Flagging Geese
By: T.R. Michels

Flagging is one of the best methods to attract ducks and geese to your spread. I first used a black flag while hunting Bluebills back in the fifties. Then I began using flags to hunt geese in the 80's. The first flags we used for goose hunting were simply a large piece of black cloth stapled to a broom handle or long pole. Then my good friend Randy "Flag Man" Bartz began designing goose shaped wings and attaching them to a short dowel with fiberglass struts: he called it the T Flag. Eventually he came up with the Lander Kite, a more realistic version of a goose's wings and tail. It wasn't until later that he added the white crescent to the Lander Kite; and it is the white crescent that revolutionized goose flagging.

The first time I really noticed the white crescent on a goose I called Dr. Cooper and asked him if it was a visual signal. He told me that the white crescent on a goose's tail serves the same purpose as the speculum on a ducks wing; it causes an involuntary nervous system response to flock; not voluntary, involuntary. When geese see the white crescent they want to get up behind it. When geese see the white crescent below them, looking like a goose landing, and hear the landing call (the fast cluck), it signals to them that other geese are landing. The sight and sound of landing geese makes flying flocks feel secure, and makes them want to join geese below them. Randy "Flag Man" Bartz heard me mention this in a seminar and added it to his Lander Kite, and a flagging revolution began.

The Lander Kite can be used with a short pole, or placed on a long fishing rod to gain more height and visibility. I put mine on a 20-foot telescoping fishing pole. You can attach two or more kites to the fishing pole to simulate a pair of geese. The Lander can also be attached to your gun barrel. When you use flags attached to your barrel you can flag with the gun while you are concealed by the flag. Any movement you make will go unnoticed by the geese, because the flag is in front of you. When you are ready to shoot, shoulder your gun and pull the trigger. For more realism you can also attach Flapperz wings to your goose decoys to simulate geese flapping their wings.

For ducks there are several different models of wind activated and motorized decoys available. However, there is talk of regulating or prohibiting their use in some areas. Research in California shows that while motorized wing decoys may increase the number of ducks hunters decoy, they may also result in higher crippling rates when hunters take longer shots than they should.

I begin flagging as soon as I see ducks or geese in the distance, holding the flag high in the air with one hand to simulate a flying duck or goose. In the other hand I have my call, and I use it. Remember, you want to recreate both the sight and sound of flying ducks or geese. When I am hunting geese, and the birds are far away I flag slowly, and call slow and loud. As the birds get closer I keep flagging, but I start calling faster, imitating the sounds of anxious landing geese and the clucking of threatening geese on the ground. As the geese get closer I bring the flag closer to the ground and shake it with my wrist, like a goose landing. I don't stop flagging until the geese are within range. I have seen flocks swing away if I stop flagging before they are over the decoys. When the geese are almost in range I drop the flag and the call and grab the gun. Flag Man goose flags and other products are available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog at the back of this book.ush, tall grass and trees but only after they have landed. Security to a goose on the ground is a clear field of vision.