Goose decoys???

[Doc & Nash]

Where is the best place to buy goose decoys?? I am going to set up a new spread with 1 doz floaters, 2 doz silouetts and 2 doz shells. I was thinking about G&H and Outlaw any sugestions.

[SCOOTER]

you can get the #2s from outlaw, they are really good for the money, for as floaters, the up coming du fest in memphis on sunday is some really good deals. if you go with G&H, get ready to spend some money, but they hold up better than the others, just my .02.

[judge jb]

Scooter is right on the Sunday DU fest... there are alot of bargains the last few hours of Sunday.. on practically anything... don't be afraid to ask... i bought a dz flambeau goose floaters 4 years back and they have done OK... but not as good as the G&H...

judge jb

[Doc & Nash]

Scooter, was there anything majorly wrong with the seconds??

Also would you go with standard or a magnum size??

[goosebruce]

g&h's posed to be like 25% off at the new bass pro store in memphis this weekend.

With a small spread, I wouldnt mix decoy styles. Id go all floaters, all shells, or all sillywets, not a hodgepodge. Just my experience, Ive always seemed to do better not mixing deeks in small spreads.

Look at HOW you are going to be hunting for the answer to what fills the bill. A boat spread must be more portable than something you put in truck, and if you have to walk it out into a field, you wont be happy with anything but sillywets, and lots of them. Outlaws, or the new real geese pro series are the ONLY ones to think bout in sillywets. That cheap crap shines WAY too much. Good sillys will shine at times, but cheap ones shine all the time. If you planning a combo duck/goose hunt, sillys are not usually the best.

Flambuea has sum big ass floaters with no keels that work well as field deeks. The land/water series are small, and the paint is crappy. But the big ones (33's) rock either way. Carrylite shells are the cheapest, and best looking shell in my opinion, but their floaters aint real tough. Remember goosin is about gimmicks, and a flag beats a call, and a flag and a call beats more deeks, and a flag and a call, and better deeks beats more deeks, but a flag, a call, and lots of good deeks always wins. travis

[Doc & Nash]

Thanks Goose, What I am trying to accomplish is have the minimum amount for several situations, boat, field, or flooded field. I dought I would use all three types at once and the floaters would probably be used more in duck hunting than goose hunting. I have found that even if you only put out three goose floaters in your spread the ducks seem to be a little more confortable in approaching your spread. That shells and sillwets as you called them is what I was thinking I needed for field hunting. Out of the two which would you perfer??? If it works better with one type, I would imangine that the sillywets would a: be easier to handle and b: provide a better looking spread. I just thought that you would need shells to give you the movement and more of a 3-D perception. Maybe I am wrong??

[Glenn]

G&H would be the best for your money and would hold up very good. I own 2 dz of them and have had them since 1994.

I think a spread of goose decoys should also include some big foots. They are full bodied decoys and can really bring the geese in. You can find them for around $30.00 ea in most hunting catologs. I like to get the feeder big foots.

[Anatidae]

I assume you're looking for 'Honker' dekes.....but in case you're looking for 'Specks', I have 2 dozen G&H Std. 'Speck' shells for $115/doz(plus shipping)......like new......used four times last year.

New G&H 'Honker' shells were around $100/doz, last year.....'probably gone up to $110, by now. Cabelas doesn't even list'em in their catalog anymore, but may still have some in stock. Knutson's, Carolina Waterfowl Supply, and Mack's still carry the G&H shells.

I haven't tried other brands so I can't make a fair comparison but I DO agree with JB......G&H floaters hold-up very well and are about as realistic as you can get (economically speaking)!

Now this is NO reflection on JB's taste in decoys (and I think he'll agree with what I'm fixin' to say), but Flambeau floaters ( [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]) look like they got 'clobbered' in the back with a brick batt. Their beak is pointing 'up' and his haid is laid-back like he's water skiing behind a 'Hydra-dyne' with a 351 Ceveland @ 80hph (even though he ain't goin' nowhere). 'Looks more like an obese Commorant (w/ white cheeks), trying to 'choke-down' another catfish fingerlin'). [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

When a goose looks 'UP' (or 'DOWN'.......no, wait......well actually, that sucker's looking both ways at the same time, isn't he?), he tilts his head to the side, not back. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] 'Guess one eye's watchin' fireants and the other is measurin' how high the wall is on that garbage dumpster. Man, I bet that's wierd!!.....seeing 2 things at once. [img]images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img] Hey, just think.....instead of 'looking both ways' before you cross the street.....you just LOOK, period! 'Wonder how they 'process' THAT! I bet they see a human and go, "hey, look at that 'Billy-Bob' yonder.....look how close his eyes are!"BWAAAAHAHAhahaha!!

'Only time I notice'em raise their nose is when they swallow somethin', when they're makin' noise, and when you shoot'em in the BUTT!! But, I suppose there are times when 'details' might not be as important as 'numbers' to geese.....at least until they get shot-at a few times. But, why take the chance?.....buy the best you can afford! [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[ May 21, 2002: Message edited by: Anatidae ]

[goosebruce]

Sillywets provide movement and 3d when birds circle them.... set them at quatering angles, and walk around the spread at 100 yards. As the deeks appear, and reappear, they appear to move. Plus the realism is unbeavlibe with the foto sillys. Remember with sillys, not all will show at any given angle, so you actually need more sillys to get same effect (quatering angles, 4 dozen sillys looks like 3 dozen at any given angle). Pluses, most are tall nuff to help break up your field/coffin blind profile, and easy to tote.

Shells look realistic enough. Until you mix them with foto sillys, or fullbodies. Suddenly, they look like crap. However, in a combo spread, shells work better than sillys, day in/day out.

Sillys shine. Any flat slick surface shines. Geese normally approach low enough, its rarely a problem. But ducks fly higher, and circle, and shiny silly will scare the hell out of ducks. Some folks think its flying over the sillys and them disappearing, but since they all dont disappear, and it doesnt seem as bad on cloudy days, I think its the shine. Cheap sillys like the imposters and stuff might as well be made of plutonium, cause they shine like new money. Outlaws are better (the good ones, never had any expereince with the jenny vanes to speak of), and the new style pro real geese are supposed to have one slick side, one matted printed side, just because of the shine problem. Ought to be the bomb.

If everyone sets half a dozen goose deeks in their duck deeks, set out 150 goose deeks and half a dozen duck deeks. Its murder.