How big of a snow spread

[coombia21]

I am hoping to get into snow goose hunting and I am wondering how large of a spread I am going to need. I am still in college so I won't be buying new. What kind of spread should I be looking at all full bodies, all silo socks, or a mix? My friends have small spreads that can be added into it but I work on a farm and will have to hunt alone mostly.

[Proskier2038]

I'm no expert but I would recommend mostly socks for a person just getting into it/ they are a lot less expensive and add movement to the spread . Full body's take up a lot of room and if you don't have a trailer you can fit a lot of socks in the back- maybe throw in a couple

Dozen full body's for realism near the landing zone- but I would get a vortex machine and e-caller before a bunch of full body's but that's just me-

Either way - do what you can afford - and have fun with it

Also you can build e-callers for relatively

Cheap

[Kettle]

There are a few things to look at like proskier stated, I would go with socks as the majority of decoys. Snow goose hunting can be a riot but can be beyond frustrating as well. I run a combination of shells of snows and blues about 10 dozen and just added about 400 socks. I do run an ecaller and it is home made. With that being said I have a little over 500 decoys and still get out decoyed. They see something in your spread they don't like and they start to land 1/2 mile away and then it's over. I hunt them only in the fall. So I never have to worry about getting stakes in the ground. With all of that being said I find myself hunting Canada geese and ducks in the field more and more and less and less of snow geese. When you can get on a good snow shoot nothing compares, but be prepared for trial and error and some frustrating days but when it all comes together you will love it and when it does post some pics! Happy Hunting

Kettle

[Big Country]

All sound advice. We have been hunting Saskatchewan in the fall for many years. A mature snow can live up till twenty years old. After being shot at going south then coming back north, they have seen it all. My advice for a limited budget would be as follows: Make an e-caller. We put $95 into parts for one and were amazed at how many birds we would draw in from a long way out. Even the high flying migrators could be brought in ocassionally. Go strictly with sillos or any moving sock. Stay away from the ones that do not have the plastic spine inside. The spine will hold them in a normal state when the wind dies. Without it you have a limp unrealistic decoy. A vortex machine is incredible, but if you can't put coin into it get some flapper decoys by sillo sock. A slight breeze makes them flap. We have watched other birds practically try to land on them. If you are using a layout you have to always, always brush it up with what ever cover you are laying in. If you leave the brush on from a previous hunt and it does not exactly match the field you are in you're an amateur. The birds will flare. Just a start of advice. Snows are so much fun to pursue. Very frustrating but very rewarding when it all comes together. Good luck!