Waterfowl are much more wiley than they used to be. You used to be able to wear camo and lay down in the middle of a bunch of cut tires and effectively kill geese. Hell, I killed snows over paper towels and paper plates 15 or 20 years ago. The popularity of waterfowling has brought about many innovations in equipment, but it has brought about much more pressure on the birds too. What kind of silos are you using? I killed geese over plywood silhouettes painted black, with white on the tails and cheek patches 10 or 15 years ago, but I don't know if that would cut it these days. If you can't afford a layout blind, try to attach grass or artificial grass to your burlap blankets. Be sure you are covering your faces and nobody is moving. Crowd the silos around you to break up your outline, too. You could also dig shallow pits to lay in too. Take some of the corn or whatever you have around you and put it on top of you.

The simple answer would be to tell you to buy several dozen Dave Smith Decoys and blinds for everyone in your hunting party, but that probably isn't even close to realistic, so do what you can to blend in, work on your calling, don't move, and make improvements to your rig whenever possible.

 

the silos are plywood. We spent a ton of time painting them the best we could. they are set atop stakes in such a way that they can spin limitedly.

 

my guess is probably a combination of the silo's and your burlap. i wouldnt go out and buy dsd's. those things are expensive. i own bigfoots and do just fine. i would definetly go buy a layout blind here pretty quick. and one other tool i found useful was the blind placement and decoying strategies or B.P.S.D. it's in cabelas for like 15 bucks and i found it to be extremely helpful. if you can only afford the blind and not new silo's i would set the silo's away from the fullbodies. kinda like keep your fullbodies together and keep your silo's together. i wish you the best of luck this season and hope you give em heck.

 

I was being sarcastic when I said to go out and buy DSD's. From the looks of things you are just starting to build your spread. Of course you can't run out and buy decoys that cost that much. I sure can't and nobody expects a 16 year old to. That being said, you ought to build up your spread if at all possible. I takes time, I add a couple pieces every year. Get a six pack of full bodies for christmas, a blind for your birthday, pick up an extra lawn and use that money for hunting equipment, etc. Don't feel like you have to have the baddest spread to kill geese, you don't.

You have the biggest ingredient already in place.........location. If the geese are setting up and flaring, they saw something like movement that scared them. If they are just sliding off like they just aren't convinced, you have something out of place that needs a little tweaking, but isn't bad enough to scare them. If you spent alot of time on your silos, they probably aren't that bad. I've killed over some pretty crudely painted silos. Put your best decoys on the edges of your spread and in the landing hole. In other words, put your most realistic decoys in the places where the geese will see them first. Put your silos and your less realistic decoys back in your spread where they will "get lost in the crowd" and/or around your blinds/hides so they can break up your outline and your shadow. I wouldn't just pitch them aside, especially if you spent alot of time on them. It's cool to kill geese over something you made. Plus, you said they are on stakes that allow them to move. Movement is a BIG element that most people tend to overlook. That's why when you do invest in full bodies, get some that are on motion stakes.

If I was to venture a guess on what's wrong, I would say you aren't hid well enough.

Trust me, I know what it's like to have the itch to kill geese, but on a limited budget. You can pick up raffia grass at Wal-Mart for like $1.50 for a small bag. Use some small zip ties and attach a few bundles to your burlap. Cut some jute twine into small lengths and attach a few bundles of that to your burlap. You'll make kind of a ghillie blanket that you can pull up to your nose to cover up. Got some shell decoys? Put them over your feet. Remember to pile some natural veg on top too. Jerry rigging and coming up with new ways to fool birds is half the fun.

I'd say make getting a blind first on your list, then start building your spread with some full bodies on motion stakes. Keep an eye out for garage sales. You can also find good deals on some of these forums that have a classified section. I heard FA shells were to be had at a good price on ebay. I don't prefer shells, but you have to do what your pocket book allows you to do. Shells give you good motion when you put them on stakes, anyway.

 

duckman,

very good advice, well spoken

 

Hey buddy, I am 18 so I know how you are feelin with limited cash for dekes and blinds. I'd rather spend my limited money on dekes than on a blind.

Last season I ran 6 flambeau shells (mine), 12 carry-lite super mag shells, 6 carry-lite 1 piece shells (all borrowed) and halfway through I bought 6 GHG fullbodies and 12 oversize GHG shells. The GHG's were the go-to spread in the later season. We had a couple incredible hunts over only 18 decoys

I'd rather spend my money on dekes because I have had extremely good hunts with just my duck hunting camo, laying on a piece of plywood and corn stalks or wheat chaff overtop of me. It's not as comfortable as a 200 dollar blind but I'm not too worried about it and it's a heck of alot cheaper, besides with the money I spent on dekes instead of a blind I only had to spend 30 minutes to an hour lying on the ground anyways because we killed our fill. You do need to camo up well though. Even though your camo may match, I was always taught to camo up like you are wearing blaze orange. Wear a facemask and pay attention to your face and hands, they are the bright beacons geese see. Even if you are hidden as well as you can, it is still crucial to stay still, geese will pick up on movement long before they pick out your wrong camo.

Just my opinion man, but don't worry about a blind until you have a nice spread and are spending some serious time in the field.