Reading the Birds

As with duck calling, one of the fundamentals of being a good goose caller is learning to “read” the birds and altering your calling to suit their whims. Sometimes several callers double-clucking will spellbind Canada geese and bring them straight in. At other times, multiple callers may confuse or even frighten geese, and a single caller might be more effective. This may depend on weather conditions, hunting pressure, or other variables. Trial-and-error testing is the only way to learn which method of calling works best on a given day.

One morning two years ago, while hunting alone in western Kentucky, I spied a high flight of Canadas winging down the Mississippi River. When the birds got close enough, I started hail-calling. As they veered my way, I began honking faster and then shifted to the double-cluck. I never let up. Those birds circled four times but eventually backpedalled over my decoys. When the smoke and feathers drifted away, I felt a sense of accomplishment that only another goose caller might understand. Once again, the double-cluck had done the trick.