Several spread designs merit consideration. The basic "teardrop" pattern is highly popular throughout the coastal region. Arrange the decoys in the field in the shape of a teardrop: a big concentration in a round or oval shape tapering off toward you. In this situation, it's best for the hunters to be concealed in pit blinds or along a levee, as the flight pattern of the geese will send them flying right into you, where there are fewer decoys to fool them.

Another spread worth looking at I simply call the "doughnut" -- a round pattern of decoys with small clusters of a variety positioned around a spot in the middle for the hunters, who should be well hidden in coffin blinds, or at least covered with fast-grass mats and wearing white jackets. This spread may lead to your getting some geese lighting right in your face. It's riskier than others are, but can be very exciting as well.

Hunters tend to get lax about varying the decoys within a spread. To start with, you rarely find a large flock consisting of just white snow geese. You need to add some blues, which are simply a blue phase of the snow but look a lot different. Throw in some Ross' geese; set them in small clusters, kind off by themselves. And don't be afraid to throw in some specklebellies, or even a couple of Canadas. In the field, diversity equals reality.

In that same line of thought, look at your decoys before you ever put them out and ask yourself if it looks like a real flock. You'll want to standing geese, sitting geese, preening geese and a few sentry geese (looking up). Don't, however, put too many sentries out, because dozens of geese looking alert is a signal to incoming birds that something's wrong. You should always have a few sentries, but overkill can equal no kill for you.

At this time of year, having a couple of good callers out is essential as well. Snow geese are very vocal creatures, and more often than not in December, if you can call them, you can kill them. This is especially true for smaller groups of birds and singles. Don't be afraid to call at birds that are way out, especially on those days without much wind to distort your sound.

I have in the past seen good callers bring in birds from a half-mile away -- and these birds weren't flying in our direction. If you are going to commit to calling birds from such a distance bring along some flags. Waving flags in the air while you call at long-range birds can make a big difference. Geese are like any other kind of wildlife: If they can put two things together that seem legitimate or alluring, they'll commit. Bring along white flags and black flags. The color's not that important; what really makes a difference is calling in conjunction with movement on the ground. It'll draw attention to your spread, and ideally, with each passing moment, make the geese more apt to light in shooting range.

Locating and learning to hunt geese properly from a roost can be the most valuable thing that you can do at this time of year. And, no, I don't mean shooting geese off the roost. I'm talking about learning flyways, flight times and the feeding areas closest to the roost.