Everything you need to know about hunting specklebellies (aka the greater white-fronted goose)

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Outdoor Canada hunting editor Ken Bailey says specks require their own strategy

Known to hunters more popularly as “specklebellies” or simply “specks,” greater white-fronted geese are undoubtedly the least hunted—but most desirable—of our prairie geese. They were all but unheard of across much of Alberta 30 years ago, when their narrow fall migratory flyway confined them to west-central Saskatchewan and the slimmest eastern edge of Alberta. In fact, when I guided waterfowl hunters an hour southeast of Edmonton in the early-1990s, we would seldom see, much less hunt, specklebellies. But that’s all changed now.

Over the last few decades, specklebelly populations have grown and their migratory path has expanded, giving greater numbers of hunters the opportunity to hunt them. Since specks cannot be hunted effectively using tried-and-true Canada goose strategies, however, success was limited at first. But with time and experience, more and more hunters have come to better understand how to fool these notoriously wary birds.

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Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with two very experienced specklebelly hunters, well-known Alberta outfitter Claudio Ongaro, and Mark DesRoches, an outfitter and travelling hunter who has taken all 41 of North America’s waterfowl species. They let me in on the tactics they’ve developed over the years to consistently and successfully limit out on these tasty birds. Here are their key pointers for upping your own specklebelly game.