# Goose hunting 101: Duh, where do I park the truck?



## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

I've been meaning to post on this for a while. I think the care with which a waterfowler parks the rig is directly correlated to his amount of experience. The more the better. Again this weekend, I saw a scenario that made me laugh out loud. The boys had a snow goose spread out in the field, with their decoys, spinners, kites and magnets set meticulously. Only problem, the Huge Ford Excursion, trailer and 4 wheeler were parked out in plain view a mere 150 yds from the hunters.

So, here are my thoughts:

1. Do not park the rig downwind. Ever. This is the direction from which the vast majority of the birds will approach. You want those that are low and on the deck to continue in without hesitation. Don't make them turn because of the rig.

2. Park the rig upwind. Usually. The exception to this is if the roost is upwind. If so, then that's the direction from which most birds will come. Do not make them fly over the rig. Then park to the left or right, depending on which direction you think fewer birds will approach from.

3. Park the rig 3/8ths to ½ mile away, minimum. I'm a little obsessive about this but I always park too far away rather that too close. An exception would be if there's a really good place to park in an old farmstead, tree row or the like. But then, be wary that the spread is too close to that cover in the first place.

4. Try to park the rig in some cover, if there is none, then park in a low spot. Good spots might be an old farmstead, a bin site, a tree grove, etc. I usually manage to find a spot on the section line somewhere.

5. My goose hunting mentor taught me never to park the vehicle facing east on a sunny day. When the sun is coming up, it will glare like the biggest mirror in the county.

After spending all evening spotting, spend 5 minutes extra and park in the right spot. After a little practice, the right spot is pretty obvious.


----------



## slough (Oct 12, 2003)

Good points, another good idea that I often forget to do is when scouting and you find a field to hunt, scout out a spot to park too. Often times the only approach on the land you're hunting is too close to where you'll be hunting and it can be hard to find a place to park in the dark and it's no fun running around wasting time when shooting light is approaching quickly.


----------



## goosegrinder (Mar 4, 2005)

If it was while snow gossin', I'd be more worried about the spinners. :lol: Good point though. It is funny to see how close guys park even though they'll get up at 3:00a.m.,spend countless hours making sure the decoys are right,etc.,etc. to then be too lazy to park a little farther away cause it's too far to walk. :lol: :lol:

Alex


----------



## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

I love this post and come across it to much,. If it was for me while hnting with my dad, he'd prolly part the truck right where we shut it off to place the dekes. What i do in the spring, we usually have a 4 wheeler, is take all the vehicles at least a mile or so away then give everyone a ride back to the spread so only one person (me) has to walk back which is fine-I usually run back anyways to make sure i dont miss anything. It is also easier to find a place to hide the wheeler closer to the spread


----------



## SASKATOONGOOSEHUNTER (Aug 25, 2005)

> so only one person (me) has to walk back


For us, that person is always the "rookie".


----------



## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

IMO, if you want to get things done right, do it yourself :lol: I guess I would rather do it myself, just to make sure things are in the right place-You cant always trust the "rookie" to do it. Plus I dont like it when others lag behind on the walk back and the birds start working when they are wobbling back into the spread- Maybe you could call me my own bitc......


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Hahaha, this reminds me! Someone decided to park his pickup a little too close (in a drainage ditch) last year and ended up w/ a chip in his windshield from our bb's. That'll learn em!
I guess I like to be the one setting up the spread and making "tweaks" so I don't have to worry about it quite as much. (I try to take my turns throughout the season though.)
Every group has them times during the year when the sun comes up and ask, "what the hell were you guys thinking?" haha
But, I also know there have been times where we've parked and we woulda been better off getting an airline ticket to get a ride back to the decoys!


----------



## kaiserduckhelm (May 26, 2005)

One morning in Nodak I actually lost the rig. Set up middle of an endless peafield on a moonless night. Terrain was undulating so there were no land marks in the distance, just more peafield. Think I walked 5 miles before I finally found it. :roll: Seriously thought it got stolen.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

:lol: Don't feel bad, you're not the only one that's got lost! Fog Sucks!! I was younger and actually started getting quite scared. Still felt like an *** nonetheless!


----------



## verg (Aug 21, 2006)

i watched two minnesota boys snow hunting in a pasture Saturday. Think they only had about 50 dekes out and parked their truck about 125 yds away on the road. There was a small hill between them and their truck. I think they thought since they couldn't see their vehicle they were good to go. One thing i like to think of when parking a vehicle is..what does this set up look like from the air. Birds vantage point is much different than ours. I have seen guys park right next to the slough they were duck hunting in and just can't believe they didn't shoot anything.


----------



## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

tb said:


> 3. Park the rig 3/8ths to ½ mile away, minimum. I'm a little obsessive about this but I always park too far away rather that too close. An exception would be if there's a really good place to park in an old farmstead, tree row or the like. But then, be wary that the spread is too close to that cover in the first place.


In open country, 1 mile away is better yet.


----------



## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

I think when it comes to snow geese this is even more important. I'm new to the game, but it doesn't take a genius to understand that snow geese take extra caution when it comes to vehicles.


----------



## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

Actually on sunday the fog was so thick that I really got scared because on the walk back to the truck i asked my buddy where the truck was and he pointed in the exact opposite direction I thought the truck was, luckily we went my way and somehow walked straight to it!! One time I was on the 4 wheeler in out 1/4 of pasture that Ive been in a million times before but with dense fog this time, and felt lost. Its amazing how scared/paranoid a person can get during times like these


----------

