Given that if I put my entire spread of water goose decoys, I have 9. I honestly don't think it really matters. I've heard people claim that with small numbers that you want an odd number, I guess claiming that singles can count and will know if there is another single on the water. I'll either put a line off to the side of the duck decoys or if it is early season, I'll make two little groups. I always put them so the geese don't have to go over duck decoys to land with the goose decoys. I don't know if it matters, but that's what I do.
TyrelPalmer wrote:I have actually called a couple of groups this year over me, but they were all early and I didn't have any goose decoys with me. twice this year I've called geese from across the channel, and had them looking for the geese to meet up, but I never had them out and they weren't within range.
Just a few decoys, and you may well have been in business.
My buddy that I duck hunt with doesn't put out any goose decoys. It annoys the hell out of me, but I don't argue. He set out the decoys the evening before opening day, so I knew there would be no goose decoys. I even asked him if I should grab some out of the back of my truck. I saw a couple geese way off in the distance. I was literally standing up waving the flag going "hear goose, hear goose" just joking and damned if they didn't come to the flag like a magnet. However, just like you, they got about 100 yards out and when they couldn't see a goose on the water, they hung up, and then got sucked in to the next blind over.
However, where I hunt, it is a lot harder to call geese to the water. They mostly just got up off the water and are heading out to the fields, so they aren't that interested in decoying back into the water. The early season is different and they seem to respond much better to water setups.
TyrelPalmer wrote:Thanksgiving morning we took out all my floaters and 2 dozen shells, saw a couple hundred geese flying before shooting and then no birds flew for the 3 hours we hunted on a clear blue sky day....that's what I've been experiencing since I've been carrying my geese out.
That's more or less the pattern where I hunt. The geese get up like clockwork, but it's later because it is colder here, they all head out to the fields in a relatively short amount of time. They mostly stay in the field and there are few trading around after that. I have a couple blinds where I can hunt ducks on the water and then jump over to a grass field and hunt geese. It's not nearly as good as a corn field, but way better than the water even though we are only talking about 100 yards difference.
I really don't think there is a lot more you can do. If you can find the field they are feeding in and get permission, that's really your ticket. If it is not a pain for you, pick a very grey day and set up in the evening. If they come back before end of LST, your odds are very good. Here, I usually don't see a thing before 10 minutes left. 20 minutes after and I could hammer them most every night. It's a real short window, but early in the season I can hop over after work since I hunt 5 minutes from my house.