Feeder/Active/Looker ratios

[corey hendrickson]

I am just curious what you guys run as far as mixing up body styles, we just got a hold of some 06 bigfoots, and we have 24 feeders. How many active/lookers would y'all say we need to"balance" the spread out. I know that there is always different circumstances, but just generally speaking. Thanks Guys!!

[hoosierhunter]

Probably about 1/3 to 1/2 as many lookers/ active so for 24 feeders, I'd say at least 8 or 12 of them would do you good. Too many active/ lookers would look like an alert or spooked flock, not good. We usually put most of our sentrys/ lookers on the tail end of the spread (down wind side), so it looks like the last ones to have landed or just landed, and most all the feeders upwind. Anyway hope this helps.

[Mark Spence]

This may be a bit contrary to the "usual" deal....but I like, and prefer, a 50/50 deal. When I buy a spread...I will buy 50% upright style and 50% feeder...sometimes even as high as 60% upright and 40% feeder. My reason for this - well, I can get a lot more use out of the sentries - sandbars, hunting on ice, river edges, island hunting, etc. than I can out of the feeders. Granted, feeders are VERY necessary when field hunting. When I am field hunting, I mimic the flock I scouted. And with the 50/50 or 60/40 deal, I am flexible to work with the birds a little more.

My spread for this year (in the process of revamping my entire goose spread) will consist of 3 dozen DSD Honkers (8 Rester Style, 12 Upright Style, and 16 Feeder Style) and 1 dozen FA Foiles Sig Series (6 Upright Style, 6 Feeder Style). Over the next few years, I will add some more FA decoys and some more DSD decoys. My ideal spread (3 years from now) will be 6 dozen DSD Honkers (20 Rester Style, 16 Upright Style, 36 Feeder Style) and 4 dozen FA Foiles Sig Serie (24 Upright Style, 24 Feeder Style).

With that spread, around home, I can hunt any place I could imagine....fields, sheet water, islands, sandbars, ice, etc.

When looking at buying a spread...you need to consider EVERY area that you will be hunting with these decoys - NOT just the fields!!!

[migrator00]

i'm gonna run 2 feeders and 1 active...I think this should work..confidence in numbers