5 Tips: Hunting Loaf Ponds
Ryan Barnes for SPLIT REED
One of my favorite spots to hunt honkers is a loaf pond in Southeast Idaho. It took me a few tries to learn how to hunt it, but I eventually got there. During the mornings I’d have to watch as the entire valley’s population of geese flew over my head to feed. Only a few times did we traffic in a goose or two. I knew the geese were landing where I was set up, but impatience drove me to mess with my spread, over-calling, and picking up and moving. It wasn’t until a few attempts later that I realized I was hunting the area all wrong. Loafing ponds, for both ducks and geese, are mid-day stops where the birds will go to rest before feeding again or heading back to the roost; and they can be lights-out. You just have to be patient enough to let the birds come to you.
Here are my 5 tips for killing geese on loafing ponds:
Patience, Patience, Patience!
As was stated above, this is a rest area for honkers. Not a feeding area. Geese aren’t going to be in any rush to get there. I still recommend getting out early, setting up, and being ready at first light, just because you still have a chance to traffic geese in, or even a few bonus ducks, but when you see the geese headed out to feed, don’t panic! They’ll be back. Just have some patience. Bring your coffee, a breakfast burrito, or whatever your breakfast of choice is. You don’t need to be out there sleeping in the blinds (unless you’re trying to beat someone to the spot), but it is a good idea to at least be out there early enough to catch any honkers that might come and give the spread a look.
Resters, sleepers, and shells.
Most of these ponds aren’t big. They’re usually relatively shallow, with plenty of surrounding dry land for the honkers to walk up on to, and sleep. Your job is to match that scenario. Remember, you’re trying to imitate geese resting on this pond. You should have floaters on the water, shells on the land, and if you decide to put out some bigger decoys (for instance I set out around 5 dozen Dive Bombs) you’ll want to set out decoys that have a “resting” pose. A few actives aren’t going to make or break the deal, but you want to create a real-life scenario. If you look at geese as they’re loafing, they’re usually all sleeping, or slowly moving around looking for a place to relax.
Bring lunch with you.
Whether you throw it in the new Dive Bomb dry bag, or you have someone bring it out to you, pack your lunch! Because around 1:00 is when you’ll start to get busy. That moment you decide to head to the gas station to grab a quick bite to eat is when those first few flocks will decide they need to head out to rest for the day, and you’ll miss them. Pack your lunch, and keep your gun loaded while you eat.
Ease off the call! Let the decoys do the heavy lifting.
By “ease of the call”, I mean “call very little to none”. These geese aren’t fighting over food or being aggressive over territory. They’re being lazy and just milling around. You’ll hear a few murmurs and moans, and a few honks, but that’s it, and that’s about all you should do on the call. A few murmurs, a moan, and a honk or two to get the birds’ attention, and maybe a few clucks to keep it, but after that, let the decoys do the work.
Set up a side spread a few hundred yards away on the land.
This has worked as an insurance policy for me in the past. I do this for two reasons:
It helps add some realism to the overall setting. Most of the time on these loaf ponds, you’ll see side flocks of birds landing in the distance. This gives the honkers more to look at, which isn’t going to draw their attention to your hide.
It works as a “confidence decoy” for birds. While they know they want to be on the loaf pond. Seeing birds in the distance is something they’re used to seeing, which gives them a sense of security.
If a few birds land in the side spread, don’t worry, they’ll move over to the loaf pond soon. If you notice that lots of flocks are landing with the side spread, pick up and move. It gives you just one more option to hunt.
SIDE NOTE:
PLEASE DON’T HUNT A ROOST! Before you go out and hunt a loaf pond, remember that a loafing pond is just a mid-day stop for honkers, while a roost is a body of water where honkers will go to congregate and sleep for a night to escape predators and hunting pressure. Make sure the water you’re hunting is a loaf pond and not a roost.
Hunting loaf ponds can make for some extremely successful outings. You just have to use some patience and creativity to make it happen. If certain flocks don’t work, fear not, you’ll have a chance at plenty more. They’ll usually come in medium-sized flocks as they leave their feeds. Just stay hidden, don’t get caught out of the blind, and enjoy killing some mid-day honkers.
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