`early season goose tactics?

[broken_line]

do you think around 2 dozen floaters are good enough for the young n dumb birds? also what pattern do you prefer to put them in??

[snowgoose]

That is kind of a loaded question.

Do you plan on hunting water or fields?

Either way I would set up your decoys in family groups. I would say 3 to 4 groups of decoys would do the trick with good size landing spots left in between the groups. Find some flocks of birds while you are scouting and take note of the natural way the birds sit and try to replicate them.

If you are planning on hunting land with water decoys they will work but they do not look right. Early in the season when you see bird in a field 95% of them are on their feet feeding or looking. Later in the year when it is cold our you will see more birds belly down on the ground.

I do understand that everyone has to start someplace with a decoy spread. If you have a few bucks look around and find some cheap shell decoys with sticks on them. It gives the appearance of bird standing without the big money that full bodies cost. That is were I started and then over time converted to all Big Foot decoys.

[broken_line]

well i plan on hunting a lake then if nothing prevails going to my neighbors wheat feild that was harvested a week or so ago.. there are rougly 300 geese in one gravel pit 2 miles away but no one can get in.

[Jaspernuts]

I plan on hunting a slough near my home where I have for many years. I usually put out 8-10 decoys, that's pleny for opening weekend. The field hunters around the slough usually shoot em up and then they come right to the water. My next tactic will involve blasting the bejesus out out of those skycarp and watching my lab bring them back to me.

[dan z]

going on a fishin trip the 1st weekend, then the next weekend I will throw every decoy I have out, the more families that look contend the better IMO put them in groups of odd numbers 5 there 3 there 7 there 9 there 3 there and so on till the boat is empty and leave a good size hole for the darn things to land in of course

[Gordie]

I also will be fishing open the opening day but will be were I can shoot at geese. I ussally run a dozen floaters on opener. last year I set up on a lake that the geese had been going by I set them up in 2 small stagerd lines.

we did very well setting up this way and I try not to call that much during the first few days

[broken_line]

thanks guys keep em comming!

[Finlander]

Like all the previous posts, small groups and one group in a string that looks like it is swimming towards the main group of decoys!