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HOW TO BOOK A GOOSE HUNT

By Dennis Hunt

 

Having hunted geese for 36 years, been a former guide for 20 years and a former outfitter for 10 years, I would like to talk on this subject.

A goose hunter will hire out with an outfitter for the following reasons:

1. He doesn’t want to do it on his own this time.
2. He doesn’t have the equipment to do it on his own.
3. He doesn’t have any good spots to go to.
4. He wants to go to some different place with different goose hunters.

All of these are valid reasons. With private land to hunt on drying up because of leases or posted lands, a goose hunter might not have any other choice except to go with an outfitter or to join a hunting club. When you get South of Wisconsin or Nebraska, there is no other choice.

Here is what you should get from the outfitter and the guide. The OUTFITTER should provide:

• Numerous references for you to check out before you send your money in.
• Lots of good spots for you to hunt on that he has leased or arranged for.
• Quality decoys to use as well as quality blinds or pits. Laying within the decoy spread dressed in white or hiding under camouflage is not a comfortable or quality way to hunt geese.
• Provide you with a guide that is at least 40 years old, has 10 years experience  guiding goose hunters and can use – Common Sense and safety practices.
• Provide you with a copy of his liability insurance policy for your records.

You have to check out the references! Make a lot of phone calls to various hunters from the previous year and ask a lot of questions. If you are not satisfied with the answers then, don’t go with that outfitter. Your 3 day hunt could cost you $500.00 or more without accommodations and food and you are making a large investment in going on a goose hunt. In addition to this, you have to provide your own transportation, license, shells and equipment. You have to make certain that this is for you. I was a guide out of Bay City, Texas for three years and this outfitter did not treat Yankees fairly. Most of the guides were part-time and were paid $100.00 per day. The money was not important to these guides as was the opportunity to go hunting free and training their dogs. I witnessed the guides “out-shooting the clients” daily as well as the guide bringing 2 or 3 untrained dogs out within the decoy spread. You can imagine, how many birds these hunting parties harvested?

 

THE GUIDE SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

• Take you out to your hunting field with lots of time to spare.
• Have time to hold a safety meeting as well as, go over the game plan.
• Set up a quality decoy spread with quality decoys.
• Provide a pit or quality blind for you to hide in.
• Be able to use a call and know when to use that call.
• Be able to control the hunting party so they can get results.

 

After you meet your guide, you will want him to know the following:

• If you are handicapped or diabetic, he has to know that.
• Let the guide know that, he is working for you. Not you working for him.
• If you don’t want him to shoot then, tell him to leave his gun behind.
• Find out if you can participate in calling or flagging.
• Find out the general areas where you will be hunting so you can observe the geese and terrain. This will get you mentally prepared and set the tone for a good hunt.

 

BEST ADVICE

When shopping around to book a hunt, ask the various outfitters a lot of questions. Ask them about their success rates per hunter- per day. If they reply, ”we get our limits every day”, hang up the phone and call someone else. No one gets the limit every day! If there is a question of doubt about the outfitter or guide then, request a minimum down payment and negotiate the remaining amount after the hunt is over. If the outfitter shafts you, let him take you to court to get the remaining balance. There are a lot of poor outfitters and guides  are out there waiting for a “sucker” or a “Yankee” to come around.

Stay with a small outfitter if possible. You want to have a small amount of hunting parties in your immediate area. There are only going to be so many geese in that area to hunt. There was an outfitter in Texas that had 216 goose hunters with 41 guides to take them out. This happened on January 16, 1996  with only 15,000 snow geese in the area as well as, a handful of ducks. There were two hunting parties that killed 10 to 20 geese each party with the remaining 39 hunting parties getting a duck or nothing.

GOOD LUCK

 

HAVE A SAFE AND PRODUCTIVE HUNT!