"What we've got now are geese that have been through the gauntlet. Those that made it through learned from what they saw." --Erik Rue

To put a little science behind his belief that he's hunting older birds today, Rue recalled a test hunt he did with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

"When the electronic callers came out, I did some test hunts with the LDWF," Rue said. "The results we got from those hunts several years ago were amazing. At that time, before all this pressure really even started, the average age of the geese we killed in those test hunts was 7 or 8 years."

Rue went on to say that he's got to believe that the average age has to be even older today. And older birds mean wiser and more experienced birds that have seen it all.

Another factor changing the geese is the increased number of magnum guns in the boats and blinds. "Hunters are taking longer shots than they used to," said Rue. "No way are those birds that are getting sky-blasted going to come any lower. They learn just how high to fly."

Anybody who doesn't believe in educated birds only needs to look at the relatively recent introduction of the spinning-wing duck decoys. When they first came out, they were as deadly as any piece of duck hunting gear that had ever entered the market. Now, hunters actually have to wade out and turn them off because the devices are flaring the ducks.

Rue believes that one of the reasons for the specks being somewhat behind is that the older ones -- known in south Louisiana as "generals" -- are frequently targeted as trophy geese.

"As far as my operation goes," Rue said, "we're constantly targeting the bigger specks with bars on their chests. We try to pick those out of every group we get and shoot them first."

A lot of prestige is associated with the big generals. A big speck is a prized goose in Southwest Louisiana. "I think that approach may be keeping as many specks from reaching those high levels of intelligence," Rue said.

And while Rue makes every effort to shoot the older, fully-plumed snow geese, he suggested that a large percentage of snow goose hunters don't ever notice whether they've got a mature bird in their sight or not.

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To be successful with these changing geese, Rue changes up his decoy spread and his calling. Mastery of both variables gets more important as the season goes on, and hunters that find the right combination will often kill more geese.

"Talking about specks," Rue said, "it's pretty easy during the first part of the season. As long as you have some good calling, don't overcall, are well concealed and time it right, you'll kill birds. But as the season goes on, those easy birds get tougher. They have a great memory for where the blinds are and what the decoys look like."

Rue often sees the number of geese in his area fall from 1,000 at the start of the season to 500 by midseason. He and his hunters have killed hundreds by that time. The wise birds that remain get tough -- but Rue has a solution for that, too.

"We get some specks that like to follow the snow geese around," he said. "When you have a big flock of snows, it's easy to kill your specks because those aren't resident birds, and they aren't as gullible. They haven't seen the blinds, and they don't know where all the fake geese are on the ground."

Calling becomes the most important element in getting wary birds within shooting range. Some of the guides that work for Rue have reported to him that when they get to go after the less-pressured geese in a nearby field, it's like hunting a different goose.