Don Dubuc of Mandeville took these specklebelly geese on a rye grass field near Lake Charles. Photo by John Felsher.

The swirling white mass rose from the adjacent field and spiraled higher and higher as the hunters waited in their freezing pits, trying to overcome the chill while remaining still.

From more than a mile away, the cackling cacophony echoed across the frosty field. The sportsmen added their messages of welcome to the incessant din rising over the stubble. Several hundred full-bodied and shelled decoys stood as silent sentinels, beckoning the twisting white tornado to come that way. White flags on strings resembling clotheslines added movement to the spread, as rags perched on sticks filled in the gaps between the solid decoys.

The white cloud numbering perhaps more than 30,000 snow geese began to move en masse toward the hunters. Unfortunately, they climbed higher than shotgun range, passing a tantalizingly close 80 yards above the pit blind. In frustration, the hunters banged away with magnum loads, hoping for a lucky shot, but no big white birds tumbled from the sky. The pellets probably never made it that high, dropping like rain among the shooters.

Snow goose numbers increased dramatically in the past few years, but that doesn't necessarily translate into meat on the table. Geese can live longer than 30 years. Sharp-eyed old veterans know all the tricks and can spot blinds, crouching sportsmen or decoys. They can discern even the best calls, but in the right spot, hunters can find plenty of action.

"We had an excellent goose season last year, but geese are definitely getting a little smarter," said Erik Rue of Calcasieu Charter Service in Lake Charles. "They are more call-shy and definitely more wary of decoys. White geese have been extremely difficult to fool unless the weather conditions are in our favor."

Geese can prefer one field today and then disappear. Therefore, sports­men need to scout and move with the birds whenever possible. In some places, scouting is as easy as driving around back roads in the winter. From Lake Charles to about Crowley, through Cameron, Vermilion, Jeff Davis and Acadia parishes and north almost to Alexandria, hunters can often spot huge flocks of snow geese feeding in fields. Driving from Lafayette to Shreveport along Interstate 49, motorists also spot snow geese, often accompanied by white-fronted geese. However, since geese primarily feed on private agricultural lands, hunters need to obtain permission to set up in a field.

When picking a good place, don't try to hunt where a massive flock of geese feeds. A flock numbering in the thousands typically posts hundreds of sentries looking for anything out of the ordinary. Hunting that spot could chase the birds away. Huge flocks almost never go to decoys or calls. Even the best callers and a few hundred decoys can't compete with 10,000 to 20,000 live birds cackling up a ruckus a couple miles away.

Instead, pick a spot between two large groups of geese, but never closer than a mile. Hunt the stragglers that fly back and forth between the two concentrations. You might find better luck calling in a single, a pair or a small flock rather than 10,000 birds.

Sometimes, you can "creep" up on huge flocks of geese. To successfully stalk geese, split into two or more parties consisting of creepers and blockers. Blockers find places to hide in likely routes that birds might fly to escape the creepers. Typically, birds take off into the wind, but turn so the tailwind gives them an extra boost.