Snow goose decoy

Snow Goose Decoy selection plays an important role in your ability to decoy snow geese. A snow goose decoy needs to have a few basic qualities to make it effective. Snow goose decoys need to be realistic, durable, have some motion, ability to float when hunting over water, and sometimes lightweight and portable if you are walking into fields. Below is a list of suggestions to think about when selecting a style of snow goose decoys. 

Always have movement in your snow goose decoy spread!

Your decoy spread needs to have some motion in it.  Windsocks and rags move with the wind, but if you do not have any wind that day, your spread is lifeless.  The same goes for a full body snow goose decoy spread.  It does not move.  To add movement use flags, helium balloons, or motion decoys such as a Wing Waver flapping wing decoy while hunting.  Without these motion devices, your spread will be lifeless and snow geese will not consistently decoy into shotgun range.  

Portable snow goose decoys

Portable snow goose decoys include silhouette, rag, and windsock style goose decoys. Silhouette snow goose decoys weigh more than windsock snow goose decoys and tend not to be as effective in decoying snow geese as they are Canada geese. This is because migrating snow geese start to decoy from such a high altitude that many of the silhouette decoys are invisible to them. This can be compensated for by setting your decoys farther apart. For more information on setting up silhouette goose decoys properly read the article silhouette goose decoys. 

Snow goose rag decoy

Snow goose rag decoys are the lightest of all snow goose decoys on the market. They are not very durable and tend to tear in high winds. This alone makes them a very poor choice for repeat use, and combined with their unrealistic appearance, do not make them a consistently effective snow goose decoy. 

Windsock snow goose decoy

Windsock snow goose decoys such as Northwind goose decoys are very lightweight, waddle with the slightest breeze, and are made of durable Tyvek material. Snow goose hunters buying windsock snow goose decoys should consider buying in bulk without heads for price savings. Then buy 10% with heads and place them all in the upright position. This makes the spread look like 90% of the geese have their heads down and feeding with 10% sentries on the lookout for predators. The windsock style decoy is my first choice when a lightweight portable goose decoy is desired. 

Floating snow goose decoy

Floating snow goose decoys are available from multiple decoy manufacturers. Choosing a floating snow goose decoy to buy is pretty simple. Buy whatever brand decoy you prefer but make sure it has a weighted keel. Wind while snow goose hunting is your best friend and you do not want your floating goose decoys tipping over under your preferred weather conditions. 

Full body snow goose decoy

Full body snow goose decoys are the most realistic decoys on the market. With the advent of the spring snow goose hunting season, snow geese have been getting smarter every year with the constant hunting pressure. This has forced hunters to use new techniques to consistently decoy snow geese. One of them is the full body snow goose decoy. Full body snow goose decoys are the most realistic stationary decoy on the market. They do have some drawbacks that include price, lack of movement, portability, and storage. Full body snow goose decoys retail around 250 dollars a dozen. They do not move with the wind which makes them less effective than a snow goose decoy that moved when hunting in a feed field because feeding snow geese are always moving. 

Full body snow goose decoys are bulky, making storage and portability an issue. Unless you can drive into a field or pond, full bodies are out of the question. 

The need for two different snow goose decoy spreads 

My decoy trailer has 2 different decoy setups. One is for hunting over ponds and flooded fields that I can drive into. The other spread is for hunting on ponds or flooded fields where I cannot drive an enclosed trailer or when I am hunting in picked feed fields. If I can drive into the pond or flooded field I am hunting my snow goose decoy spread consists of 8 dozen full bodied snow goose decoys and 5 dozen weighted keel floating snow goose decoys. The ratio of snow to blue goose decoys is 3 to 1. The ratio of snows to blues in the wild is something around 3-2 in the central flyway. I like to have more white in my spread for visibility, so that is why I run a 3-1 ratio of snows to blues. This full bodied and floater goose decoy spread is highly realistic and consistently decoys snows into shotgun range (less than 40 yards). This spread does not have a lot of movement except for the floating goose decoys. The reason this is not an issue is that snow geese roosting on ponds or in flooded fields are not moving that much; they are resting. The decoy spread is easy to deploy, highly realistic, and when birds are decoying into the spread they are almost always in range. 

My muddy pond and feed field decoy spread consists of wind sock style decoys such as northwind decoys. The reason I like these decoys is because they are highly portable and have excellent motion when the wind is greater than 10 mph. I like to deploy at least 300 decoys, with 600 plus preferred. I use a 3-1 ratio of white snow goose decoys to blue goose decoys. This spread is used when I cannot drive into the pond or when hunting in feed fields. The reason I prefer windsock decoys over full bodies when hunting in a feed field is that feeding geese are always moving, and with the proper wind, the windsocks will be moving. On ponds I cannot drive into and it is too far to walk floaters in, I stake some windsocks right in the shallow water. A windsock spread is not as effective as a full body spread when hunting over water, but sometimes you must compromise as you cannot drive into the field when there is nothing but mud. This is often the case when hunting North and South Dakota in the spring. A common question I receive regarding decoy selection is why I use so few decoys when hunting over water and so many when hunting in the field. My answer is I always use as many realistic decoys as I can. The less realistic the decoy I am using, the more of them I need when hunting. My current decoy trailer is a 6x12 enclosed, and it is fully packed with my current numbers of full bodies and floaters. If I could store and afford 10 dozen more full body decoys, it sure would help. Storing 600 windsock style decoys takes only three large plastic bins which takes up very little space.

The above suggestions will help you consistently decoy more snow geese. For more goose and duck hunting tips please read other articles located at duck and goose hunting tips. 

Making you a better caller! 
Chris Holste
Performance Calls

Copyright (c) 2004 Chris Holste

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