Hunting geese is much more difficult than duck: it requires a good knowledge of the habits of this bird, the ability to perfectly mask and shoot accurately. Migrating over very long distances, geese usually stop feeding and resting in the same places.
In our country, they mainly hunt the gray goose, the white-fronted whiskers, the small squeak and the common goose, all other breeds, and there are more than 15 of them, are considered to be vagrant, passing.
In accordance with the Decree of the Government of Russia, adopted in 2008, which determines the rules for obtaining objects of the animal world, goose hunting in spring should be carried out with profiles and stuffed animals from shelter. Caravans of flocks of geese can appear on the span almost throughout the country, and shoot them in the intermediate areas, where they stop to rest and feed.
There are several ways to hunt geese during their flight in the spring. These are storing them during a flight to the water from the feeding place, establishing a hiding place in the form of a pit on a hill or on the shore of a reservoir, using landing in a camouflaged boat when the flight route passes through reed thickets, using profiles simulating a floating bird, etc.
Goose hunting in spring, as well as in autumn, is very productive, but avid hunters know that each season has its own characteristics, because even the habits of birds change depending on the time of year.
You can’t shoot randomly over the entire flock, you need to target a specific bird, since during the aimless shooting the percentage of miss is very large.
Spring goose hunting is much easier in the field than on a flood. If the weather is cold and the floods are small, and the grass in the meadows practically does not grow back, geese in search of food rush to treeless swamps and fields.
The goose is usually less vigilant and wary in the spring, this is due to the fact that, flying in the fall from the north through vast spaces, the goose has a negative experience from the huge number of shots that accompany him along the route, and young, recently born chicks do not yet know about awaiting dangers.
Goose hunting in spring begins with reconnaissance of the area. This is done in order to find out when and where the birds will fly to feed. You must also set the time of their departure, which, as a rule, in the morning starts at three or four o'clock. The white-fronted goose is the first to appear in the fields, followed by the rookie.
Geese do not go to feed from their overnight places, not together, but in small groups, taking off at short intervals. As a rule, they fly along one specific route, however, when they fly to the field, they do not immediately land, but circle above it, as if seeking danger.
Goose hunting in the spring on the territory of Russia is carried out for about sixteen days, when birds return from the hibernation to the places chosen for nesting.
There is an erroneous opinion that spring hunting for geese is an easy task: you just need to jeep into the nearby bushes, turn on the electric decoy, get out weapons, sit comfortably in a chair and shoot. However, this is far from the case, and therefore only one percent of such unfortunate hunters return home with an enviable trophy.
Hunting for geese, in spring or autumn, is a difficult task: it is also the search for a good place to hunt, and digging a trench, sometimes leading to bloody calluses, and dragging heavy equipment, stuffed animals, profiles, and in addition boots heavy from dirt. Not every hunter can withstand this.
One of the avid goose hunters, who was familiar with all the rules of such fishing, was the writer S.T.Aksakov: his notes help a lot to modern lovers of this occupation.