# in a pickle



## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

i currently have 5 dozen bigfoots and a dozen ghg hot buy shells. i'm looking to increase the size of my spread by about 4 dozen so that i'm at 10 dozen decoys. so, my question is if you guys had to increase your spread would you A. buy 4 dozen more bigfoots or B. buy some real geese silo's? i have the money for the bigfoots. but if i can save some money and go the silo route and have them with my fb's then i would rather go that route. thanks for your input.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

Alot of guys are gonna come on here and say get the silo's alot of them are going to say get the Full bodies.

Think about this, Do you

A. Have the room, and the patience to set out 10 dozen FB's
B. How much pressure is in your area


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## goosehunternd (Mar 10, 2006)

100% personal prefrence.

If it was me I would go with the foots. I dont understand why people like sillos so much other than they take up 0 amount of space, they cant give a full body apperance from the birds view, to me shells would be better but I have never hunted with sillouettes so my .02 isnt worth much. If you got the cash and the room why not go with the more realistic deke.


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

You could always buy some of each. :wink:


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

i have a custom 6x12 enclosed trailer that i built and only half of it is filled with full bodies. i think i might go with silo's but i'm still in limbo. i like the mobility part of them because if i need to walk into a field i can take 5 dozen with me on my shoulder and only make one trip maybe vs. making multiple trips. i appreciate your guy's advice
thanks again


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

Yeah thats true, but also consider that silo's depending on your area may not be that effective in the late season.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

> Yeah thats true, but also consider that silo's depending on your area may not be that effective in the late season


Hogwash..You're reading the Avery forums too much.. :wink:

The silos will be tough to get into hard, frozen December ground, but they will work just fine.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

look at it this way.......silos are one dimensional, therefore you have to set them in every which direction to insure that gees will see them if they're coming anywhere other than straight at you. So you'll need twice as many to look like half what you put out.........

go with the foots :beer:


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## T Shot (Oct 4, 2002)

But you can buy twice as many silos than foots with the same amount of money. Couple that with the illusion of movement in the spread, and you have to think a bit more. Just my thoughts.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

I would go with the foots.

4 of us pack in 200 FB's on a regular basis. It sucks but is worth it. Just need to wake up a littler earlier. ;-)

But like other mentioned Silos will work. But if you are in an area where you have lots of pressure. FB's do work a little better...IMO. But if you are in a pressured area as well and most of the spreads are FB's....mix it up with some fulls and some silos. Could be one deadly combo.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

My bad dblkluck :lol:


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

dblkluk said:


> > The silos will be tough to get into hard, frozen December ground, but they will work just fine.


looks like i better eat my wheaties then hahaha


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

And bring a cordless drill with an old auger bit....... :wink:


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## T Shot (Oct 4, 2002)

Chuck Smith said:


> But if you are in a pressured area as well and most of the spreads are FB's....mix it up with some fulls and some silos. Could be one deadly combo.


Bingo. It's all about the mixture.


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## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

Actually I thought I heard somewhere that silos actually present an entire different dimesion as geese approach, some appear and dissappear as the birds fly around the spread so I would think if thats the case they can only help the cause. I always have some in my trailer to especially fill in around the blinds. I have used both FBs and Sillos and they both work, so to each their own.


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

now that i think about it. i think i may just go and get some shells. alittle cheaper than silo's in the long run and i dont have to worry about drilling holes in that ever so wonderful december weather that we have here.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Get the shells with stakes. They will be in motion on the stakes and just set them on the ground when it freezes!!


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

> now that i think about it. i think i may just go and get some shells. alittle cheaper than silo's in the long run and i dont have to worry about drilling holes in that ever so wonderful december weather that we have here.


A great idea..

I plan to add some shells to our spread before this fall. Those late season birds really like to lay right down on the snow.
I think a few shells with some sleeper heads in the spread will make it look even more natural.


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## reelslick (Aug 24, 2007)

Geese do not see things in the same perspective that humans do. With that said, I run Bigfoots and Real Geese. I love the Real geese and think nothing of running 8-10 doz. when hunting alone. 12 poses per dozen. Bigfoots give you 5-sort of? I have had many a talk w/ Josh Nuiweiller about decoys, hunting etc. His answer 5 doz. Bigfoots or 10 doz. real geese. If he hunts the same field twice that week or on a weekend all 15 dozen.I try to follow his advise because I sure can't call like the guy, I figure I will emulate his decoy spread.


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## shooteminthelips (Jun 13, 2007)

Silly's work great if they come right in however if birds work vertically like snow geese sillly's arent the best option. Or if you working migrators late in the fall you would be better off with shells and full bodies. Only because lessers work kind of like snows! I have killed a lot of geese over silly's. But if your talking over all effectiveness full bodies and shells are the way to go. My best shoot last year was over 18 FFD's! Killed 5 geese in 20 minutes two had bands!


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## goosehunternd (Mar 10, 2006)

where in East central ND are you located shootem?


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## Double Cluck (Feb 19, 2008)

Prefer the full body but I'm sure silos work, just haven't given them much of a chance when we have had most luck with full bodies. Asked a pro one time what the trick is and he said looking different than other hunters in your area. Everyone in my area runs foots & averys. Somehow, the old boys still running lots of tires & shells are killing geese- most likely because they are different.

Being different is important. Also like what was stated earlier about sleepers; I am investing in more all the time going for the relaxed, safe look.


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

WingedShooter7 said:


> Yeah thats true, but also consider that silo's depending on your area may not be that effective in the late season.


Man I only use silo's in the late season when there is snow on the ground. There is something with the snow that makes the silos look the best. Early season I just use small full-body spreads.


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## HonkerExpress (Sep 23, 2005)

I have owned silo's and I liked them around the blinds, but I have switched to all fullbodies now. I liked the ease of carrying them, but just can't bet the looks of full bodies in my opinion.


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

thank you all for your input. i'm still new to the goose hunting game, so i take every bit of information i can and store it in the ol knoggin for later use. i'm still undecided what i'm gonna get. i probably wont be 100% untill i actually go and buy the decoys. i do appreciate everyone's input and want to thank you guys again.


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## HonkerExpress (Sep 23, 2005)

jawn, do you have an enlosed trailer? if you do, I would go with the fullbodies, and if you don't have a trailer, then silo's would be the way to go, you can fit a ton of silo's in a car with a buddy, two blinds, and guns, just throwing that out there,

If ya got room for fullbodies, then run them, if ya don't got enough room for 4-5 dozen more fullbodies, look into silo's, sillosocks, and deadly decoys. The Deadlydecoys seem to look really good, 3d head, and appearnce of a fullbody, but they don't take up a quarter of the space. Also a little bit more information for ya to think about.


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

Silos don't work, never have, never will. 8)

Truth be told they work awesome. Silos are light weight, take up zero room, fast to set-up/take down, and work. They are just another option in decoys. My spread is made up of: real geese, FFD Lessers, FFD Honkers and DSD lessers. They are all useful decoys.

One think I've learned is "Always" and "Never" have no place in goose hunting. Just when you have seen it all you will see something new.


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

honker,

yes i do have an enclosed trailer. i am trying to get pictures posted of it because i built it from a utility trailer. but yeah i've got my eyes on more shells or if i can find a steal on some fb's then i'm gonna go that route.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

I think the real pickle for you is being able to hunt. New wife and baby on the way. The only hunting you will be doing is reading all of our stories on this site. oke:


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

shooteminthelips said:


> Silly's work great if they come right in however if birds work vertically like snow geese sillly's arent the best option. Or if you working migrators late in the fall you would be better off with shells and full bodies. Only because lessers work kind of like snows! I have killed a lot of geese over silly's. But if your talking over all effectiveness full bodies and shells are the way to go. My best shoot last year was over 18 FFD's! Killed 5 geese in 20 minutes two had bands!


I agree with the FFD's, well worth the extra money as you dont need nearly as many. The only problem with them is you really treat em with kid gloves (at least I do), which means more setup/teardown time.

I would go with FB's, but not bigfoots. Like was already stated, sillos are compact and cheap, and very effective on early season birds, but when the pressure increases, I personaly feel they do lose SOME of their effectiveness.

Now before anybody throws claims that ive "been reading the avery forum too much" and all that crap, I would just like to say that the avery's have BF beat in realism, and movement (my number one and two criteria when looking at decoys, im not rough on stuff, so I can deal with the durability factor by just being more careful with equipment). BF's are more durable. And costwise, well, their both expensive.


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## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

Leo Porcello said:


> I think the real pickle for you is being able to hunt. New wife and baby on the way. The only hunting you will be doing is reading all of our stories on this site. oke:


psh nonsense. i still have this year to hunt hard. and by the time next season rolls around the baby will be almost 7 months. so i can bring him or her along  or i could just ask you to baby sit :lol:


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

> or i could just ask you to baby sit


Not recommended...


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Leo, where the hell are you getting your avatar pics. That one has to vilate some sort of animal welfare laws.


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