goose hunting on a budget?

[bclark1]

So I recently cut and painted some goose silohuette decoys from 1/4 in plywood. They look pretty nice however I only have about 18 of them. If anyone knows. Some good low cost ways to mske decoys please share. We will be hunting a feild with some corn stubble that thegeese have already been llandingin however I was wandering if just 18 silo decoys will be enough. Also how should I place them in the field? I also need a good duck call or two. Which one/ones should I get. I also found a box of t shot 3in 12 gauge i figured these would work pretty well for geese but i cant seem to find any more so what other loads would be good for geese. Me and a few friends are really just trying to pass some time and kill a few birds if possible but were not expecting to kill massive amounts of birds. I live in the texas panhandle and the flocks of geese fly over nearly constantly during the afternoons. Any advice yall csn give me would be much appreciated. The geese are mainly cannadian with a few snow in some of the larger flocks. Ive been thinking about buying a cheap 10 bullet speaker from walmart and playing recorded geese calls from them. Ill have to do some reading to find if this is legal.

 

[Orange Dust]

Hunting Canadas we usually put out 2 dz decoys per hunter. Snows, more like 300 per hunter.

 

[JSHKS]

Try and get some movement in your spread. Since you have snows and Canada's will decoy to them as well. Some type of dowel rod about 3" long, plastic trash bags kitchen size, rubber bands.
Get some air in your bags, twist the end, fit over the dowel and wrap the rubber band around it. Shazam a goose decoy.
Use your imagination, they are pretty stupid when it comes down to it.
Shot, your T is plenty big, maybe too big. Pattern it. I tried lots of large to huge size years ago. Large shot left a lot to be desired, bad patterns.
I use BB or BBB on everything as far as water fowl, ymmv.
Splurge on a box of black cloud, just don't shoot them real close. I was amazed at what a mess it makes of a large geese under 25 yards.

Just learning to call? Get one you have faith in and use it, I have old Lohman calls from way back.
Call at the tips, which I mean wing tips. Not in their face, call wise birds will pick you out quick. Also if your new and not confident, less can be more.

Have fun, whackem and stackem.

 

[Orange Dust]

In addition. Geese are very difficult to call to cover. You will be more successful if you get in the middle of the field and dig in if you dont have layout blinds. Hiding in the open is more effective than calling. If you think a hawk could see you, you ain't hid.

 

[iowaelkbum]

What state are you in?

 

[JSHKS]

His post says Texas panhandle.

Don't look UP with your head, your eyes will move.
Halloween is coming on, get some of the black make up and use it! Grow some whiskers too.
If you are blind like me and have to wear glasses, best I can say is think when you move to look.

As mentioned above, think like a hawk.

 

[Orange Dust]

As for decoys, in the old days we used trash bags on a stick, newspapers rolled in a cone shape, and folded cloth diapers, and LEAD SHOT. Times are different now. Lowest cost good decoys are Sky Fly, about $40 a dozen. Cheap for what you get. Best advice is to buy a couple a dozen a year and take care of them. You will be surprised what you accumulate in a few years. Get a tarp and cover 1/2 of it with grass. Dig a 6" hole the size of your body laying down, and use the tarp like a sleeping bag. When you get tired of laying in the cold mud, get a layout blind. As for calling, a Big River flute is the easiest call to master for Canadas, and a Tim Grounds Whiteout for Snows. Starting out, just learn to cluck and purr. A small number of geese don't make much noise or call much. Never call at a duck or goose that is coming toward you, or over your head. Like a previous poster said, call at the wingtips. There is nothing in waterfowling like geese coming to decoys, breathtaking.

Setup: Put hunters crosswind from each other, with their feet about 45 deg downwind. Downwind on left side of right handed shooter, and HIDE. Watch your cone of fire!!! Put 2/3 of the decoys upwind. use the rest to hide the hunters and make a landing pocket downwind of them. Use your best decoys around the landing area. Place your decoys with most facing into the wind, some at an angle upwind, and none facing downwind, about 1 step apart. Easy to draw, hard to explain in text. Hope this helps.

 

[Orange Dust]

Movement: These work well with lots of decoys. Never tried with just a few. Black and white balloons on a string tied to a 4' cane stick. Survey markers in black and white cut in a right triangle. Wings made out of thin hard craft foam tied to a string with a swivel and attached to a 4' cane pole. Decoy shaped flags. This sort of thing is very effective embedded in a bunch of decoys. Use your imagination. Trying new stuff is half the fun.

 

[wildwings]

Check out NE Arkansas for super SNOW GOOSE hunting

 

[Orange Dust]

Check out NE Arkansas for super SNOW GOOSE hunting

Yes, Our place is near Augusta

 

[KyCarl]

I have a buddy that is Super into Goose hunting! Rents a place..Dogs..10 Ga.shotguns
Coffins to lay in muddy fields all of it! And they mix in a bunch of White trash bags?
I've seen his homemade videos and they have a bunch of trash bags out there!

 

[Orange Dust]

Here is a 10ga load that will kill light geese dead @120yds and cripple @150. Just have to learn the holdover. Use IM choke
Federal paper base hull. Fed Primer. 36grs Blue Dot powder. 1-3/4oz ITX BB. Ballistic Products TPS wad. Use Mica dust on wad, mylar shot wrap, 1/8" cork wad in base of wad, cardboard overshot wad, fold crimp, 15grs of ITX buffer. 1250fps. Useless inside 50-60 yds, but awesome @ long range.

 

[wildwings]

Do yourself a favor and get either Hevimetal BB's or Hevi X
the snow geese won't stand a chance

 

[Benellijake]

Do yourself a favor and get either Hevimetal BB's or Hevi X
the snow geese won't stand a chance