understand that language is going to be what really works best. Your other best bet is going to be to put in the time scouting and without the scouting it would seem that you are the gambling type. Bring a lot of ammo when you do find that X on the treasure map and all the time you were scouting will be worth more than the large stack of geese you are going to have.
Scout, listen, watch and learn from everyone you hunt with and make sure to keep hunters that enjoy the hunt no matter what the outcome is and you will always get your fill from hunting geese in Colorado because there is no set in stone way.
Goose hunting is not the typical practice makes perfect game because there are always new approaches to learn that you too will notice when you scout, plan and get out hunting in any situation. With a lot of challenges and cutthroat competition comes a lot of fun and high fives. There is not set way to hunt for a goose but each person definitely has their own style and will usually let you know how they think it should be done. Finding the right location by scouting, where and how to place the decoys, building a concealed blind, flagging for attention and calling are all things in each hunt that will have some likenesses but there is really no specific way that it has to be.
Here are a few so called tips and information that anyone can take into consideration when hunting for the allusive goose. Just remember that there is always someone who will voice that they have a different style and approach and that is what really makes this sport so interesting because there is so many ways you can hunt. If everything was the same how thrilling would it really be?
First off when discussing decoys some will like the very large spreads of thirty five or more dozen, which does look cool but in the end you may have the same results with only having a half dozen. A good thing to remember when deciding how many to use besides doing your scouting homework is to use the weather to your advantage because in most cold cases the geese will huddle up close together to stay warm and as you may have seen they will sometimes do it in large groups. When it is hot out just like you will try to stay cool so will the geese and they will usually give themselves plenty of room between each other. To give the appearance of a large grouping of geese spreading them out can also help. Using the most realistic looking decoy could also help and as you will see in snowy conditions a goose will almost always lay on their stomachs and this is where using half shell decoys will be important in making your setup look as real as it can get.
You will notice that in a natural setting most geese will have their heads down picking and feeding while only a few out of a whole flock will be standing tall giving the lookout for approaching dangers. Geese also move around a lot and on a less than windy day you will need to add some movement to your group of decoys and there are a ton of options on the market for that as well as options for those days that the wind is howling. Be sure to leave an opening for incoming geese to land otherwise you may end up watching the birds work out of range. Also make sure the opening is in front of your blind and your backs are in the wind so that when those dirty birds use the wind to help them land they will be directly in front of your barrel.
Concealment will go a long ways in achieving that nice pile picture. Being invisible to oncoming birds is a win-win situation and that will only come with the dedication to completely secure your blind from the many eyes that will try to pick you out and apart. Use materials that are natural to the area you are hunting, as corn in a winter wheat field will stick out like that sore hunter who has not got any action. Pits are used a lot in the fields of Colorado and the best thing to do with your pit is to make sure your lids and easily closed with a good top coverage of whatever is in the field and that the whole pit is flush with the ground. Layout blinds will also need heavily stuffed to blend into the surroundings. Concealment is a huge factor so make sure you are covered up well in all situations.
Flagging geese is a good way to get their attention when distant and it is best to try not to flag them when they are really close, directly facing the blind. In some instances they want to see the wing movement or flagging all the way to the ground as the flag is used as a very good attention grabber and as a very good way to keep attention when the geese are on the edges of the spread or going away. Using a call is similar to using a flag and generally you do not want to call real hard or flag real hard when they are looking right at you in close proximity but it can work both ways. If they are right in your face try to call or go soft on the geese with clucks that are slow and murmurs that resemble the feeding sounds and then go after them hard and loud if they look like their leaving. Smaller geese or cackling lesser geese are usually quite vocal and loud so when they come over have all the callers blow their call and see the results.
Do not think twice about changing something if it appears to not be working. You need to go through all the trials and tribulations to accomplish a small understanding of what the geese are trying to communicate and being able to understand that language is going to be what really works best. Your other best bet is going to be to put in the time scouting and without the scouting it would seem that you are the gambling type. Bring a lot of ammo when you do find that X on the treasure map and all the time you were scouting will be worth more than the large stack of geese you are going to have.
Scout, listen, watch and learn from everyone you hunt with and make sure to keep hunters that enjoy the hunt no matter what the outcome is and you will always get your fill from hunting geese in Colorado because there is no set in stone way.
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Goose Hunting in Colorado has a lot of benefits and because of that we look forward to sharing our experiences with you about Colorado Goose Hunting. Take a look at all the pictures and stories about goose hunting in the state of Colorado and join our Facebook.
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