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why won't the geese come in??

8471 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  qwahonn
most everyone has had this happen to them. they have got the geese to come there way there talking back and forth to you and they circle and work your spead a few times and then they pull off and leave. there not flaring or any thing it seams like there not intrested to come in all the way. what do you guys think? :?

all help or comment is helpful, thanks

shoot'em in the lips
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I started to see the same thing last week up here in Rhode Island, So yesterday I set out a micro spread, (No,not because I'm from the smallest state), 6 full bodies, (1 sentry & 5 feeder's) instead of 8 dz shell's and silo's, and they didn't hesitate to commit, this morning I hunted public land and the field next to mine had a large spread, I used the same setup and I watched the first flight circle the larger spread then they came straight in to me. All I can think is that they are getting wary from the hunting pressure and they are taking a real good look at the spreads. I also used the call to a minimum, hail'em, get them turned, and shut up. follow up with a flag.

Happy New Years and Good Luck
I have heard of doing this in the early and late season. sounds like it might be the thing to do if there is alot of hunting on one area.
thanks for the advice :D

shoot'em in the lips
I do this late season when the birds have been hunted a lot.we have people huning all around us within 2 or 3 miles and the birds never hesitate to come into our spread everytime.Less decoys doesnt mean less birds :D .
Sometimes it just seems their is little rhyme or reason to why the birds do what they do.I wish I had a nickle for every time that I have watched a flock by-pass a field full of live, feeding birds.Really!There may be 200-500 birds in a field and a small flock will skirt the edge and then head off to parts unknown.Who knows.
Mike is on the money with his answer.
The name of the game sometimes is flexibility---changing it up often will produce results, so do not be set in your ways.
I have permission for the next year on a winter wheat field just a little ways out of town. Most of the geese around here (stillwater,Ok.) are resident geese. The field has a lot of geese on it at least once a day. Will hunting this field cause the geese to stop coming, or will they continue to use it long as i don't kill them all (ha), or should i look for another field close by and try to pull them over so they won't quit useing the first field?
Thanks for any input.
Having a few locations is always better, especially with residents.. they will wise up real quick to a field that is hunted regularly, then they will avoid it. If you are locked into just 1 or 2 places to hunt then make sure you give the fields some downtime between hunt's. Also change up your spread size and locations within the field each time you hunt. never rely on the same layout twice in a row,
We have a ton of residents up here in Rhode Island and the one thing they will do after the early season will be to approach any spread with extreme caution then veer off just outside of shooting range, (happens everywhere i'm sure) I will then set myself up directly downwind of the spread 40 - 100 yards depending on the wind speed. The more wind, the farther away I will set up since the geese seem to approach lower in higher winds, You can always reposition if the geese or wind shifts, This has worked great for me using layout blinds that have been mudded with some local vegetation in a bare dirt field and the geese are so focused on the spread they dont look twice at the blinds. Good luck. Mike
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hey will hunt4food u never want to hunt the geese where they all stay or feed so your best bet would be to hunt a field in the direction they either come to your field or leave your field. one or two days of shootin in the field u have permission for will make them leave for quite awhile. think of it this way if everytime you went home u got shot at, u would more than likely find a new place to live. and in getting geese to finish, find what they want to hear and what they want to see. my recommendation for you is to put out the biggest spread you possibly can, this makes it look like a refuge. and if they don't want to see it then all u gotta do is pick some up. never put all the geese facing the same way, especially into the wind because if you watch real geese when they are about ready to take off they all face into the wind. and calling it is all what they want to hear. change tone and volume. you will be able to see their reaction when you are producing a sound they like. so once you see them react to something stick with it.
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If your worried about geese getting wise, especially residents, then I would suggest only shooting at small groups that come in. 2-6 bird groups. Along with shooting at small groups make sure that you get them in for good shots. If less birds get away then less birds can relay the message to stay away from that area.
this weekend our 2nd extended season opened we had 3 dozen shells, 2 dozen full body feeders ,5 mag shells, and 20 silouettes birds circled all morning . we thinned out our spread removing the silouettes and birds began to commit.guy one field over had a dozen big foot deke's out and had his limit of 8 by 9am . so i think for late season smaller is better
:lol: At this time of the year I usually never use more than one and a half doz. Also they are starting to pair up so make sure that you have some set in pairs.
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