Appropriate camouflage is vital for hunters targeting hyper-wary January snow geese. Photo by Chester Moore Jr.

"Scouting is important, and that is something we do a lot of here," said Capt. Buddy Oakes of Hackberry Rod and Gun Club. "It is important to know what the birds are doing every day because their habits can change by the hour. . . . Unless you are up to speed, you will end up with few birds."

In general, large decoy spreads in the fields tend to work better than small ones, and hunters who set up realistic spreads that show geese doing a variety of things such as feeding and preening will do much better than those with just a bunch of rags out in a field. The old adage in these parts used to be that a white bucket was all you needed to attract snows -- but that's simply not true anymore, the species having developed a level of awareness second to none in the waterfowl world. You have to know the behavior of the birds in your area. If you're hunting marsh refuges, think light and mobile; if you have access to private fields, go big and realistic.

Mix it up with life-sized realistic decoys, shells, rags and kites. During the last few years I've seen goose hunters using kites more and more, and I believe they are one of the major keys to success, depending on wind, of course. Last year, I got to participate in a hunt for Ducks Unlimited television and our quarry was snow geese. We had lots of competition, as there were numerous highly skilled outfitters operating in the area. Our spread consisted of several strategically placed kites lined up within good shooting range of the hunters. Nearly every goose we shot went right for the kites.

I believe the geese here are driven as much by pressure as they are food availability. There are lots of outfitters and refuges along the Louisiana coast. With much of the refuge closed to hunting, these birds have plenty of sanctuary, but they can be easily decoyed if you are able to set up near their flyway and focus on getting the geese that are stragglers from the group. Flocks of a dozen to two dozen geese are as good as dead if you have a well-placed decoy spread and do minimal calling.

If you're hunting right along the edge of a refuge, I'd recommend using a couple of dozen life-sized decoys with a few magnums to grab their attention. "I always like to have a dozen and a half snows and then throw in a few specklebellies," said veteran Lake Charles waterfowler Chris Phelps. "I put the snows in a cluster, mix a couple of specks in with them and then put the rest of my specks in a group out to the side. I have always seen the small clusters of geese like this, where you will have the specks feeding around them, so I try to set it up as naturally as I can."

Phelps suggested light calling for snows and louder, more aggressive calling for lone specklebellies. "You almost can't overcall the specks down here, especially if you have a young bird coming in alone," he said. "If you just give it that steady action, be ready to shoot, because I have found them very easy to bring in."

THE DECOY EFFECT
Sometimes hunters can use decoys effectively to push birds where they want them to go instead of actually luring them into that spot. Older, smarter birds will come down to look at spreads but will often veer away. If you can figure out this technique, it can pay big dividends. I learned this lesson while hunting geese in the rice prairie with outfitter Will Beaty many years ago.