Ultra-basic canada goose decoy spread: socks vs sillouettes, etc?

[Macintosh]

Newbie waterfowl hunter. I got some good info on a basic starter pack for ducks this year—had a blast, enjoying the steep learning curve and exploring new places. We have a long canada goose season here. I’ve been a few times with friends, with a spread ranging from an overflowing truckload of full-body decoys, to nothing more than a dozen sillouettes. Most of my hunting would be on fields where they feed in the AM, or on sandbars or marsh edges where they come to loaf midday. There are both lessers and bigger birds, and as far as I can tell they seem pretty well mixed together. For you guys that hunt canadas, I’d love any insight you have on “must haves” for an ultra-basic kit.

-do you need full-body decoys at all? If so, when? (a couple floaters for loafing areas?)
-sillouettes, socks, or both—and why?
-minimum number? Portability is important. I see groups of birds of all sizes both feeding and flying around, so what is a good minimum place to start?
-does it matter bigger decoys vs lesser decoys?

On sillouettes, how much difference does flocking make?

On socks, I see them both with and without heads. How much difference does it make, and are there caveats (ie maybe “no heads needed if supplementing full body decoys, but you really need heads if they are the bulk of the spread”)

How necessary is a call? Suggestions for the most basic starter call? Aiming for minimum “non-throwaway” investment here.

Any other pieces of info or advice?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LongWayAround]

Skip the socks. Just buy silhouettes. You do not need full bodies.

A cheap basic call will work fine. Practice until you sound good. The Goose Society DVDs are a good place to start.

If you want to hunt water, four to eight floaters would be a good idea but they're kind of a pain to store and transport.

Silhouettes kill geese and store easy. You can put 5dz silhouettes in a bag that won't hold four full bodies. Flocking is not "important" but greatly improves the contrast of the decoys with the background, especially the black head/neck. Given the choice, flocking is better.

We will put out 6-12dz silhouettes with a few full bodies where we want the birds to finish. But you would do just as well without the fulls.

I don't see many silhouettes define the "size" (Big Al's might be exception). For full bodies, lessers are fine and probably preferred by most people with lots of them.

If you can drive to your setup spot and be where the geese want to be, I would rather have 3-5dz full bodies than silhouettes. If you have to walk in, hunt public, etcetera, I would take the silhouettes. A good rule of thumb is that one full body equals about three silhouettes. You can build a much larger spread for less money and hassle with flat decoys.

 

[LongWayAround]

In this picture you can see several types of silhouettes.

There are real geese pro 2 in the back. These have a fabric face that acts similar to flocking.

To the left are divebomb silhouettes. Some with flocked heads and others with no flocking.

There is a shell decoy with a flocked head and painted body to the right.

 

[Macintosh]

Thanks, thats super helpful. Yes, I dont have good access to fields, 100% are posted and generally hunted by family and friends so its probably the hardest access to get around me. The rest would be public and none of it is drive-in—all 1/4-1mile walk or kayak access, so space and weight are at a premium. So would you say 3 dozen sillouettes is “minimum” then? Does 2 dozen just disappear? Im seeing plenty of flocks of 3-5 geese so just wondering what it takes to get a group of geese to land. I know several of those small flocks land in the same place and before long theres a bunch of geese there, is more always better?

 

[LongWayAround]

More is not always better. For example, everyone else is hunting 5-10dz full bodies or 10-20dz silhouettes. You might do well to throw 6-12 full bodies.

Small spreads need to be more realistic because there's less for the birds to look at.

Three dozen silhouettes would be a decent "minimum" for one guy. Most manufacturers seem to start their bulk deals at five or six dozen.

Small silhouette spreads do essentially disappear, unless you are on a high contrast situation like snow or a sandbar. There's just not a lot of surface area to show them.

If you can get their attention, or they want to be in that spot, it doesn't necessarily take a lot of decoys.

One thing I didn't mention is that you can always use a full body decoy. Ice or hard frozen ground isn't a problem. With a staked decoy, you may have to drill holes to set them up.

 

[Macintosh]

Thank you Sir, thats very helpful.

 

[KurtR]

Big geese hate socks.

I like the fully flocked and i really like the db black and whites they pop really good. My fil has killed more geese than the avian flu using 18 big foots and being where they want to be. On the x you can get away with alot less. Running traffic is where numbers do help. If not the most important its right up there get a flag you can get geese to turn your way from a mile or more when they see that flag.

My normal spread is 5 doz silos with a couple doz full bodys in the kill hole. As the year goes and we get into bigger feeds we will use more decoys. One day late season they hatted the spread the next day we said hell with it set out a doz full bodys and whacked them. This was a 5000 bird feed.

If i was going to get a dozen full bodys and try to fool them with a small number I really like the dsd for that.

 

[Macintosh]

Thanks @KurtR thats helpful. My use would be almost exclusively walk-in so hoping to avoid full body decoys at all unless needed (for water??). The feeding areas in ag fields are where I have the most trouble getting access so that probably would not be normal for me.
We have an early goose season the month of september that is before any other seasons open, as well as a late season with generally goes almost a month longer than any other seasons, so those would be my focuses. Given that, whats your perspective on minimum # of sillouettes to have much hope of being effective?

(A flag is easy and thats good feedback)

 

[KurtR]

Early season geese i would say 3-5 doz but they can be pain in the ass they dont pattern like latter in the year. They will go to the same place for a week and then up and change for no reason. But if they come they generally always decoy

Later season you could get away with the same but lots of variables like pressure and such and what time of day they are feeding.

Late season the birds are smart and your hide better be on point as they will pick stuff apart circling .

This is for field hunting in northern Sd so stuff can be different for how birds act in other parts of the country .

 

[Macintosh]

Much appreciate the insight, thank you Sir!