# Help Creating Goose Spread



## cmac77 (Mar 1, 2007)

I have some questions about how to create an effective goose spread.
I am going to be freelancing Alberta this year for the 1st time.

I am in the process of putting together a honker spread. I am going to use 6 dz decoys. Some silos, some shells and some fullbodys.

Does motion matter? I was looking at the Dynamic Power Bases. Are they worth the money?

Will this make a difference?
Does flagging really make a difference?
What about the flappers and geese that have wings out looking like they are landing? 
Any other suggestions on how to create a goose killin spread?

I am new to goose hunting. This is my 1st time huting honkers.

Am I making too big of a deal about this. Is Canada one of those places that you can toss out your decoys and be successfull.

In CA I am used to having competition, having to create motion and really work to fool the ducks.

Thanks,

Mac


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

cmac77 said:


> Am I making too big of a deal about this. Is Canada one of those places that you can toss out your decoys and be successfull.


I've never hunted AB but I can't imagine it's that different from other provinces. You're getting first crack at many of the birds, they typically decoy better north of the border.

I'm sure your spread will be fine. I would bring a flag though, can't leave home without mine.

Good luck


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## cmac77 (Mar 1, 2007)

Thank you for the advice. I have been trying to make this trip as successfull as possible. I have been buying decoys and checking out all kinds of different gadgets. I am a sucker for new stuff.

I thought I may be overdoing it.

I thought there was a bunch of stuff for duckhunting....shoot I think there is more for geese. I am looking at layout blinds, motion stuff, shells vs fullbodys, flocked vs unflocked. There is a lot out there.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

Here im going to give you a rough estimate on things

You said you want 6 dozen decoys a mixture of silo's shells and FB's right?

Heres my thinking. Assuming you have a field blind here what i would do
1 dozen Outlaw Magnum Full-Color Canada Goose Sillo's-129.99 PER Doz
3 Dozen Greenhead Gear Over Sized Series Shells- 149.99 Per Doz
2 Dozen Greenhead Gear Hunter Series Fb's 1.5 Doz Feeders 139.99 pr 6.
.5 Dozen actives 139.99 pr 6

So basically this is going to run you about $1139.92 without shipping or tax. Not a bad spread if you have the cash.

This would be the basic look of your spread the ________ are the silos...i threw it together in like 5 minutes


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

cmac77 said:


> I am a sucker for new stuff.


Oh yeah, you'll be broke before you know it.

I'm personally not a silo fan, that doesn't mean they don't work though. FB's and shells on stakes are your best bet. Be careful about putting shells on the ground too early in the year, I feel that by now a lot of the more experienced birds can pick this out, and that's all it takes, one bird in the flock may see something that triggers him to throw up the red flag, and there goes the entire group.

As far as which decoys to buy. Just search the forum and you will find literally dozens of topics where people are going back and forth about this decoy or that decoy. Really when you break it all down, each decoy has its strong points and its weaknesses. You just have to decide what is the most important characteristic to you, and then go with the type that can deliver it for you.

Flag = A must. I have at least 2 with me on every hunt. Canada decoys will tend to blend in with the field in a lot of cases, making them tough to see. Anything you can do to catch their eye from a distance will help. Just think of it like this. If you were standing on the road looking out across a big wide open field, and there was a coyote standing perfectly still looking at you about 300 yards out, I bet you wouldn't notice him. But as soon as he started trotting away he would catch your eye. Everything I have read about waterfowl has pretty much told me that ducks and geese rely on movement in their vision even more than we humans do (another tip... Hold still!!). So any type of realistic movement you can create I feel will help you out a lot.

Covering up. I feel this is the most important thing that some guys overlook far too often. However you decide to hide yourself, be it a blind, laying down, whatever. You should really go to every length you can to make yourself blend in the best that you possibly can. I had a tough season this last year, and I'm pretty sure that the problems we were having came from us not covering up well enough. We put a lot of time into it, but still, it would never seem to be enough.

Another thing to think about, covering your face. I use face paint. Some of my buddies wear face masks. You may hear some guys say that face paint is a joke, and people only do it because it's a fad right now created by Jeff Foiles and Phil Robertson, but I don't buy that. If you can see the goose, the goose can see you. That's not to say it's looking at you, but it does mean that if he did look at you, he could see you. And I'm guessing you want to see the goose. However all around your eyes, obviously, is your face. This is why I feel it's so important, because at least a little bit of you will always be exposed, and you don't that little bit to be the only part of you that isn't covered by some type of camo.

One thing I noticed you didn't ask about is calling. Calling is a really important part of the decoying art. It's not quite as important as your decoys, simply because you need it to appear that something is doing the calling, but none the less, it's something you may want to figure out. I wont bother with naming any specific calls that you should run out and buy, you can search this forum and find an overwhelming amount of debates on what brand is the best, but in all honesty, they are just opinions. I will say this though, if you're planning to get serious about goose hunting, you may want to get one of the more spendy short reed calls. It breaks down like this: there are the cheaper varieties, which are made of plastic, they run from about 10 to 30 dollars. Then there are the more expensive calls, which can be made out of any number of higher quality materials. Those usually range from 90-150 dollars. There is a middle ground between these, but it's pretty slim pickins. If you elect to go with one of the higher quality calls I can confidently say that you will get a better sound, and a longer lasting call. Typically these calls come with some sort of warranty as well, if you ever have any problems with it you can send it in and more often than not they will fix it right up for you.

Learning to be consistent on one of these things can be a whole different chore in itself. I won't lie, it's not easy. It takes hours and hours of practice. Your best bet is to get some kind of instructional video to work with while you learn. Or even better yet, track down someone that knows how to do it already, they will be able to give you tips to help you on specific areas that they notice you need to improve on. An alternate route you could also take is buying a goose flute. The learning curve is much shorter in this situation, but it comes at the sacrifice of being able to make a very wide variety of sounds, like you can with a short reed.

I guess that's all I can think of right now. Don't worry about thinking about this too hard. I take twice as long as most guys do when I set up. They tell me I'm looking at everything too hard, but really what can it hurt? After all the money and time put into it, I want to do everything within my power to avoid that painful feeling that I get when I watch birds that never made it into gunning range fly away.

Go ahead if you have anymore questions, I ran out of homework for the week, so I got nothin to do.


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

> Here im going to give you a rough estimate on things
> 
> You said you want 6 dozen decoys a mixture of silo's shells and FB's right?
> 
> ...


You could go with bigfoots also


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Lol, Wingedshooter, I think you love GHG more than Fred Zink himself.

I like to keep the end of my spread open to give them a better entry point. This is just a rough idea of what I would do with about 50 decoys for early season. I'd actually spread them out a little bit more than I did, but it gives and idea. Just try to give them a place to get in, and try not to make it look too uniform. Also try to use what dekes you can to hide the blinds.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

true you could go with bigfoot! I doubt i like GHG more than Freddy...lol...you crack me up diver sniper.


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## cmac77 (Mar 1, 2007)

Thank you for the help.

I really appreciate the advice. I will put it to good use. I already bought some silos. I got FA full bodys...they were used and a couple of years old. I also got some greenhead gear shells. Just got them in the mail this evening. I also just bought the FA S.U.B for a layout.

For the other 3 dz I am going to try and go with full bodys. I am leaning towards the FA if I can swing the price.

I really like the diagrams. They are very helpful.

I am going to go with the Basin Iceman for a call. I have not selected what I am going to use to learn. I was looking at a couple of different instructional materials.

What do you think about the molt...or something like that. I think the title is bad grammer.

Thanks again for the help.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Sounds awesome man. FA are nice decoys. If you are a do it your self kind of guy, you might want to think of a way to improve on their motion system a little if you can. They tend to twirl around alot when the wind comes up.

If you're looking to buy new dekes, there is plenty of time before next season, you may want to wait until this summer to see what kind of new stuff FA and Big Foot come out with. Rumors are saying they are gonna be changing things up to keep on the same level as GHG.

I checked out the call, looks like a perfect choice. The black/smoke sure looks sharp.

On the instructional stuff. Bad grammer is a a good CD, but it's geared a little more at people that already have the basics down, it would be a frustrating one to start on. For a first time video, I'd say you can never go wrong with Honker Talk. I bet more than half the guys on this site that can blow a short reed learned from Stahl, I know I did. I've heard that the Foiles videos are good too. (personally I like Shawn Stahl a lot more than I do Jeff Foiles though) If you're looking for a CD to listen to while you're drivin to work, I've had luck with the RNT The right stuff.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Wingedshooter, where are you from? I wanna go hunting with you... I'll bring every Big Foot I own too 8)


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

diver im from SD lol....alright u do that well pound em lol.

Hey if your going witht the FA's you can convert them to GHG motion systems which are good idc if they had the bigfoot name or any other there a good system


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## cmac77 (Mar 1, 2007)

I am not set on FA. I spoke with a few people and was leaning towards the FA due to them being made in this country. But I do want to get the best for my money.

What type of motion system can you get on a full body?

Who makes what?

Thanks


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Big foots are USA made. They don't have any factory motion system right now but I think they might be working on one that may come out this summer. If they can do that, touch up their looks a tad, and stay durable, they will be a tough decoy to top.

You could check out hidgon stackables. I don't own any, and I cant remember how their motion system works, but they are a nice decoys, google em and you'll find out.

There are a few different after market things you can get for dekes that dont have any motion. Avery makes stakes for their shells. You can get decoy dancers for Big Foots. Most of the others come with some sort of factory motion.

Your best bet is to get to a good sporting goods store, really inspect all the decoys and think to yourself, "How would this decoy work in a 25 mph wind?" Also, check to see if there are any simple improvements you can do on them. Sometimes it makes it even more fun if you can kill birds over a decoy that you made or updated to work better.


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## SoDak Waterfowler (Mar 8, 2007)

A great learning CD is " Bad Grammer" all the other CD's tell you what to say in the call and it never helped me.


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