Motion Decoys for Geese

[duckbill]

I have been hunting ducks and geese for over 20 years in Minnesota and still don't have them completely figured out yet. My question is about mojo decoys. I do use them for ducks and I think that they help a lot. As far as geese are concerned I have not started using them because I was always under the impression that geese don't like landing over each like ducks do. I have hunted out on private land at Lac Qui Parle and some guys use the robo geese with success. I am thinking about getting the wing waver and then stop waving once they have seen the decoy spread. I know that ducks in the fields nearly knock that mojo off the post but geese fly right by. I know that a lot of people use flagging for geese but do you stop flagging after they have seen the spread? Geese seem to be very spooky and something very little will make them change their minds about landing in the decoys.

[This message has been edited by duckbill (edited 08-26-2004).]

[jiggin' fool]

duckbill,

This is one man's opinion, (an old man at that). Not bragging here, but just so you know that I have the experience, I am pushing 50, and I have hunted geese all over North America, including 2 Canadian providences, and it has been my experience that "Mojo" is "Voodoo" on honkers. If we are hunting a field or pothole that both ducks and geese are using, and we hear or see incoming honkers, we shut the Mojo OFF!!!
That being said, let's move on to flagging. I NEVER hunt honkers without a flag. From a distance, it looks honest-to-gosh REAL!!!! (Go walk a couple hundred yares away from a decoy spread, and have your buddies drop that flag into the spread, if you doubt me). But there is a HUGE difference between a flag and a constant running Mojo!!!!
Now.., how do we use a flag?? Well that is what seperates the men from the boys. NEVER, EVER put that flag up there and wave it, leaving it suspended in the air. Real geese don't do that. In fact, the ONLY bird that "hangs" in mid-air are your birds of prey. And ALL birds, including the big wild turkey, is afraid of eagles, hawks and owls.
You lift that flag, and flutter it down into the decoys, like a landing bird.
As to how long do you flag..., well let the birds tell you. Honkers that have been in the neighborhood a long time, have seen the flags up close and personal. So use it to get their attention, and drop it. New birds really can be flagged, (like calling), right up to the time you pull the trigger. So watch the birds, and if they start to slide off at 100-yards, then don't flag the next group that long.
Hope this helps!!!!!!

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"You should have been here yesterday"....,

[paceman]

Jiggin' fool; Have you had any luck (good or bad) with kites tied to a pole flying all the time? I know they kind of flutter and glide back and forth. How do geese respond to these?

[duckbill]

Do you recommend flags with short poles or longer say 6 feet long? All I see around in the area stores are 3 feet max in pole length. You think that it would be more effective the higher that you got the flag up because they would be able to see it from farther away.

[duckbill]

Does anyone have a pattern to build your own flags? I was thinking about using some old fishing rods for the poles of the flags.

[jiggin' fool]

Paceman,

Had a good friend buy the Jackite, tried it one season, and spent more time cussing it than lovin' it. Either too much wind, not enough wind, too much noise, too much unrealistic whipping back and forth. I watched it, didn't like it one bit.

I use flags on loooooong poles. The telescopic fiberglass poles. I raise the flag when I see geese in the distance, and flutter it to the ground like a goose landing. I continue to do this until I am sure the geese have seen it, and have decided to look at the spread closer. At this point, some of the guys are now using the smaller hand flags, and just lifting them up, flapping them back down. (I am calling).

Hope this helps you guys out. This works for me. I guide for a couple different outfitters, and have seen it all tried at one time or another.

Have a great season.

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"You should have been here yesterday"....,

[icehousebob]

Jiggin, I have to agree about the flags. It took me a while to get the hang of when to quit. The geese by Hutchinson and Lac Qui Parle get pretty wary and I'd get them coming and all of a sudden they'd flare off. Finally figured out that as soon as I got their attention and they turned our way, drop the darn thing and grab either a call or a shotgun.