something wrong.
After this multitude of purchases, there's still no telling
how many flocks of birds — or even a single or pair — have
cupped in our direction and peeled off at the last second.
"Something's not quite right," one of us will say.
On one morning like this, while hunting with a friend and
my son, Eli, in eastern Nebraska, we had a combination of
stand-ups and shells anywhere from 20 to 40 yards away and
not a single bird would finish.
"If something isn't working, make an adjustment," long-
time goose hunter and Nebraskaland writer Todd Mills had
told us. So we flip-flopped our spread, moving anything less
than 40 yards farther away and completely out of shooting
range.
As we were returning to our blind, the next group of geese
were cupping their wings between us and the closest decoy.
We were now getting 20-yard, feet-on-the-deck shots and
were done with a two-person limit in 30 minutes.
The next time we tried the same trick, we went home
without firing a single shot.
"It has to be perfect," my dad, Larry, has told me multiple
times as he often watches from afar. "When you guys
actually shoot any birds, it's like killing a deer. It's that
momentous."
On some days, a few full-body decoys like this one are all you need to shoot geese.
On other days, I'm convinced you need a semi-truck filled with full bodies to bring a bird in range.
December 2023 • Nebraskaland 29
