by Jaime Koon

As California’s waterfowl season nears its end, honker hunting tends to heat up. Canadian geese are hearty and they are one of the last birds to migrate south. While California has healthy populations of local geese, the northern birds provide great late season hunting when they arrive!

These birds are not the most naive creatures by the time they get here. They have been battle tested and seen many a decoy spread on their journey south. During the cold winter months they are seeking food and if you can find the food, you will have some excellent hunting. Just finding honkers does not equal success though. These late season birds can be difficult to coax within range to fill your limit. Here are six tips on hunting late season honkers that you can use to sway the odds in your favor this season.

1. Scouting: This is the most important thing to do when you’re hunting honkers. Just because you see them in the morning doesn’t mean that they will be there in the evening. Time and time again they move from the morning feeding grounds to somewhere different in the evening. They remember the last place they ate, not the first place. If you find a spot where you have scouted honkers the previous day in the morning and again in the evening, you’ve got a great chance of catching them there again for your hunt the next day.

2. Calling: A common mistake is blowing your call too much. A couple of greeting calls are all that’s needed to get their attention. As soon as their wings are locked up, give them some excited clucks. Remember that they have been called at all hunting season so give them something different. I like to listen to the birds on the ground while I’m scouting to see how little or how much they call at incoming flocks. I will then try to replicate that calling on my hunt.

3. Hiding: This is critical to your success. You can do everything else right and get the birds coming to your perfectly placed spread, but if they see you or your partners, they will flare out of range. Try and match the terrain that is around you. They are very wary birds and are always watching for things that don’t look right. I love to use my Power Hunter layout blinds whenever possible. Picking grain stubble, natural cover, or using artificial products to cover the blinds is a must to match your surroundings. When it snows, wear white clothing to blend in. So get down, cover up, and stay still.

4. Flagging: I started using a flag about 12 years ago and it has put far more birds on my strap than anything else. I have pulled in flocks from a half mile away that had no intention of coming in to my spread. From a distance the flag looks like a bird landing or flapping its wings on the ground. If you spend any time watching honkers you’ll see that geese stretch their wings all the time. They love movement and a flag is a great way to give it to them. As soon as you see honkers, start flagging. You have to get their attention so that they can see your decoys. Keep flagging until they are committed to your spread. I generally stop flagging when the geese get within 200 yards because I do not want them to pinpoint my location.

5. Decoys: The later it gets during the season, the more you need to cut back on your decoys. Geese really start keying in on pairs and small family groups. I use no more than two dozen decoys late in the year and sometimes only a few pair. At the end of the season honkers are paired up and have broken away from their big flocks. I love the Bigfoot full body decoys with the flocked heads. They are very tough, durable, and as realistic as a decoy can get!

6. Motion: Since geese have seen every trick in the book by this time it helps to have some real motion in the spread. I like to use moving goose heads. It seems to bring that over-the-top realism to the spread. They are more focused on the movement than anything else, so put a pair where you want them to land. They usually suck right to the motion pair and that’s right in the hole! I also put my feeders on motion stakes where the slightest breeze gives them realistic movement as if they were really moving around feeding.

Late season Canadian goose hunting can be a blast. Next time you head out, try some of these tips to sway the odds in your favor. Remember, on wary old paired up birds all six of these suggestions are usually necessary to bag your limit. Hunt hard, hunt safe, but most of all, be relentless!