What Is Your Brand Of Goose Decoy? And Why?

[Dandy Don]

Just wondering what kind of FB goose decoy your using? How long have you used em & how many brands have you used? Are you happy with em or are you ready to get something different? Also with the economy the way it is and with FB decoys varying in price from a low of 200.00 per dz. to over 1000.00 per dz. is price a deciding factor?

[Shane]

To me my deciding factors are price as # 1 then durability then realsim.......
Even though I currently own Avery FB I still consider bigfoots to be rough and tuff and realistic at an affordable price.....
You can throw them in the trailer if you choose with out getting beat up, no teadious stakes to deal with just plop them and drop them...
Realistic and reasonable price...
http://www.bigfootdecoys.com/bullupright.htm
My 2cents...

[John Akehurst]

For Full Boddies I use whatever I can get my hands on cheap and that look great.

99% of my dekes are flocked heads. I will admit the flocked heads are a real asset.

The majority are GHG with flocked heads.  I run with 9 dozen of these.   The paint does peel on these, but I still use them.  The fully flocked are great as I have hunted over these.  But I do not own any FFD''''''''s.  Just can''''''''t bring myself to pay the price and quite frankly, what I have works 9 times out of 10.

I also run a 1/2dozen Big foots which like Shane said are a work horse.  My biggest beef with these are they take up a lot of storage space.

I run 3 dozen Final Approach decoys.  They work, but their motion stands are not a big plus in my book as they don''''''''t move as well as the GHG.  The newer ones with the feet hanging down look great but are a pain and I took them off.  (They don''''''''t store/ fit in the decoy bags that I use witht he feet on)  Birds will still comit without the feet on your decoys.  The legs and feet are merely a marketing ploy to us the consumer.

I also run a half dozen Flambeau decoys, a dozen G&H decoys (G&H is another brand you can kick around but not as good as Bigfoots) and a couple of Dakota Decoys that I got for free.
Dakota Decoys are another great decoy, and have been impressed with those.
So with all that said, I buy what I can get a good deal on.

My favorite of all time would be the stuffers.  I have never invested in them but I can tell you a dozen of those is all you need from past hunting experienceswith people who own them.

Scott Threinin of Molt Gear has a great DVD called Goose Society in which he breaks out all the major brands of decoys and shows you the pros and cons. of each.  The DVD can be purchased from him at either Tim Grounds www.timgrounds.com or Scott''''''''s website:  www.moltgear.com

[John Akehurst]

Two more things I forgot to add.  Like my list above, don''t be afraid to mix and match brands.  My theory is you get different postures with each brand so it adds more realisim to your spread.  Whether or not this theory holds water .... I don''t know, but it seems reasonable to me and that is what I stick with.  Also, run with a majority of feeders if you can.
Case in point, Shane and I were with a group two years ago and could not get the birds to commit.  Shane suggested we pull in a half dozen decoys that had heads up.  Once we did this, the birds were on a string.

[John Akehurst]

I just saw the new Avian X goose decoys by Zink ... WOW 

They don''t have anything posted on their website yet but I can''t say WOW  enough.

No clue what they will sell for, but in my book, they will give Dave Smith Decoys a run for the money.

[Shane]

Here is the Avian X promo video and you are right WOW!
These and Dave Smith Decoys are the most realistic on the market!
http://youtu.be/qe8jCNIbsF8

[John Akehurst]

$279.99 plus shipping @ Cabelas.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/Hunting-Decoys/Goose-Decoys%7C/pc/104791680/c/104714280/sc/104360580/Zink8482-Avian-X-AXF-Series-Flocked-Full-Body-Canada-Goose-Decoys/1242620.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fhunting-hunting-decoys-goose-decoys%2F_%2FN-1100088%2B4294771062%2FNe-4294771062%2FNo-48%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104360580%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104791680%253Bcat104714280%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNP&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104791680%3Bcat104714280%3Bcat104360580

These are going to be huge, except the price will deter many hunters.

[darstormas1]

As a hunter on a budget like most i believe the price on alot of hunting products are way to high. Make sure you stick to your budget and more importantly than decoys is location make sure you are where they want to be. I have hunted over decoys my grandpa used and brand new ffds to me its more location than anything because if you are not where they want to be esp in late season you prob wont get em in anyway. Just my two cents

[John Akehurst]

As a hunter on a budget like most i believe the price on alot of hunting products are way to high. Make sure you stick to your budget and more importantly than decoys is location make sure you are where they want to be. I have hunted over decoys my grandpa used and brand new ffds to me its more location than anything because if you are not where they want to be esp in late season you prob wont get em in anyway. Just my two cents

You said it!

Most valuable two cents you got right there.

[mikeller3]

I use Dakota Decoys, I would rather have 2 dozen perfect decoys than 30 doz ugly ones.

I hunt with 4 doz total 2 mine and 2 my best friend for 2 guys that is really all you need when you want to add numbers get some nice silo''s

I use the Dakotas because there is not a tougher decoy on the market that I have seen with the detail that they have and they don''t look like footballs with legs and necks.

I have stood on them, thrown them, seen them fly out of the back of the truck at 75+ mph and they still look great

as far as a company goes they cannot be beat I lost a head in the field they sent a new one no questions asked for free!  wow who does that?

I love them and would not use any other fb goose decoy.

[John Akehurst]

I use the Dakotas because there is not a tougher decoy on the market that I have seen with the detail that they have and they don''''''''t look like footballs with legs and necks.

 That''''s an awesome coment Mike and true, you should send that to them, I bet they''''d use that in their marketing!