Even though I have been goose hunting for many years, I am a novice compared to some of the hunters I know. However, I have been in the field enough times to learn a few tricks that seem to make a difference in my productivity.

One of the mistakes I often see hunters make is giving up too early in the day. There is no question the early morning flight is the most productive, but there also seems to be that secondary movement later in the day that can be rewarding.

There have been many hunting trips where I watched the early flight pass me by as the birds headed to a distant location I was not hunting. However, about mid morning, these birds start filtering back to water and will often make diversions along the way to check out future feeding locations.

This is where the late morning hunt comes into play. As these small groups of birds come by your spread and see all that activity, they frequently will make a pass to check things out. After all, this feeding location may have more food than the one they just came from.

Not only are these late morning birds willing to decoy, they also travel in smaller flocks. Instead of fifty birds with a hundred eyes to search out danger, you will encounter many groups under a half dozen. Getting small groups to decoy is easier than coaxing down a large flock.

Because of this late morning pattern, ten to noon has often been extremely productive. Staying a couple of extra hours will pay dividends over the course of a season.

Paying attention to little details when putting out a spread is another habit I have developed. Since being consistent when setting up in the dark is difficult, I have adopted a system that seems to work.

Through experience, I have learned that geese don’t like to be crowded when coming in for a landing. Even though they are quite acrobatic in the air, they still like their space when the landing gears are down. Developing this space starts with the first decoys that are set.

Judging distance in the dark is not an easy thing to do. Once full daylight has arrived, I have often discovered the landing pocket is too narrow. Making adjustments when it is prime shooting time is risky.

Because of this dilemma, I now actually pace out the landing area so I always have the pocket at least 40 yards across. Once this is established, I pace out the distance from the furthest decoys to where I want the blinds. Blinds should be 30 to 35 yards away from the decoys at the end of the pocket.

This has paid off during the years. Not every goose is going to make a picture perfect landing in the pocket. Sometimes they will land at the edge of the lead decoys. For this reason, you need to keep the decoys within shooting range.

I am also very careful about the spacing of my other decoys. With the exception of the area around the blinds, spacing and family grouping is important.

Whenever I look at geese feeding in a field, I always see the same thing. The birds are not all standing on top of each other. They are spread out with little clusters of birds feeding together.

For this reason, I use grouping in my spread throughout the year. I try to mimic what the live birds are showing me by bunching four to ten decoys together in a family type group. This concept is especially important in the early season when birds are still traveling in families.

Goose hunting is not an exact science. It seems every hunter has their own bag of tricks they use to pull in wary birds. Through experimentation we learn to adapt our hunting strategies to what works for us.

For me, staying that extra hour in the field and paying very close attention to decoy placement has definitely increased my success.