Help! New to field goose hunting

[Muleyman27]

So I was wondering does anybody put some duck decoys in their goose spread? Where I duck hunt there is a about an acre sized pond with a lot of clear flat ground around it. Does anyone think it would work to have a few dozen goose decoys on the side of pond and a few in water and then a couple dozen duck decoys all in water. On any given day I see prob 500-1000 geese fly Over while duck hunting all within a about 500 yards or so. It's not the X spot but a lot of traffic. What do u think?

[JJD]

If we have seen Ducks landing with the geese in fields, we put out a dozen or so off to the side of the spread, but not mixed in with it.  Otherwise ducks will often want to land where the geese are landing anyway.

We have not had good luck decoying geese into small bodies of water.  When we do, a dozen goose decoys will suffice.  As often as not, we use them as confidence decoys for ducks, if some geese come in it's a bonus.  Not saying geese never land on small bodies of water .  They will even roost in old flooded gravel quarries.  I don't hunt these myself if it is indeed a roost, ya bust'em off of these and they don't land in nearby fields.  You bust'em off a couple of times and they don't come back. 
I never feel bad if some of the local kids hunt these spots cuz they are often limited by gear and transportation as to where they can hunt, I remember being there myself.   

[sakoshooter]

Yeah, field hunting geese is easy, the first few weeks of the season.  Geese educate quickly if they have been shot at a couple of times.  Many of the northerns that come down have been shot at up there and are partially educated.  The locals have likely been popped at least once or twice by the time Nov rolls around.
Gotta be where the geese want to be.  Scout them and see where they are landing to feed.  If ya can, watch'em go out in the morning to see where they are feeding and go back in the afternoon and watch'em come out for the afternoon feed and watch them leave the field in the evening to go back to roost.  Later in the season when weather conditions get poor, they may only go out once a day, usually later in the morning and stay most of the day.  When they have gone back to roost, go out into the field and find their poop and decide how you are going to set up according to available cover.  Being off a hundred yards can make a big difference in the success of your hunt.  I have been studying these bird for over 30 yrs, if someone can tell me why geese prefer certain fields over others, i'm all ears.  I see fields that look great and the geese don't go near them, but they will frequent some fields year after year.
Cover up, if you must move off their landing spot a short distance to get into better cover, like a swale or shallow ditch, for your blind, do it.  The better caller you are, the further off the spot you can pull them (to a point).
Try to set up in good cover next to low cut stubble.  Geese don't like to be stabbed in the a** when they land.
Cover your face, they can look down and see a shiny face for what seems like miles.  If ya have shiny bands on your calls, cover them with camo tape.  Some may call this over kill, but later in the season every little detail can make a differnce.
Try hard to match your blind stubble to the surrounding cover.  Get at least some of it out of the field you will be hunting, if it does not match, ya stick out like a sore thumb.  If the stubble in a field is fairly thin, too much stubble does not look right either.  Again, try to match.  Try to disturb the area where your blinds are set up as little as possible.
Geese like to land in fields, like water, into the wind, set up accordingly.  Set your decoys up facing into the wind or perpendicular (sp) to it, geese don't like wind blowing up under their feathers.
I only flag at geese when they are a long distance away, I just want to get their attention.  If they are heading your direction anyway, leave it lay.
Buy the best decoys your can afford, If you discover that field hunting is not for you, getting rid of better decoys is not a problem.

AS long as the geese are landing in your fields, you are in great shape.  Be ware though, that you can have a big bunch of the best decoys available and be an excellent caller, but if the geese are not wanting to land there, all you will likely do is get a nice nap in your blind.

So much more to tell ya but I'm out of time for now.

Best of luck to ya.

Lots of good info there JJD. I'll be coming over next season just to pester ya.

[Muleyman27]

Thanks for all the tips jjd. I have always used 3 goose decoys as confidence decoys and pulled in a few geese over the years but this year got a new spot and had some geese work my spread and a few different times land. That's why I was curious if alot of geese would land if I put out more decoys. Deff gonna give it a try next year. If nothin else hopefully make my duck hunt a Lil better ha.

[JJD]

Yeah, field hunting geese is easy, the first few weeks of the season.  Geese educate quickly if they have been shot at a couple of times.  Many of the northerns that come down have been shot at up there and are partially educated.  The locals have likely been popped at least once or twice by the time Nov rolls around.
Gotta be where the geese want to be.  Scout them and see where they are landing to feed.  If ya can, watch'em go out in the morning to see where they are feeding and go back in the afternoon and watch'em come out for the afternoon feed and watch them leave the field in the evening to go back to roost.  Later in the season when weather conditions get poor, they may only go out once a day, usually later in the morning and stay most of the day.  When they have gone back to roost, go out into the field and find their poop and decide how you are going to set up according to available cover.  Being off a hundred yards can make a big difference in the success of your hunt.  I have been studying these bird for over 30 yrs, if someone can tell me why geese prefer certain fields over others, i'm all ears.  I see fields that look great and the geese don't go near them, but they will frequent some fields year after year.
Cover up, if you must move off their landing spot a short distance to get into better cover, like a swale or shallow ditch, for your blind, do it.  The better caller you are, the further off the spot you can pull them (to a point).
Try to set up in good cover next to low cut stubble.  Geese don't like to be stabbed in the a** when they land.
Cover your face, they can look down and see a shiny face for what seems like miles.  If ya have shiny bands on your calls, cover them with camo tape.  Some may call this over kill, but later in the season every little detail can make a differnce.
Try hard to match your blind stubble to the surrounding cover.  Get at least some of it out of the field you will be hunting, if it does not match, ya stick out like a sore thumb.  If the stubble in a field is fairly thin, too much stubble does not look right either.  Again, try to match.  Try to disturb the area where your blinds are set up as little as possible.
Geese like to land in fields, like water, into the wind, set up accordingly.  Set your decoys up facing into the wind or perpendicular (sp) to it, geese don't like wind blowing up under their feathers.
I only flag at geese when they are a long distance away, I just want to get their attention.  If they are heading your direction anyway, leave it lay.
Buy the best decoys your can afford, If you discover that field hunting is not for you, getting rid of better decoys is not a problem.

AS long as the geese are landing in your fields, you are in great shape.  Be ware though, that you can have a big bunch of the best decoys available and be an excellent caller, but if the geese are not wanting to land there, all you will likely do is get a nice nap in your blind.

So much more to tell ya but I'm out of time for now.

Best of luck to ya.

Lots of good info there JJD. I'll be coming over next season just to pester ya.

Pester quietly or you will flare the geese we will be hunting