When the quack is used to get the family back together after it has been separated, or by a lone duck trying to locate its family or a flock in the air, the call is louder. When the quack is used as a hen jumps into the air after being alarmed it is loud and fast. When a hen uses a chuckle on the water the call is loud and slow, because the duck is not moving fast.
Hunters may not realize that communication among ducks and geese is a combination of sound, body posture and action. The meaning of a call may be more related to body posture and action than to the sound of the call.
One of the biggest misconceptions in goose calling is that geese on the ground call to geese in the air to come down to feed. Based on his years of research Dr. Cooper says geese do not call to other geese to come down and feed.
When you are hunting geese the decoys provide the visual stimulus needed to attract the geese to a particular location. The more visible the decoys are, the more effective they are at attracting geese. There are five different ways to make a decoy spread highly visible: location, numbers, size, color and movement.
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.
Whether you hunt on your own or with a guide, there are a few things to remember when you are hunting geese. A couple of guided hunts near the Rochester Goose Refuge near Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN are excellent examples of things to think about before you hunt.
