Goose HuntingStory By Joe BauerPhotos By Adele Hodde

From the art ofcamouflage to the

approach ofcupped wings,

Illinois goose huntingis a late-winter

masterpiece.

he new year brings duck sea-son to a close throughoutmost of Illinois. The Northand Central waterfowl zonesclose to ducks in December,

but with new regulations enacted dur-ing the 2006-2007 waterfowl season,goose hunting remains open throughJanuary in the Central and South water-fowl zones and closes in mid January inthe North Zone.The southern waterfowl zone in

Illinois used to be known as “thegoose capital of the world.” This haschanged over the last 5 years or so,and the Central Zone has become theplace to bag Canada geese. It seemsthe geese migrate only as far as theyhave to and the string of mild wintersthroughout the Midwest has kept thegeese farther north.

Methods for harvesting geese basi-cally boil down to two types: Huntingon land and hunting over water. Whilegoose hunting over water with floatingdecoys is still a time-tested and effectiveway to take some geese home, muchgoose hunting is now done in harvestedcorn and soybean fields.Both of these methods require a

certain amount of effort, but in myexperiences, field hunting requiresmore. Loading a boat and puttering tothe blind is easier than hauling out sixdozen full-bodied decoys, layout

blinds, guns,

shells, calls and dogs. On the otherhand, I have always felt much saferhunting in a field. When you fall, youdon’t worry about freezing-cold waterspilling into your waders, and I’venever been in a field where drowningwas a concern. Also, when the goinggets slow and the children get antsy,they can move around and chuck cornstalks and mud clumps at each other

to pass the time.

Scanning the skies for little black dots

that could turn into geese is an enjoy-

able pastime. Having hunting buddies in

the pit with you makes it even better.

January 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 11

T

There was a time in the not-so-dis-tant past that I would actually dig ahole in the middle of a muddy cornfieldand lay down in it. Don’t get mewrong, we had tremendous successwhen an acre-sized puddle formed inthe middle of a cut field, but it wasabout as uncomfortable as it gets.Equipment has improved and the “gottahave” list for the serious, or even theweekend, goose hunter is gettinglonger every year. If you are huntingfields, layout blinds are the ticket. Iknow I mentioned above you can huntin the dirt and mud, but if you don’thave to, why do it?Layout blinds come in all shapes,

sizes and camouflage patterns. Find one

that you like and then peel the bills offthe roll. Layout blinds are not cheap.One way to save yourself a few dollarsis to buy the blind without the camou-flage pattern. In my experience, khakibrown blinds work better at blendingin to a wider variety of surroundingsand they are cheaper.Get your new blind out of the box,

have your hunting buddies over toadmire how nice it looks, then mixyourself up a bucket of mud and go totown smearing the mud on your newblind from head to toe. Let the mud dry

and then brush it off. Next, get a bunchof vegetation from the area you will behunting and completely cover yourblind. Most layout blinds have strapsthat this vegetation easily attaches toand using black zip ties makes thisprocess a snap.I generally hunt in corn fields, so I

head to a buddy’s field, cut down about300 corn stalks (enough for everyone),take the ear off and attach the stalk tothe blind. It is legal to keep the ear ofcorn on the stalk as long as you don’texpose the ear in any way or scatter thecorn once you get to the field. Removingthe ear doesn’t take that long and thefarmer gets to keep his profit. Besides,you’ll have enough weight to carry.Weather is key to a successful goose

hunt. Geese don’t like bad weather. Oh,they will stick around and tough it outuntil the water is frozen and the field iscovered with at least 8 inches of hard-

Good calling is an art form. There are

three ways to become a good goose

caller: Practice, practice again, then

practice some more.

Neither rain, sleet nor snow will keep

the diehard hunter out of the field.

This hunter had to chip his way out

of his layout blind...and on this day

he got skunked.

12 / OutdoorIllinois January 2008

January 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 13

able, 20-gauge shotguns are now a pos-sibility for younger and smaller hunters,but make sure to limit your range forthese large and hardy waterfowl. Thelarger 10-gauge also is a good choice,but if you have to choose one “allaround” gun, stick with the 12-gauge.The type of nontoxic load you

choose to use will help in the decisionof choosing the size of the shot.Lighter, less dense steel shot willrequire a bigger pellet than some of theother alloys available. Illinois has maxi-mum allowable sizes for all legal non-toxic loads, so ensure you check thewaterfowl regulations.Whether you are in a boat or laying

in a field, when the geese make thefinal run at the decoys, cup their wings,their big black feet come out for land-ing and the honking is almost deafen-ing, it is a thrill matched by few thingsin the hunting world.

packed snow, but when the weather isnasty their movement becomes morepredictable. If it is snowing and blow-ing, the geese will be getting into thefields to get a craw full and they willactually do it during legal shootinghours. I’ve even had a few days like thiswhen the geese worked all day.On sunny days I have spent the

morning staring at empty skies andthen in the afternoon I’ve watched liter-ally thousands of geese pile into thefields 10 to 15 minutes after shootingtime. Add a full moon to that and youare better off watching the footballplayoffs than hauling everything andthe kitchen sink out to the field. Evenjust a thick layer of clouds will give youa better chance at the geese.With that said, weather is never a

guarantee and goose hunters will hitthe fields and water whenever theycan. This I fully understand and appre-ciate. I would suggest keeping a journalof your hunts, recording weather condi-tions, time of goose movement how thegeese worked and total geese harvest-ed. It’s not only a nice way to see whattypes of weather conditions seem tomove geese best in your area, but it alsois a fun way to pass the time until nextseason by reliving the hunts.Opinions on how to spread the

decoys and where to put yourself in thespread are as varied as the day is long.

Should you set up on the front edge ofthe spread or would the back edge bebetter? How about plopping down rightin the middle, or on an edge? This isanother area that makes keeping a jour-nal come in handy.Keep track of where you set up

according to the wind direction andother weather conditions and this mayhelp take out some of the guessworkon later trips. If your location in or nearthe spread isn’t working and the geeseare sailing long or short-stopping, don’tbe afraid to move—even during thehunt. Just make sure you are as camou-flaged as you can be.Geese have great eyes and they

become very wary late in the season. Ifthe birds are working and flare off, getout of your blind to see what’s causingthe problem. A quick fix may lead tomore birds for the table.This leads to calling and flagging.

You are on your own in this aspect ofthe pursuit. I must not be a very goodcaller. If I were, I think my goose callswould quit disappearing opening dayevery year. Somehow my calls keepturning into chew toys for the dogs inmy hunting party.So, now you are set up in your

spread, the geese are working and itlooks like you are going to get a chanceat the group of honkers that is slowlyworking its way to you. Let’s delve intothe final piece of the puzzle—gooseshotguns and loads.Geese are big birds with thick feath-

ers and I suggest a 12-gauge shotgun.With the newer, nontoxic loads avail-

Joe Bauer is an avid outdoorsman andworks for the DNR Division of Educa-tion in Springfield.

A pit is generally the most comfort-

able way to hunt, but also is the least

mobile. Still, there is something to be

said for comfort.

Like most every type of bird hunting

Illinois offers, good dog work is a joy to

watch and a successful hunt is topped

off by watching a dog do what he loves.