Calling All Honkers
Barry Cymbaluk
calls in the geese |
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It's just about that time of year, again. Fellow Goose Hunters across North America are gearing up for the upcoming hunting season. Building blinds, scouting, & getting permission. Sure, during early season you'll harvest geese. But why not during the end of season? I mean, you already have lots of high quality decoys, so that isn't the problem. A lot of goose hunters give up past that middle mark of the season simply because the geese won't commit as easily anymore. The geese just won't come in, or they slide over and past shooting range, or even fly right past your spread. Well I'm here to fix that. Your problem is you don't call geese, or don't know how, or you just don't own a quality goose call.
With the aid of a quality goose call, you can make geese do whatever you want them to do. You paid the big bucks for a decent spread of good decoys and blinds. So why not finish the deal and get yourself a good goose call. Many calls will get the job done. But you can do so much more with a custom goose call. And in the long run it is well worth the money. They are louder, they can produce more sounds and they closely resemble a goose. There are a few different types of goose calls on the market, and which one you'll need will reflect your hunting situation. The two main types of goose calls on the market would be the Flute Call, and the Shortreed Call. If you hunt geese over water, I recommend the flute call. It is much quieter, and more mellow. A shortreed goose call over water would spook the geese because it has a very loud, sharp sound to it. But it is ideal over a field.
Now that you know which type of call to get, I'm going to tell you where you can find a good custom goose call. Believe it or not, there are many people who make custom calls. But there are some better then others. If you're looking to buy a flute call, give "Tim Grounds Variable Honker" a try. You will find that it is very easy to get the sounds you want out of it. And the sounds are very realistic. Perfect for hunting over water. When shopping for a goose flute, try to find one made out of wood. Wood calls produce a much more mellow sound then any plastic or acrylic.
Shortreeds work extremely well when hunting in fields. The loudness and aggressiveness of the call is what makes it work so well. Geese make the most noise when landing, they become very loud and vocal. And with a shortreed you can get louder and more vocal, so you can bring those geese in. A few of my favorite shortreed goose calls are made by a guy named Bill Saunders. He makes a line of calls called "Guide Series." Be sure to try out his acrylic version, and if you want a fast, loud call, try his traffic call. Another great call is made by Todd Svoboda. He has designed a great call that works very well in the field. You want to make sure that you have a loud call in your bag. There is nothing that will turn those geese from a distance better then a loud call. Greg Keats probably makes one of the loudest short reeds on the market. Give the "Short Story" a try and I'm positive you will kill more geese.
Learning to call geese is very hard, but the rewards pay for it all. Be sure to pick up a good instructional tape, and you will be well off. Most tapes will teach you how to use the call, and how to make the sounds needed to kill geese. Some tapes also tell you when to use the certain sounds.
When you're hunting in late season, and you turn those geese and they come right in, the time invested in your effort makes it all worth while. You can find all the goose calls I mentioned, and hunting equipment at http://www.flocknocker.com. Good Luck, and Good Hunting!
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