We were scouting at the end of a very long trip to North Dakota. Are those real geese or fakes in the field? It was tough to tell through the binos after a week of putting hundreds of miles on the F-150. Flocked heads have been all the rage, but more and more, we're seeing gorgeous fully-flocked decoys. The calls are becoming increasingly easy to run, too.
An industry vet recently told us, "These days, it's hard not to make a sound on a goose call that a goose doesn't make." But it still takes practice to know when and when not to reach out to a flock of late-season greenheads.
So keep practicing, and invest in some of these quality decoys. You'll put more birds on the ground.
Avian-X | AXP Over-Sized Mallards
Banded | Canvasback Floater
Banded | Honey Badger
Honey badgers are downright nasty, just like this aptly-named single-reed. Compact, ferocious, ultra-realistic, and tough, the
Honey Badger is an Arkansas-style, medium volume meat call. One of the smallest calls in the Banded line packs a lethal tone.
Price: $139
Big Guys Best | Widowmaker
No doubt the
Widowmaker's easy-to-blow short-barrel, short-insert, shaved-reed will cause lots of goose funerals this fall. It's the perfect blow tube for hail calling sky-high migrators into your spread.
Price: $159
Big Foot | Standard Goose
It's the decoy that strikes fear in the hearts of every Canada goose across the four flyways. Nearly impossible to beat
Big Foot's realism and durability, that's why you'll find them in so many commercial hunting camps, the famous leg-foot assembly means no stakes or tie-downs.
Price: $130 (4-pack)
Dakota Decoy | X-Treme Mallard
Dakota's flocking consistently exceeds our expectations. The
X-Treme Full-Bodies are extremely realistic, featuring Wind Walker bases, and fine paint schemes. The 12-pack includes four feeders, two searching feeders, two relaxed actives and four uprights.
Price: $299
DOA | Rogue Canada Floaters
Field Proven | Raptor
Designed by two-time world goose calling champion Field Hudnall, the
Raptor is an advanced short-reed that's easy on the egos of beginners. The modified straight-bore mouthpiece provides lightning-quick response, and allows for an incredible goose vocabulary.
Price: $160
Foiles | Raizin Cayne
Never lose your insert again with the
Raizin Cayne. With a simple quarter-turn, it's locked tight. With two distinctly different tone boards for the single and double, the RC embodies versatility: loud, raspy bark on the top end; soft and clean on the bottom.
Price: $129
GHG | Commercial Grade Honkers
These soft-body Canadas survived being run over by a four-wheeler during a field test, so we think they'll stand up to your abuse.
Available in 10 different postures, the heads are flocked and detachable. Push the stakes in the ground, set the full-bodies and you're ready to take on the migration.
Price: $230 (6-pack)
Hard Core | Puddle Pack
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better gift for a public-land waterfowler than the
18-duck Puddle Pack. It includes mallards (two magnum, four standard), wigeon, black ducks, teal, pintails and woodies pre-rigged with an included mesh bag.
Price: $189
Lucky Duck | Lucky Flapper
Flagging is vital to putting geese in the decoys, but that motion also attracts attention to the blind and the shiny faces within.
The Lucky Flapper can flap its wings continuously (up to 9 hours) or intermittently (3 seconds on, 10 off). Remote control included.
Price: $200
MOJO | Mama Jama
The new
Mama Jama not only features the company's trademark spinning wings, but also swims thanks to a propulsion pump. Thus the decoy creates ripples, splashing sounds and the natural 'V ' of a moving duck.
Price: $200
Real-Geese | Pro Series II Canadas
An Ohio buddy makes his own silhouettes, lays down in the dekes and smashes honkers. We don't have his artistic flair, so these two-dimensional
Pro Series fakes are perfect. The silhouettes are textured on both sides so there's no shine.
Price: $225 (12-pack)
Rig'em Right | Mega Motion
Make those decoys two-step on a calm morning with the
Mega Motion Jerk Rig. The kit is set for 12 floaters, comes with 100 feet of mainline rope with pre-tied bungee cord, rope winder, three collapsible anchors, spring clips and floating case. Pre-rigged clips attach to decoys.
Price: $130
RNT | MicroGoose SS
RNT removed the stock muffler on its nationally-recognized
MicroGoose. Champion caller Jim Ronquest called the
SS 'the new field legal hot rod of goose calls, ' and the man's right. The call has also been put to the test by goose guru Shawn Stahl.
Price: $120
Sean Mann | Shoreman XP-1
The Express, a hand-tuned molded version of the iconic Eastern Shoreman, afforded callers world-champion sound in a no-nonsense style. In a similar vein, the
XP-1 resembles its predecessor, with performance-enhancing features like proprietary material construction, CNC machining, unmatched resonance, and a poly-cylindrical bore that allows for more natural sound production.
Price: $100-
$160
Tanglefree | Pro Series Speck
Specks aren't just a West Coast or southern bird anymore, and if they're showing up in your flyway
Tanglefree's Pro Series is a must. Floaters (4-pack) and full-bodies (6-pack) are available, all of which feature life-like paint and postures with detailed texturing.
Price: $100-
$160
Sure-Shot | Yentzen One
A duck-call debate would not be complete without mentioning the
Yentzen. Recognized as the inventors of the double-reed, the folks at Sure-Shot set the waterfowling world on its ear again with the
Yentzen One. Great low-end like a double, but with fantastic highs like a single, you'll want this call on your lanyard.
Price: $150
Zink | Green Machine ATM
Designed as a companion to the popular
PH-2, the
ATM double-reed features the same smooth mallard sound callers have grown to love, but with greater volume and a radically improved bottom-end feeder chuckle. Featuring the Z-CUT no-stick tone channel, you'll get a huge range of tones while virtually eliminating irritating reed-lock.
Price: $140
