spinning wing goose decoys?

Hey Jay,

I have always stayed away from the spinning wing goose decoys. While I have never personally hunted over one ... everyone I have ever talked to that had them has said they didn't work. I have actually been told they will flare the geese. You can usually pick these up pretty cheap on ebay too. This tells me between the lines that they don't work. People bought them, now they are un-loading them and no one is buying them.

Spinning duck decoys on the other hand are the bomb for ducks and some states have outlawed them due to their overwhelming ability to attract. Spinning wing ducks are best utilized on sunny days. Set 'em out so they reflect the most sunlight in the direction the birds are either coming from or fly by from ... as the reflection is what attracts the ducks. On a cloudy day, they won't work as well and I have been told they can be a hinderance on cloudy days.

Now the wing waver decoys are another story. I have heard people say they are deadly. I have hunted over one of these a few times out, as a friend of mine (who just recently passed away) purchased one about 2 years ago, and he brought it along when he would go with me. We have had success. But I can't totally contribute the attraction to this device as the reason for success as I usually have about 9 dozen full bodies on motion stakes and I flag a lot. I kill geese when he is not with me too, so I am not sure. From the little experience with wing wavers that I have had. I have learned not to place them right near the landing pocket. On 2 different days where we did this as birds were just approaching the landing zone they would flare. We weren't even flapping this decoy at the time. All I could figure was they didn't like the way the wings were sticking up in the air. When the wing waver was placed near the front and off to the side of our spreads we didn't have any issues and had better success. One other minor issue with the wing waver. When the ground is frozen, they are hard to get in the ground. And when you do get them in the ground, pulling the cord makes them not want to stay in the ground.

As far as full bodies with the flappers, never used them, nor do I know anyone directly that uses them. Seen them used on hunting videos that shows them working.

As I've said in other posts on here. I am a huge believer in motion for your spread. I think from what I can see and what I have heard is that the spinning wings might be too much motion. Spinning wing ducks will also, usually scare the geese so it is recommended that they be turned off when geese approach.

Spinning ducks are also very usefull when pigeon hunting.

That's my 2 cents.