mrfishy34

what is ur favorite way to set up. what is ur most successful way of settin a spread. i have to say the V spread for me. but on the V spread i dont make it so Sharp cornered and i leave a gap there too so that it gives em a little more landing space. jus want to know and if u could give some details. would like to try some other spread setups. thanks

deadstick

We do more of a "U" than a "V". But also include some sporadic geese not in the main spread to make it more realistic. I read an artice a couple years back that using an "X" pattern on low wind or days where the wind is changing would work and I now use that ALOT. It makes your individual "V" or "U" smaller (4 of them now, each portion of the lines intersecting the X now give you 4 landing lanes), but it works.

HEY - just noticed you're from Warwick, I'm from DOYON! Small world I guess.

If you farm, my Dad works at Tronson grain, used to work at the Hamar elevator until it burned down. I grouse hunt around Warwick often (and played sports against them in High School - went to Lakota).

Allseasonhunter7

we throw our decoys out and then we get in front and lay inthe direction there coming and wind it works for us
most decoys are behind us

Rammer

During the early season I like to put my decoys out in family groups behind the blinds, tuck some in close to the blinds for better concealment and out front I like to throw a few satellite groups on each corner of the blinds and a satellite group dead center with 4 honker lookers.

veener88

This might sound weird but does anyone have a picture if these setups. I need some work on my spread. But I am just in a creek so I only have about 20-30 feet of water in front of me to the other side of the creek.

Rammer

These aren't the greatest pictures of spreads, but you can tell they work....

deadstick

You're water hunting it sounds like, check out this link:

http://www.dccl.org/information/ducks/decoys.htm

These are the basics (mostly applies to field hunting, but also can be applied to water - I quit hunting water a few years ago because I found the field to be more predictable than transition sloughs, withthe exception being shooting birds off the roost, which is a sin in my opinion).
1) Birds will want to land INTO the wind (wind in their face allows them to slow down and drop easier)
2) Create a landing zone (this would be the opening of the "U" we're referring to) the opening of the U should point WITH the wind so when birds come to land they will come into the opening of the U with the wind facing them. Likewise, if the wind is low that is why an "X" configuration works nicely because you aren't really sure which way they're going to land and you now have 4 openings instead of 1.
3)You can either sit on the sides or the back of the U. I prefer the back since we usually have 5 hunters in coffin blinds and we don't want to be shooting at each other, but the sides work as well - although you're concealment is then more important as the birds can see you easier. If you're set up in an "X", we put the hunters in the center.
4) Put your best decoys on the outside (the tips of the "x" or the tips of the "U") - that's what the birds will see first as they're approaching. For example, we have Big Foot Full Bodies, GHG Full-Bodies, and Carry-Lite shells. We'll put the GHG's on the tips of the U, the Bigfoots make up the sides of the U with a few near the back, and then the Carry-Lites are all around us at the back of the U. We then place a few small families outside the U to make it look realistic and use GHGs for those as well (don't want it to be a perfectly symmetrical U - imagine how fake that looks from the sky). Also, if you're just starting out - don't think you need to go out and spend your whole paycheck on Big Foots and Hard Core fullbodies - yes they're nice, but you can still get geese with Northwinds and Carry-Lites. It took us a while of saving to pay for the spread we have now (but we still got geese during school when we couldn't afford the latest and greatest).
5) Use FLAGS - they're cheap and work great, especially if you're not a great caller. Quit flagging when the geese get close.
6) When you're scouting, take a close look at the birds through your glass - are they grouped in family groups (probably this time of year with 3-6 per group). Notice the separation and how far the birds in each group are from each other, and how far each family is from one another.
7) Make sure you're in the right spot! Just being in the right field isn't always good enough - make sure you're on the right hill, revene, etc... Get a cheap spotlight and when you go to setup shine it down and find the goose droppings from the previous day to make sure you get on the X. Geese are smart, especially the resident locals that are being hunted this early. Many have been feeding in the same field for days or even weeks. They've moved around in that field to find the most thrown over grain or feed and are in a given spot for a reason - get on the X.
8) Don't be afraid to adjust the spread during the hunt. If the birds are coming in from a different direction and landing on the outside of the spread - maybe your opening isn't wide enough. If they're landing out in front of the U, maybe you're U is too deep. But, if they're coming in nice and then turning (flaring) at the edge of the decoys - they're seeing you or something fishy about the decoys.

Good luck!

max the dog

The shape fo the spread depends upon the amount of hunters we have in the group, shape of the land, and the wind. We start with a simple U shaped group with the opening into the wind and us in the middle under a magnum decoy. That works fine for 2 guys but it can get pretty crowded when you get a third shooter. We can give our selves more room by making a bigger spread but I don't like to spend all my time (and money) with dozens of decoys. The larger the group the more of a J shape we get. Just angle the J so the widest opening faces the wind. Birds don't like landing over the heads of other birds to land so will almost always come down in the opening. The problem with a large J is that sometimes birds will land outside of the opening and walk to the decoy spread. The J is also a good way of dealing with unreliable wind, the opening faces 2 directions rather than 1 like the U.