Being a successful goose-hunting guide requires work and know-how

A goose guiding operation requires plenty of ground to hunt, gobs of decoys and guides who know how to blow a goose call. Luck has little to contribute to the process.

"We don't go to a field and set up hoping for geese to come in to the decoys," Ben Holten, owner of North Flight Waterfowl, said. "We know where the geese are going."

Indeed scouting every day during the season is necessary to find out where the birds are traveling and landing. If a field is attracting a few geese, it may take a week to get 100 landing there. But the next day those 100 may attract 500 and the next day the numbers may go up significantly.

"Knowing where the geese are going is part of the overall knowledge necessary to provide a quality hunt for my clients," Holten said. "It's all part of a big chess game and I'm always needing to think ahead. For example if the birds are landing in one field, I may not hunt that field until the next week, until the number of geese landing in that field grow."

North Flight Waterfowl has as many as six guides available and about 17 pit blinds. There are 40,000 acres of land around Sprague Lake alone under his hunting control, so he literally has thousands and thousands of acres of land to hunt.

A typical hunting day begins at 5:30 a.m. when his clients for the day gather at the Exxon station just before the ramp to I-90 on West Broadway Avenue. At this point, Holten assigns guides to the various groups of hunters and the caravans depart to the fields from around Sprague Lake to near Quincy.

I had the pleasure of hunting with Holten last January on the last day of the season. After the guide assignments were made, a statement was uttered, which made all of the hunters happy.

"The geese won't begin flying until around 9, so let's go to breakfast," Holten said.

I asked why he meets his clients at 5:30, when he doesn't need to be in the blind until 9?

"There are times when the clients need to travel to Sprague Lake or Quincy and these are 45 to 60 minute drives, so we need an early start," he said. "Plus it is better to maintain a set meeting time instead of changing it every day."

My group of six hunters, plus Holten, drove, caravan style, to a field north and east of Moses Lake. There a trailer, pulled behind Holten's pickup, was opened to reveal several dozen life-like decoys. These were made by taking the skin of a goose and putting it over a form and, after several more steps, the final product looks like a real goose. These decoys are not used if there is a chance of rain or snow.

After placing the decoys in their proper places, to look as if an actual gaggle of geese were feeding, an informational briefing was held, including firearm safety.

This blind was 4 feet deep, 16 feet long, 4 feet wide and lined with plywood. A bench was along one wall, which allowed the hunters to face the decoys. A burlap cover is attached permanently at the back of the pit. At the front each hunter has a section, which is attached to a piece of wood.

The younger hunters simply jumped to the bottom of the pit, but we older ones used the ladder. It is appropriate to stand or sit while waiting for the action to begin. Holten is on constant alert, watching for the geese to lift off the water, in this case Moses Lake.

"Here comes a bunch," he said at about 9:10.

The hunters all sit down and pull their individual burlap section tight above their head. Holten continued to stand. He first began to wave a black piece of cloth attached to a stick or handle. This is known as flagging and the technique works.

When the flock turned our way and got closer, the flag was put away, Holten retreated into the blind, he pulled his burlap cover almost closed and the calling began. He watched the flock circle and called at a feverish state.

"Get ready," He said.

All of the hunters crouched with their shotgun in their left hand and their right hand on the covering burlap.

"Take ‘em."

The coverings were flung back everyone stood at full height, aimed and fired. Several shots were fired and several geese dropped.

The action continued throughout the day. Most of the hunters didn't have a desire to leave, mainly because it was the last day of the season. Not everyone shot limits, but all hunters had at least two geese.

As dusk approached, the trailer was again brought into the field and the decoys were placed inside for protection from the elements. Guides such as Holten are only successful if they have enough fields to hunt and if they know which fields the geese will be using.

Making decoys out of actual goose skins is expensive to make and maintain, with a trailer just to protect and transport them. Leasing the fields is expensive, so is digging the pits and placing the plywood liners. Bringing the geese within range is mandatory and knowing how to flag and call geese is extremely relevant.

Holten is a successful guide. Hunters from the Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma areas travel to sit beside him in the pit. Although cold during my hunt, with temperatures in the 20s, I watched hunter after hunter walking to the vehicle at dusk weighted down with geese in one hand, shotgun in the other and a smile on their face.