Wildfowl_-_September_2019

instance,thereisa long-standing
beliefamongsteventhemostcore
goosehuntersthatwhenbirdsget
close,yougoquietonthecallsto
finishthem.WRONG!Anddidyou
knowgeesehavealmost360-degree
vision?So,whenyourgreenhorn
brother-in-lawstickshisheadoutof
theblindwhenthebirdsareonthe
corner...theyseehim.
Thelast 100 yardsiswhenyou
shouldcall more aggressive,”
Threinensaid.“Youdon’tgoquiet,
that’stheoppositeofwhattheydo.
Whena bigbirdintheairmakesa
sound,bigbirdsonthegroundstart
c l uc k i ng.”
TworulesThreinenlivesbyare
the 25 and1 to10.
The 25 meansif you’rehuntinga
feed,youneedtoputoutatleast 25
percentasmanydecoysasthenum-
ber of livebirdsyousawin thefield.
The1 to 10 ruleis a slidingscale
forconcealment,a 1 beinga very
goodhideand 10 beingawful.For
everynumberyoumoveuponthat
scale,theblindsgetmovedanother
threeyardsawayfromthedecoys
(startat 25 yardsandmoveback
fromthere).

“Ifyouaska lotofhunters,I bet

mostofthemneverchangetheir

decoyspreadmuchorcalldiffer-

ently,”Threinensaid.“Iwouldguess

inthelastfouryearswehaven’t

huntedgeesethesameway(twice).

Youhavetoadddifferentkindsof

decoystoyourspread—silhouettes,

smallshells,bigshells,oldwooden

silos.Curiositykilledthecat,andit

killsgeesetoo.”

Remember,thebiggerthegoose

themoreanti-socialit willbe.The

windowwhena 12-poundgooseis

goingtowanttobearoundothers

issmall,maybea weekortwoof

theseason.Andwhenyou’rehunt-

ingsmallerpopulationsofbirds,say

inplaceslikesouthernIllinoisor

northernMissourithatwereonce

hotbeds,Threinensuggestsditching

thebigspreadof 200 full-bodiesfor

four-dozenDaveSmithDecoys.

“( Thiswinter)I sawa flockof true

giants,the13-to16-poundgeese,

whileI wassnowmobilingherein

Minnesota,”Threinensaid.“Iknew

theyweregiantsbecausetheyhad

big,whiteassesthesizeofa five-

gallonbucketandwereflyingabout

30 yardsoff thedeck,nevermissing

a wingbeat.

“Ijumpedinmytruckandfol-

lowedthem.Thetemperaturehad

beenanywherefrom0 to 60 below,

soeverythingwasfrozenupandI

“You have to add different

kinds of decoys to your spread...

curiosity killed the cat, and it

kills geese too.”

big goose field commandments

76 WILDFOWL Magazine | September 2019 wildfowlmag.com

© Ted Wells