how big of spread?

[bustumup]

I have 3 dozen bigfoot B2's and a dozen field mallards and am wondering if I need more? I spent 3 weekends out at near Lac Qui parle the end of Nov. and did okay, but one of the days we had everything we could see in the sky from 1:30 until 4:45 land in our field but nothing would come into the decoys,and I'm talking like thousands and thousands. Shouldn't this be enough decoys?

[JJK]

When I was hunting waterfowl we had a system.

IMO, goose hunting in a field, that the birds are not using for feeding, requires more decoys. And we'd space them out, to make the spread look bigger. But bigger numbers were a plus, also add some flags.

I've hunted Fergus Falls area with guides in December, and they put out medium sized spreads. But the geese were already using these areas, so scouting and getting permission, was more important than spread size.

If the birds are already eating there then very few decoys and calling should be needed.

This is what I've observed, and hope it helps.

[JJK]

However, I'm a fan of massive spreads.

When we'd duck hunt during mid season, our dccoy count would top 200 some days, and 12 Doz was normal. This is open water hunting, not field. Massive spreads have major advantages over Joe Blow with 3 Doz dekes, 200 yds down the way.

I also believe it's tough to get big flocks to commit to lesser spreads.

[JJK]

Now, I haven't hunted waterfowl the last few seasons. And none of my field hunting has been blind. We scout, find fields the birds are using, and try to get permission to hunt. If not we try for somewhere close, and then put out as many dekes as we can find.

Where the birds are comming from plays a part in the whole scheme.

[JJK]

Get more dekes, you can mix shells and rags in with fullbodys.

Are you calling at all?

Using a Layout Blind?

These are also worth considering.

[bustumup]

I'm not the greatest goose caller and after a while I couldn't understand why they wouldn't come in so I kept quiet thinking my calling was the problem. We were in a pit and they were normally feeding a mile or so north of there, except the last weekend they were land 200 yards in front of us. I do plan on getting some layout blinds so I can be more mobile than just staying put in the pit. I am wondering if it will be any good in the same fields next fall? I realize the crops will change, but a local told me it's like that every year in that general area. And the fields they were using the most were plowed under and we were in corn stubble.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

lac qui parle birds are a different animal all together. If you were hunting in a pit, it sounds to me like you were running traffic. I scouted a lot around the refuge in late november, and only saw birds feeding in non-tilled corn stubble 1 time. The big feeds were all in plowed fields. even plowed beans held more birds than non plowed fields.

one problem you are up against with a pit and 36 decoys, is so many other fields around the refuge have the same set. If the birds are stale, they get wise to the pits, pass shooters, etc. with 36 dekes, you better be a dang good caller and know when to flag to break those birds off the flightline to come take a look at the spread.

Its fun to hunt close to the refuge to get to see those big flocks, wave after wave of birds, and monster feeds. I've found however that its both easier to get permission, and easier to kill birds the farther out you follow the birds. a lot of these flocks will fly 15-30 miles to feed. and you still will see 500-2000 birds in the fields. You get out that far, and there is less chance that a field is leased, spoken for, or encounter a land owner that is tired of getting people in his yard or calling every night for permission.

[Maxxed Out]

I guide on LQP and grew up there. I can tell you from experience that unless you are in the X field you will have trouble killing geese consistently with 3 dozen decs. Like was said before geese see that spread everywhere they look on the refuge. You will be able to kill a couple geese a weekend with it which sounds about like what you did this last year, which is still a good thing and keeps you coming back.

However on this particular hunt it doesn't sound like your decoys or calling were the problem. It sounds like they were seeing you. If you've got geese piling into your field and they aren't checking you out then it's gonna be your hide. Were you in one of the old style lqp pits which are just a dug out/hole? Or was it a box pit with a lid?

Get in touch with me next year and I can get you into some of the fields that I'm not using. Some will have pits some you will need layouts in but you'll kill geese.

[bustumup]

I was a few miles off the front line and the pit was actually pretty decent, it had plywood on the inside. I used to duck/goose hunt out there all the time about 20 years ago, but then just rented pits from Erickson's and pass shot on the front line. This year I decided to get back into duck/goose hunting and drew a 3-day tag in SD and bought some more dekes. After the weekend in SD, I was hooked again and decided to hit up "The Parlor". Thanks, I would love to take you up on that offer next year! That's all I can think about now, is next fall. I should have picked up a couple dozen more bigfoots the other day at Cabela's they were on sale $119 and now they just went back up to $160-not a cheap hobby.

[RumRiverRat]

Unless you are on the X you will need 10 to 15 dozen Decoys, good calling, Flagging and a good hide.

[Maxxed Out]

Richard and elaine have some good spots for pass shooting and decoying. You should talk to them about getting back in the cemetary field next year, later in year like end of November or very early like mid October. Their son Scott and nephew Dwight are very good friends of mine and we hunt toghter all the time when I'm not guiding.

Not sure what "the parlor" is though. The place you need to watch is Rogers Sporting Goods (Missouri or Kansas) for decoys. They are the place to get a good buy in about another month they have a huge sale. Come to game fair this summer, I'll have a booth there and we can chat.

[bustumup]

We actually didn't hunt their place this fall, although we had reserved a pit one day in december and they actually remembered me from 20 years ago but wussed out because of a snow storm and 40 mph winds. "The Parlor" is what my buddies and I used to call Lac Qui Parle. I did stop at "The Man Store" in Rogers again tonight and picked up two dozen silosock honkers and a dozen GHG life-size mallard shells. Slowly adding to the flock and they were still on sale and the B2's are $111, which I thought went back up to $160 according to the website, but didn't buy anymore of those yet. It's not good living a mile from that store.

[mozy]

I was going to tell you to check back with Cabela's. They have some really good deals right now for anyone looking to add to their spread. I picked up a dozen full body flocked head mallards for over half off.

[Maxxed Out]

One of the guys I hunted with at the end of the year said he wasn't happy with the heads of the actives on the B2's always coming off. Did you run into that issue?

[bustumup]

No problems yet. Picked up 2 more dozen silosock honkers today and a new call. I almost got a blind, but still am not sure on which one to get. Their most expensive one (M-2) was on sale for $150 or so, normally $319.

[Maxxed Out]

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Rogers is having a big sale on Hardcore products. Man cave for $139. This is probably my favorite layout I've ever hunted out of.

[bustumup]

Thanks for the heads up on the mancave, I'll check it out. The flock is now 3-doz B-2's, 4-doz.silosock honkers and 2 dozen mallard shells. Layout is next and then a couple of baby mojo's and possibly some honker shells.

[Maxxed Out]

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