Aside from being able to get some shots at geese, one of the nicest things about field hunting is how easy it is to retrieve your birds. Photo by Mark Fike.

Over the years, my goose harvests have never been as good as they have become now that I field hunt. Some spots along the tidal rivers or bays in the Chesapeake Bay area and Delaware are great for water spreads, but unless you have a blind in those exact spots, it may not be worth setting up a goose spread. However, by doing your homework to determine which fields the geese light into each season, you can have consistent gunning all season long.

SCOUTING
The only way to figure out which fields the geese like is to do some scouting. Agricultural fields that are close to a water source are magnets for geese. In Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, hunters will find thousands of acres of such fields -- places that snow geese and Canada geese find ideal for feeding. This can be good news for the hunter but bad news for the farmer. Winter wheat, spinach, corn and soybeans are popular agriculture crops that often get decimated by the thousands of geese that use the Atlantic Flyway to navigate their way to warmer climates for the winter.

Fields need not be right next to a river. If there is a nearby lake, swamp or pond on the farm, then hunters can count on smaller flocks to use the area. This is particularly true for late-season hunts when the geese need ice-free water on which to rest. Some ponds or swamps have warm springs that keep them clear, while the bays and sloughs of the tidal water may be frozen.

Scott Rollins of the Northern Neck area of Virginia hunts geese on a regular basis with his father. When he looks for a new place to field hunt, he rides the back roads watching for geese. His search starts near waters such as rivers, but he expands his search to include large farms with ponds or farms that are near lakes.

Rollins describes an ideal field to hunt geese as flat with a few gentle rolls being acceptable. When he finds a probable field, he then approaches the farmer and asks about hunting the field. Once permission is secured, Rollins goes into the field and looks for tracks, droppings and feathers.

I was amazed at how much time Rollins invests in scouting his locations.

"I watch the fields beginning in September when we have our early season and usually will ride by the fields at least several times a week. Doing so allows me to pinpoint not only which fields the geese are using but where in the field they land, which direction they like to approach from, and it gives me an idea of where they are coming from."