# Field hunting question



## OTDRSMN (May 17, 2005)

Hi guy's, I was just wondering (when you field hunt for both ducks and geese, and use spinners.) If your not seeing many ducks, but alot of geese, should I remove the spinners from myspread??and also, what is your typical field set, When we were out the last couple years we tried to experiment with a few different things, and was just curious what you all like to do. We tried with ducks in front of geese, and vise versa, and also moving our layouts from the front of the spread to the rear. ( wind prevailing) If anyone out there can offer any thoughts, it would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave :beer:


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

Most guys will tell you spinners equals = NO GEESE that will decoy close. At least that's what I've found...Ducks, like em' especially early in the season! If you have a remote, you can shut em' off when the Geese are working your spread!


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

I just straight up take my spinner down when geese are coming in and quick pull the wings off and set it on the ground-takes no more than 10 seconds


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Keep the spinner low to the ground and have a remote. That way it doesn't stick out when the geese are approaching and can be shut off easily.

I like to mix the ducks in a bit with the canadas, I haven't seemed to notice that much of a difference on placement with ducks.


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## OTDRSMN (May 17, 2005)

Thanks for the responses guy's. Yes, thats one of the things we did, was to just shut them off, but I did'nt feel that was enough, we ended up just taking them down and stashing them under burlap.Do you guys mix ducks and geese together, or do you seperate always ??


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## Ac_EsS (Jul 3, 2007)

We always mix them. Always mix them and we bust them up pretty good when they come in that way too.


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## fungalsnowgoose (Sep 11, 2004)

Like chris said keep them low too the ground put them on remotes and leave them up. All the getting up and down and monkeying with them while birds are in the air has to get spotted IMO. 
I would worry more about good cover I guess than decoy placement :beer:


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## muddy river (Jan 16, 2007)

The best hunt we had last year for ducks, we made a big X of Bigfoots and placed about a dozen ducks and 3 spinners in front of the geese. The ducks were cycloning in like crazy. We turned our spinners off when we saw geese. Didn't matter though. They never came in anyways. :evil:

P.S. If you don't have remotes, just keep your battery by your blind and run a length of wire out to the spinner. Unhook one of the leads when you see geese.


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## honkbuster3 (Jan 11, 2006)

Alway mix things up. It has been proven across the board. Also from my experience spinners dont get geese & always have a remote. I have had problems with losing my remote though so be careful. Thats probably jus me. :beer: Muddy river has a great idea . Ill have to try it. I also like to set up at the rear of my spread most of the time. Just my two cents :beer:


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## universitywaterfowler (Jul 15, 2007)

Ducks love geese, but geese hate ducks thats the way it goes. Yes you can kill geese with duck decoys in your spread however you will still pound ducks if you dont include the duck decoys in your spread, a little calling will work wonders with ducks. If you must have ducks out put them up wind and out of the landing zone so that the ducks will need to pass in front of you to land by them however the geese have a clear landing zone to die in. You really dont need many duck dekes if any, and spinners are horrible if your trying to kill geese.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Spinners = No geese

Goose decoys = Plenty of ducks

Spinners = More ducks

Duck decoys = No significant improvement on ducks

Duck decoys look cool, but to be straight up they aren't necessary. And like these guys have said, it almost seems like geese shy away from ducks. Which is understandable. Imagine you were trying to eat a meal and you had a bunch of pesky toddlers snitching from you plate. But they were just quick enough to nab most of your food. You'd probably decide to eat where they weren't next time. That analogy is a little left field but it's pretty much what's happening.


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## RIVER RATT (May 26, 2007)

Wow I must be doing something differant than you guys...Id say 8 times out of 10 we decoy geese with the spiners on...Id prefer to shut them off, but some times its not posiable depending on who I hunt with...We always set the duck decoys down wind of the goose decoys and off to one side a bit...This way the geese dont have to fly over the duck decoys or the spinners to get to the goose decoys...The ducks will try and land behind the goose decoys in the same pocket we crated for the geese...We also place the spinners low to the ground and have duck decoys all around them breaking them up a bit...


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

Robo-lo It was a term we coined a few years ago. While field hunting with a spinner use a very short stake. I use 1/2 of the 2 piece pole that came with my spinner. Spinners do not have to be more than a foot off the ground to work. Robo-lo and a remote and you wont be running around your spread as much. I believe the shinny metal wings of the Mojo are enough to spook smart birds if they happen to get some reflection from them.


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## Honker Guide (Mar 15, 2007)

Here's a couple of things that I have learned over the years! First off, geese have great eyes, but their hearing is great too. Sounds that don't bother a duck WILL bother a goose on final approach. Soinners are notorious for noises and vibrations. Also, the wings will sometimes stop with the white side up. A sure flare for geese!!!
Now here's the part that most hunters disagrre with me on: spinners will work with geese if done right! Getting them low and behind some bigger decoys helps in that the geese can't see what is making the noise and the ground will swallow some of the sound. 
What I do is use a pull string spinner that stops with the dark side up everytime and it only runs when you pull it. I have learned to use it just like a call; that is to say, I can guide the birds with it by varying the speed and the on- off time. I also use a pull string goose and it seems to attract the ducks as well as the geese. If you saw Benelli's American Bird hunter this spring when I hosted the show down in Colo., those geese were sucked into a spread of 6 doz DZs, with a Flutterwing goose. The guides had told me that their usual spread of 3 or 4 hundred decoys had not worked for the last month!! 









Just a note. The guide in the field between me and the refuge had 6 geese about 3:00pm and we were done about 10:45. We had out about 4 doz. goose decoys and no duck decoy and one Flutterwing goose. Paul


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## Bob Aronsohn (Mar 21, 2005)

That is a very nice photo! You guys look happy!

I duno maybe the ducks and geese in Kansas are antisocial. We have better luck keeping the duck and goose decoys in two separate bunches in the field. This is for mallards, canadas, specklebellys and snows.

Bob A.


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