Field Goose setup

J

Jake Doty

Member
Ok here's my scenario. I am getting a dozen and a half (18) canada goose
shells tomorrow and I already have 1 canada goose chair blind (giant decoy that flips up for
shooting out of). I will be having one of my buddies with me most of the time. What
would be the best setup for this? Maybe like a J shape or like a C? And
make the big loop part into the wind?
 
I'm by no means a great goose hunter but here is what I'd do.
If we are talking early season local canadas I'd set up with them in lose family bunches. Four to seven in a bunch and sit your chair facing down wind next to one of those bunches. I wouldn't separate the groups by more then 5 yards. Then get or make a flag (stick and black fabric). I've seen as many geese react positively to that as calling.

Tim
 
If that was us up here is SK I would make a V with a short side and open point... 6 dekes in a straight line with the layouts at the point of the V and the remaining 12 dekes scattered up the other side. We would be trying to get them to land on the short side to finish the V or in the trough of the V

Does that make sense?
 
Jake, you've gotten some good tips here. Being on the "X" is paramount. I've taken limits of geese with as few as 7 goose decoys because I did my scouting and set up EXACTLY where the geese had last been feeding in the field. With a dozen and a half decoys, I would probably set up in a loose "J", (envision the Nike "swoosh") or siimilar shape, with a concentration of decoys in a group at the upwind end of the spread. Put the longer "leg" opposite where the geese come from when approaching the field. Where I live we have westerly prevailing winds, so the upwind edge of the spread is to the west, and if the geese are approaching from the south, I'll run the northern leg of the spread longer. This helps induce the geese to commit on the first pass. In this case I would put your blind in that northern leg, towards the upwind side but not directly upwind of the pocket. You want the geese looking at the concentration of geese at the head of the spread around the pocket, not looking directly at you. Feel free to PM if you have more questions.
 
Plenty of great advice here.
The only thing that I will add is that remember you are only working with 18 decoys. If the birds flare or are not interested, don't be afraid to change your setup. We typically hunt with large numbers of decoys and are not afraid to move them if we have to.

Best of luck.
 
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