Goose hunting this weekend?

[erikwells]

I was thinking of taking the boys out for one last goose hunt this weekend. I think I'll head out Saturday late afternoon and sit until sunset. I have not waterfowl hunted for the past several years and thought to look at the regulations this morning to be sure I'm following the rules. I hunt the central zone and was surprised to see the season closed September 30 through October 4 with the first day of hunting til sunset being Saturday October 5. I wasn't planning on hunting until Saturday so not a big deal. Just a reminder to myself to be sure to know the regs as I cannot afford the ticket. Two questions:

Why do they close the season September 30 through October 4th? I have no problem with it just curious.

I havent hunted geese since the early season and was planning on field hunting over a dozen shells over an oat field (had pretty good results early). My question is should I stick with this strategy or have the conditions changed and I should try something else?

[fishadb]

I believe federal regs allow us to hunt only so many total days, they open up the season early and then close it to give us a chance to shoot some teal and woodies before they fly south. The later in the year it gets the tougher it is to decoy geese, try some flagging and calling. I have a buddy who is pretty good on the call but I haven't quite figured out how to sound like a goose.

[CANOPY SAM]

fishadb said it correctly, only the wording is a tad backwards. They open the season early to give us a chance to shoot some teal and woodies before they fly south, then close it for a week cause we're only allowed so many days per season.

[erikwells]

Went out Saturday evening and when we got to the field the farmer had cut about half of his corn. We drove the truck back about 1/2 mile down the field road and there were 100 geese sitting in the picked corn. Bro and I tried to sneak on them but got busted at about 75 yards and we don't take long bomber shots so we watched them land in a lake about 1/2 mile away hoping they might want to come back later to eat. We setup pretty close to where they were eating with a dozen shells. In hindsight after seeing several larger flocks I wish we had brought another dozen or so. Saw maybe 300 birds but the ones leaving the water went east and we were setup to the north of the water. Had a couple flocks fly over and look and even some circled us but no geese wanted to come into the decoys. Could have taken a few passing shots but thats not why I hunt over decoys so we passed hoping they would come in. Seems the birds are a lot smarter than they were in August and September. Saw quite a few ducks too. It was cool to see lots of birds but a little frustrating we had no takers. All in alll I was out theere with my bro and three boys so it was still a great family evening.