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Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? #8115031 01/04/21 08:56 PM
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Chris Sand Offline OP
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Hello all,

I am new to goose hunting and don't know much besides what I can watch on youtube which is usually far from West Texas when filmed.

Does anyone have experience luring small flocks to small waters? The river (Rio Grande) south of the city follows along Ft Hancock and there are some public river access sites for bird hunting. Since there's agriculture around the sites being hunted, including several huge acres big reservoirs, would geese be keen on stopping into the riverside area ever? A specific time of day or condition that might tempt them?

I don't have much money to invest in a huge decoy spread, but could possible get a couple of dozen windosocks, silos, and a handful of shells of either Canada, White, or mixed.

Thoughts?

Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8115062 01/04/21 09:18 PM
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You can absolutely get small groups to come in to a small spread, but your not gonna pull 20-50+ birds down unless your where they want to be.



Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8115110 01/04/21 09:51 PM
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Do they visit this river regularly? If not I would say your wasting your time. If they do then yes you can shoot some in occasion.


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Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8115121 01/04/21 10:16 PM
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I pull groups of less than 15-20 max (anything more and it is a waste of time) down into sheet water on my pasture with 4 decoys (floaters in about 4" of water) regularly. These are resident Canadas that generally fly the same routes daily though.

Last edited by Cochise; 01/04/21 10:16 PM.
Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8115252 01/04/21 11:24 PM
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Yes you can but there are some “ifs”:

Are you close enough to their flight line to be clearly visible?
How well can you blow a goose call?
What species of geese?

I will talk about it a little bit. First of all, Canada’s and specks are a lot easier than snows and blues. Spend your money wisely and purchase the most lifelike full body decoys you can afford. I have spent a lot of time goose hunting. I have killed a lot of Canada geese with six quality floaters in a duck spread.
The big wind sock and texas rag spreads work on a volume principle for snows and blues. Late season I have been on some good snow goose hunts with two dozen full bodies. You will very seldom decoy the big flights but you can break off singles and twos or threes. This is contingent on the birds being low and coming back to water after feeding. Decoying geese is different than ducks. With ducks you call enough to make them believe the dekes and let the decoys do most of the work. With geese you call them all the way to the gun. When you stop calling they will usually slide. Match the tempo of calls to the birds in the air. When their vocals pick up tempo, you match it or take it up another notch. It is as if you are telling them to stay the hell out and a cuss fight ensues before they get in your face. When you put the call down, it is to pick up a shotgun. Again Canada’s and specks are less wary and far easier to decoy than snows and blues. They are also a lot better to eat. If you have good numbers of dark geese it is fairly simple to get in the game. With snows it can be a lot more of a crap shoot unless you are really close to where they want to be or you have high wind, light rain, or fog that puts them on the deck and has them looking for a place to put down.
In light of all of that, I would be much more apt to set up for dark geese with a small spread than snow geese. Snow geese are a-holes!


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Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Smokey Bear] #8116852 01/06/21 01:09 AM
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Chris Sand Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Smokey Bear
Yes you can but there are some “ifs”:

Are you close enough to their flight line to be clearly visible?
How well can you blow a goose call?
What species of geese?

I will talk about it a little bit. First of all, Canada’s and specks are a lot easier than snows and blues. Spend your money wisely and purchase the most lifelike full body d... !


Wow this was a great read, thanks for such a nice intro post to that thought.

With all this in mind, and answering your considerations:
I am close enough to be visible to the geese flying overhead as I've seen ducks at that height turn in to my spread,
I will work my tail off to learn to honk that call knowing the weight you just argued it has,
And light geese seems cool to target cos of the conservation season, but if it's more dicey, and they're warier, I'll go for the Canada and specks.

So I'll pick up a dozen or so full body canadas and mix them into a duck spread, and wail on the honk (as good as I can) to bring em in. I'll give it a shot!

Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8118246 01/06/21 11:57 PM
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If you don’t know how to call Canada geese this is worth $20. A short reed call is what you want.
https://www.performancecalls.com/product/bad-grammer-dvd/


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Re: Could you lure down geese to a small spread on a desert river? [Re: Chris Sand] #8122117 01/09/21 03:33 PM
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You might contact Outfitter 1 and see if he has anything you need.

https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/8081407/1/doc-gave-me-the-long-face-today

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