The decoy spread makes all the difference in the world when you are trying to attract these wary birds. The flocks of geese have been hunted nearly non-stop since they left the arctic brooding grounds in the fall. By the time we see the big flocks of snow geese in South Dakota, they have been hunted straight from September through April.
Needless to say the birds are wary of everything. The adult birds can be upwards of 20 years old and they've seen years of decoy spreads. By the time a spring hunt rolls around it's time to go big with the spread. It's not uncommon for hunters to save money and set spreads including everything from full-body decoys to plastic shopping bags and diapers. Specklebelly geese may fall for that in the spring but the adult snows know better.
Big spreads of full-body and wind socks can draw spring snow geese from a thousand feet up.
We rely heavily on wind socks with and without heads. SkyFly makes a great wind sock decoy. They are reasonably priced, printed with good detail and they are rugged enough for multiple seasons.
In the late months of hunting snow geese in South Dakota we set big spreads. The set varies in complexity. On calmer days we may spread out the decoys more, and are not afraid to run decoys down wind as the birds approach the designated kill hole. The kill hole is a bit overthought, as we tend to prefer the opposite of a "hole" and like to load up the landing area full of decoys, motion, and sound. On strong wind days we may condense things down, and attempt to cross shoot the birds. Every day is different and our guides do their best to present an effective set each day.
There are many different ways to add motion to a snow goose spread. Once the wind gets up to 7-8 MPH the sock decoys come to life. We have rotary machines, flyers, hand flags, and clones/flappers available as well. Each day can be like solving a math problem as we consider which tools to use for the day. Adult birds tend to be more weary of "the circus" which is what we refer to all the motion stuff as, so as long as the socks have good motion we may choose to pull everything else down. When hunting juvies, or on low wind days, we tend to throw more of the motion/circus as the birds.
