Cautiously circling with heads turning side to side, 40 snow geese slowly dropped down, just 10 minutes after the sun had melted into the western horizon. Their wariness ebbed as they bunched together making a pass less than 15 yards above the center opening of the decoys.

Waiting for the wind.

No words were spoken or command given as I rose from my lay down blind and swung my barrel onto its first target. I saw a bird crumple with the first shot and quickly swung to the second bird and watched it fold as well. The third and fourth shots brought similar results on this close decoying flock. My fifth shot saw the frantic geese still on the edge of shooting range as I jerked the trigger and watched a blue shudder.

As the geese flew west, I watched as three of them were losing altitude from the flock. A quarter-mile later, I saw one of those geese drop into a pasture, and the others disappeared into the growing darkness. I jumped from my blind and found three geese lying in my decoy spread and a fourth a few yards outside. I had marked where the floater had dropped and after a quick walk punctuated by a short chase, in the growing dusk, I had my fifth goose from the final salvo of the day.

It was the spring conservation season, and these geese had been fooled by a mere spread of 220 decoys that I had set by myself. Earlier that morning, three snows and a blue had fallen to my gun, and an hour before sunset, a small flock of Ross' geese left two of their group behind. I had never dropped five geese from a single flock before, so that brought a great finish to what had already been a really good day in the field.

Snow goose hunting is usually done with 500, 800, 1,000 or more decoys and multiple hunters, but spring snows can be decoyed in close and taken with smaller spreads and a single hunter.

Gear intensive is an understatement. Downsizing is crutial when going solo.

If you are unsure about getting started on your own, a trip or two with a guide can be very helpful. I went with two different guides before I started on my own to get varying ideas on decoys, decoy placement, blinds and calls. Each guide used some different techniques and equipment, and I considered what would work best for me and the birds that I would be hunting.

With light geese, snows, and Ross', decoy movement is always important. The bulk of my decoys are basic windsocks to which I've added feather details. There are some excellent windsocks on the market with stenciled and printed feather details, but if you want the satisfaction of detailing your own decoys, as well as saving some expenses, it can be done quite easily.

For the snows, use a can of flat black spray paint and make an X near the tail of the white decoys. Or, you can cut your own pattern into a piece of cardboard to use for adding some wing tip black feather details. Lay this pattern on a decoy that you've spread on the ground, spray it, carefully lift the piece of cardboard, and you're done. You can also use a can of flat gray spray paint to streak a few of your white windsocks to give them the look of juvenile snows.