The decoy debate
MAINELY OUTDOORS
By Bill Graves
Find yourself among a group of waterfowl hunters and the conversation usually revolves around favored shotguns, the best shells and loads, preferred portable blinds and even camo patterns for clothes and gear.
Chatting quickly turns to debate and sometimes even into bickering when the subject of decoys arises and there seems to be a never ending, mostly amiable controversy. The two most outstanding points of conflict regularly involve the best style of decoy and the most dependable set-up configuration.
I’m going to offer some thoughts and ideas from decades of personal experience and interactions with very successful outfitters and guides about this subject. Perhaps it will resolve some of the discord or buoy up a few beliefs, maybe it will create more dispute, but it will surely outline some proven waterfowl options regarding decoys. The fact remains, regardless of how well a hunter calls, how perfect a blind or layout is concealed or how perfect a hunting location is selected, decoys are the linchpin of consistent goose hunting success.
Of the four main types of decoys, windsocks are the least expensive, easiest to transport in bulk and quick to set up and tear down a spread. For this article, I’m going to suggest that the average number of any type of decoy for a field set-up for geese should consist of five to eight dozen in Aroostook to draw constant action. Windsock decoys, sometimes referred to as “rags”, are comprised of a three-dimensional solid goose head affixed to a 15- to 20-inch metal rod and a synthetic plastic or cloth body.
Painted to imitate a goose’s wings, body, and feathers, the lightweight, balloon-like sock has an open neck area which attaches to the rod and head and expands and moves with the breeze once the rod is driven into the ground. The upside of windsocks is their compact, easy-to-transport form and low cost, but if there’s no wind, these models are only a moderately-effective attraction to birds flying past.
Silhouette decoys offer another very portable option at a nominal investment, but their shortcoming is being only a two-dimensional figure. Some companies are actually using photographs of real geese in multiple poses to apply to each side of the think plastic forms to yield a lifelike visage. As flights of geese approach from a distance, the silhouettes, when placed at various angles, resemble a feeding flock. The downside occurs when approaching geese fly right above the thin decoys and they seem to disappear since they have no width and depth.
Nonetheless, silhouettes can be effective, especially when birds have not been shot at much. Mixing in a few windsocks, shells or full-bodied add to the effectiveness of a silhouette spread. Many hunters suggest that if geese are close enough to note the lack of dimension of the thin decoys, they are close enough to shoot!
Shell decoys are the next step up in realism and price; lightweight, full-size forms realistically painted with detachable necks and heads that allow the hollow bodies to be stacked for easier storage and transport are very effective. Some manufacturers use flocking to yield a more realistic look and reduce shine and glare on sunny days. A dozen optional head and neck positions depicting multiple feeding, resting and alert birds offer great realism to each set-up.
The ultimate fake fowl for many hard-core goose gunners are full-bodied decoys. From my own personal experience, these are the ultimate of realism. Three dozen, magnum, fully-flocked, full-body decoys set on motion stakes will work as well as 60 to 75 of any other single style or combination of decoys for drawing even the wariest honkers into shotgun range. These models are fairly expensive and very bulky to transport to hunting locales and then into the field, but for realism and success day in and day out, it’s top of the line.
Windsocks can be purchased for as little a $50 per dozen, while silhouettes price out at $75 to $150 for a dozen middle-of-the-road quality. Canada goose shells start at about $100 for six decoys and cost upward of $250 a dozen for high quality models. Full-body goose decoys will cost anywhere from $200 to $400 for half a dozen mixed body and head position packages.
My favorite decoy is a fully flocked Greenhead Gear feeder pack from Avery. They come with motion stakes and a set of ground stands for when the frozen dirt won’t allow stakes. They are a bit pricy, but look so good you expect to hear them honk!
Once you have your decoys, the next big question is how to set them up in the field to best entice real geese to visit. No matter how realistic your decoys look or how many you have, set them out poorly and you might as well have a field of pinwheels.
First and foremost, geese want to land into any prevailing wind, so it’s imperative to determine wind direction. Set your blinds so the wind is behind you, set the decoys so they are mostly with heads into the wind. Waterfowl don’t like wind behind them blowing against the way their feathers lay down.
The next step is to select a formation for the decoy spread and a U or a V are the most common, with one or two shooters at the apex where the two sides come together and an open landing zone between the two outreaching strings of decoys. If there are more hunters, it’s possible to use a W setup offering two landing areas and two points to accommodate a pair of gunners each. One of my personal favorites for any size field is s J or hook spread of decoys, with a heavy concentration of birds in the curve hiding as many as three-layout blinds. The geese should set up and glide along the long leg and try to land in the curve.
A final setup option for days without a breath of wind or on hunts when the wind seems to change direction every few minutes is the X. Geese can choose to land in any of the four open quadrants while shooters settle in the center and can enjoy a 270-degree view of incoming birds. Geese are very smart, wary targets and learn every time they visit a decoy spread and escape. No single decoy spread works every time so alternating the approach makes sense.
For fanatic goose gunners, adapting with decoys and setups is a necessity to any hope of consistent results. But then, if it was easy and one decoy or spread worked every time, what would waterfowlers have to argue and debate about?
