Thread: Canada habits

This is a subject dear to my heart. Canada habits vary based on the moon phase and hunting pressure. With no moon and no pressure they will normally fly from the roost to the feeding spot half an hour after dawn. They return to the roost after a couple of hours or when pushed off by the farmer feeding out etc. The evening feed starts anywhere from 3pm to just before dark. The means the morning hunt is always the best one because you know if you get there before dawn you won't miss the morning flight and you know when it's going to start. For an afternoon hunt you can end up sitting there for 4 hours until they turn up.

If there is a full moon and\or lots of hunting pressure they will fly at night and the geese you see flying in the morning will be flying to the roost and hard to decoy. For example I have just come back from a duck at Ellesmere and it's almost full moon so tonight they started flying at about 6:30pm and were still flying at 7:30pm when I got in the car. The hunting pressure of duck season at Ellesmere makes them completely nocturnal.

Then sometimes they just do random stuff cos gooses do what gooses do.

The best way to pick the routine is to watch them from a distance without disturbing them and then just set up and hour or so before they get there.

Now is a good time to try moon goosing. Any time over the next couple of days ideally with light cloud cover. When the moon starts coming up later the fly on moonrise.

PM me if you want some more targeted advice and if you are in Canterbury am happy to lend a hand. I have a full set of decoys and blinds plus a brightly colored goose call.