Decoying Geese (Pt. 2)

[hanson]

I didn't want to ambush the other current thread on decoying geese so I'm starting my own, topic is a tad bit different though.

Here's the deal. I'm not a goose hunter and would definitely like to work on it. I would imagine the main reason I've never hunted geese is because my dad never did, and thus, was never brought up that way.

The lakes & ponds we duck hunt on in NW MN are seeing more and more geese lately. In fact, on opener weekend, we almost had a flock of 25 or so pull into our mallard spread. They veered off to the side and landed in the middle of the pond. Ah well. It got me thinking though and realized we are missing out on a great opportunity.

I think I'm going to try and target these geese next fall and work on assembling a decoy spread over the next year. How many goose floaters am I going to have to buy to be highly effective on these small flocks of geese (dozen to 2 dozen)?

Do you put mallard decoys out as well and how well will the ducks decoy into a mixed decoy spread of ducks and geese?

We typically do very, very well on ringbills and I hate to turn one of my duck hunting trips into a goose hunting experiment.

Any opinions on small/midsize pond hunting for honkers?

[hobbydog]

You really don't need that many. I use anywhere between 2 and 10 jumbo floating Flambeau shells. You can see the type in the pic below. There are a couple of different sets I use but most times you just need a couple dekes to give them a target landing zone. As in your case, without a goose target to land in they opted for their own spot on the pond. A call can make all the difference in the world. You don't have to be an expert either....just a couple of squawks to say look over here and they often come on a string. The extra white in the spread also adds visibility for the ducks. Sometimes when the ducks get very decoy shy I will just use the honker dekes and ducks will land right in them. If the birds have been gunned a few times then better calling often trumps more dekes.

[Ray Esboldt]

I agree with Hobbydog. On a smaller body of water, a half dozen floaters is plenty. You're not looking to land the flock of 30 birds. You're looking for roaming singles and pairs on the small water. The big flocks will usually land away from the other geese on small water. Get yourself 3 heads up, 3 heads down, and one goose butt.

But, like I said in the previous post, on big water you have potential to land the big flock. More decoys have proven better for me over the years.

Last, like hobbydog said, they usually don't mess the ducks up. Just create some seperation between the two sets. In fact widgeon and green wing teal seem to prefer landing with the geese. However, they do seem to cause divers to want to swing wide some days.

[hanson]

A few years back, we actually had 3 goose floaters (2 Flambeaus and 1 CarryLite which we had found on the slough). We'd set the 3 floaters a tad off to the side and that was enough to pull the loaners in with some halfa$$ calling as well. What can I say, money got thin at times and decoys were definitely not a priority.

For the most part, pairs wouldn't be interested but that honking loaner might as well have been dead hundreds of yards up because they would come in to those 3 decoys like an alcoholic heading to the corner bar.

Anyway, 2 of the floaters have since fallen apart or become broken so we've quit putting them out.

We typically might get 4-5 close flying flocks with your mixed in loaners, pairs, and groups of 3-4 during a 3 hour hunt in the morning that fly near. Getting these birds to come in is going to be the ticket.

Realistically, I guess we only need 1 of those flocks to come real close to be successful.

Every year, we're seeing more and more geese up that way and that is what excites me to get after them.

There are a number of fields that pull in hundreds of birds but getting permission to hunt the fields is not easy so that why I'm hoping to draw them close to our pond.

Hobbydog- Those look like Herter's Mallards. Yes?

[riverrat56]

We usually set out any where from 6-10 floaters, depending on room in boat and if we are in a goosie area, early goose season I have borrowed more deeks and put out up to 16 decoys. I don't ever see the big flocks of geese on the water (more than 20) this spread seems to work fine, also during early season we will throw out some duck decoys (mallards and woodies) off to the side, and blue bills right in the spread ( have same relative color pattern as geese). I don't think that the goose decoys scare ducks off, on big water they can help for ducks to see the spread and also to use as a funnel to get ducks into your spread. On the water for geese I like to put out the decoys in a U shape.

[The_Duckslayer]

Hobbydog, I have 16 of those floaters. They sure can be seen from a long ways away that is for sure. One trick that we used to use in IL was take field goose decoys (shells) and put some of that foam pipe insulation around the bottom of them. Walla you had a floating decoy. I also have a dozen G&H floaters that I use more often due to their smaller size. My luck runs like this... leave the geese decoys home and singles and doubles will come by looking for a place to land. Take the goose decoys along and there are no loners or doubles comming by! Go figure. I like to let the geese in the air determine the calling. If they are swuaking then I talk a lot to them, if they are quiet I stop calling after they see me. Jury is still out with me on weather goose docoys are confidence decoys or a hinderance. Early season on the water half dozen decoys, later with the big flights more is better. Have a good one. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo