setting a good goose spread

[NewBrunswicker]

hi, my buddies and I have 100 decoys and we were wondering what pattern you guys like to set up for geese. we have good luck with the "J" set but when ever i see people hunting on tv it looks like the decoys have no pattern at all. we have tryed family groups in a c shape but the birds dont seem to slide in where we want them to. so any help would be great.

[SwampHunter]

NB,
It would help to know what species of geese you are hunting.

[NewBrunswicker]

all we have here is Canadas

[FRED ZINK]

NB,

PEOPLE COULD WRITE FOR DAYS ON THIS SUBJECT. THE BEST RULE OF THUMB I COULD GIVE YOU IS THIS, WATCH WHAT THE GEESE ARE DOING AND COPY THEM. THE RUT THAT MOST HUNTERS FALL INTO IS THEY USE THE SAME DECOYS AND SAME LAYOUT EVERY TIME. YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR DECOYS TO MATCH THE WEATHER CONDITIONS. A GOOD RULE OF THUMB IS THE COLDER THE WEATHER THE TIGHTER YOU BUNCH YOUR DECOYS TOGETHER. LATE IN THE YEAR WHEN IT GETS COLD I WOULD RECOMEND USING MORE SHELL DECOYS WITH SLEEPER HEADS. AS THE WEATHER CHANGES USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE, WHEN WEATHER TURNS FROM WARM TO COLD OR A SNOW FALL STARTS THE GEESE NEEDS CHANGE. FEEDING BECOMES TOP PRIORTY, THIS IS WHEN PLACING CERTAIN STYLE DECOYS IN CERTAIN PLACES WILL PAY OF BIG. REMEMBER THE GEESE IN THE AIR ARE LOOKING FOR THE CERTAIN AREA IN THE FIELD WERE THE FOOD IS AND WERE THE FOOD IS NOT. PLACING TIGHT BUNCHES OF FEEDERS IN THESE AREAS TELL THE GEESE WERE THE FOOD IS. PLACING UP-RIGHT ACTIVE GEESE FACING IN COMING FLOCKS WILL ALSO SHOW WERE THE FOOD SOURCE IS LOCATED. PLACING UP-RIGHT ATIVE GEESE DOWN WIND IN A FOLLOW THE LEADER LINE OF 2-10 DECOYS WILL SHOW WERE THE FOOD SOURCE IS NOT, WE CALL THESE GEESE WALKERS AND THE REASON THEY ARE WALKING IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO FOOD WERE THEY ARE AND THEY ARE WALKING TO THE FOOD SOURCE. THIS WILL KEEP THE GEESE FROM LANDING SHORT. THE GEESE WILL TEND TO JUST LIGHT SHORT OR JUST IN THE DOWN WIND SIDE OF THE FEEDERS OR AGRESIVE ACTIVE GEESE. SOMETHING ELSE YOU CAN TRY ON SMART GEESE IS VERY FEW DECOYS. EDUCATED GEESE TEND TO BECOME NERVOUS OF LARGE DECOY SPREADS AND SOMETIME JUST A HAND FULL OF DECOYS PLACED IN A FEEDING FIELD WILL DO THE TRICK. THE "U" PATTERN IS A GOOD SAFE BET TO USE ON CANADAS. BUT DON'T BE AFRAID TO MIX IT UP.

FREDDIE

[SwampHunter]

I don't guess there is anything I can add to what Mr. Zink has said.

[kirsch]

Fred,

Thanks for the description on your decoy spreads. I have a few questions relating to the walkers.

1) Do you use walker geese on early season geese as well?

2) Do you usually set your walkers behind (upwind) the hunters to make sure the geese at least get to the hunters or are they in front (downwind) of you so the geese land between the walker geese and the feeder/active geese which I would think are positioned around the hunters. I realize there are many factors but just curious.

3) Last question, do you tend to do multiple walking lines going to different locations? For instance if you have 3 or 4 main grouping of decoys, do you often have walkers set as if going to each of the groups or usually just use one main walking line?

It seems like during the regular season I don't have a problem getting geese to land in the hole but during early season they seem to land all over the place around the decoys but not into the sweet spot. They sure aren't scared of the spread but they seem to want to sit all over the place.

[NewBrunswicker]

WOW thanks Freddie im gunna go set my decoys out tomarrow and try to get that spread set up perfect. I also wanted to say i love my new SR-1 sounds real goosey. the geese wont know what hit em this year. thanks a million!!!

[Brett Beinke]

As far sh the walkers go, I set up my down wind of the spread. If you ever hunted diving ducks picture the line you usually set out. The luck I had with it this past year was great. Just like bills, a lot of the geese follow right up the line and try to land at the very top of the spread. The walkers also works very well for field mallards. Every time I set it up it seems that mallards approach the spread right up the line.