An indispensable tool that will help in hunting goose, duck, hazel grouse, fox, elk and other animals is a decoy - a device that imitates the voices of various animals and birds.
Using decoys
The effectiveness of decoys is determined by the biological characteristics and habits of animals. The sound that the device makes is similar to the signals for feeding or the sounds of courtship of an animal.
Significantly increases the likelihood of good luck hunting a goose with decoy, because such a bird is quite cautious. Scientists do not have an unequivocal opinion why geese scream while feeding. Some believe in order to drive away competitors, others - to attract relatives. However, as practice shows, while eating, birds stray into huge flocks. This can be explained by the instinct of self-preservation: the more individuals, the safer. Usually the leader of the pack hears the cry of a relative and regards it as a call to a place where you can profit. To imitate such a cry, a decoy is used. There is a lot of information on the Internet about how to make a goose decoy, how to use and care for it, but first let's figure out what they are.
Types of decoys for hunting geese
When hunting this bird, various types of devices are used that imitate calling sounds. Making decoys for a goose can be factory and amateur, that is, independent. One of the factory types of decoys are wooden. Valuable tree species are widely used for their manufacture: rosewood, black and zebra. At the same time, the combination of these species with cherry or walnut wood is quite common. Proper finishing and tuning of the bait is also important so that the sound is as close to natural as possible. Cheaper options are made from organic glass. Electronic versions of decoys are quite popular, but require certain skills. They are quite difficult to manage, so if used incorrectly, they can, on the contrary, frighten away birds. Sometimes electronic simulators give an echo, so hunting with a decoy can be complicated. It is best to use this view in the field. It should be noted that the use of such baits is sometimes prohibited due to a decrease in the number of individuals. In such cases, a wind call for a goose can help out.
Steps of self-made decoy from a cartridge case
Most hunters are inclined to believe that each of them should make a decoy for geese with their own hands. There are a large number of options for self-production. So, the most popular of them are made from a cartridge case, balloon, wood, and even bird bones.
Let's consider how to make a goose decoy from a shell. This process is divided into the following steps:
- Reaming the socket in which the primer-igniter is attached. It is important that the resulting hole is smooth, without burrs. In this case, the chamfer can not be removed.
- We bring the resulting workpiece to the turned on sharpener at an angle of 15 degrees. It is necessary to ensure that the hole is symmetrical. If everything is done correctly, then a gap will appear in the workpiece with jagged edges and burrs.
- We process the hole with a round needle file to get fairly smooth edges. The width of the resulting clearance is very small and does not exceed 1, 1-1, 2 cm in the widest part.
- Next we need a piece of plastic rod. Its height should be approximately equal to the diameter. At the same time, its size should exceed the inner diameter of the sleeve by 0.1-0.2 mm.
- From the resulting piece of plastic with a knife, we chamfer a width of 2-2.5 mm in order to be able to put it into the sleeve. Then we cut off the “working chamfer”, i.e. we cut off a part of it at an angle to the axis of the cylinder in such a way as to obtain a chamfer, which in a narrow place is equal in width to the wide point of the sleeve clearance, and in the widest point - a couple of millimeters more.
- Shove the plastic bottleneck chamfer into the sleeve. Clearance and chamfer planes must be parallel.
- The last step is setting up the lure. To do this, you need a needle file and a little finger. It is necessary to slowly move the cylinder into the sleeve and checksound until a uniform and clear sound is achieved at any blowing force.
Homemade decoy from a balloon
As mentioned above, you can make a decoy for geese with your own hands using a siphon or pneumatic cylinder. The manufacturing process is as follows:
- First of all, you need to release the gas. Alternatively, you can screw a self-tapping screw into the rail, after clamping it in a vise, then, having secured yourself with headphones and glasses, hit with a hammer from arm's length.
- Reaming a narrow hole at the mouth of the balloon to a diameter of 3-4.5 mm. And we grind the opposite surface until we get a flat circle with a diameter of 1.2 cm.
- We make a hole in the resulting surface. Then, with a round needle file, we expand it with translational and circular movements. After that, we flat process the resulting burrs.
- It remains to check the sound. With one hand, it is necessary to fix the received decoy, and close the narrow hole with the finger of the other, then blow into it. It is important that the decoy is fixed securely, and that the vibrating finger that closes the drilled hole does not move it.
Bird bone decoy
You can make a decoy for geese with your own hands in another interesting and unusual way. To do this, after a successful hunt and the successful eating of a black grouse or capercaillie, we take the bones from their lower legs. Then, using a metal saw, we saw off the heads of the bones and clean their contents. For a while we lower them into acetone for degreasing, then we addbone shape semolina. The next step is to make a sound hole, the size of which should be approximately 2.5 mm, given that the diameter of the bone is 4 mm. It is important not to forget to chamfer its edges for thinning. Then we take a little wax and two drills with a diameter suitable for the bone. We roll it into a sausage and insert it with the help of the tail parts of the drills so that the sound hole is closed by one third. Next, we make an air channel to the sound hole, for which needles are well suited: thick and thin. You need to clean the channel well to achieve the desired sound.
Features of wind call for goose
Using a wind call can be somewhat difficult, because it is more of a musical instrument. It should be understood that the sounds that birds make are not just a cry, but communication, so it is important to learn how to manipulate the sound that a wind call gives out to geese. Do it yourself or buy it with your own hands - this is the personal choice of each hunter. In the manufacture of such decoys, wood, acrylic or polycarbonate are used. Wood sounds better, acrylic is the most weather resistant, and polycarbonate is the cheapest. It's best to choose brightly colored bait material because it's easiest to find in grass if you drop it. Although the transparent version is convenient to use, because it allows you to monitor the condition of the inside. It should also be borne in mind that for each type of geese a certain timbre of sound is required. For the gooseWhite-fronted goose call should be used with a sound that is significantly different from the sound that the gray goose call makes.
How to hunt geese with bait
If a collective hunting for geese is planned, then each member of the group must follow certain rules and act within the assigned roles. The main ones are: keep still, carefully disguise and shoot only at the command of the group leader. Hunters should be at a distance of good hearing from each other. It is best to use stuffed animals for bait, to which birds react. Noticing them, the geese will either drop or tuck lower. At this point, the ideal solution would be to use a decoy. If, having noticed the stuffed animals and having reacted to the sound of the decoy with a response cry, the flock does not decrease, this means that it is migratory. You can shoot if the height does not exceed 60 m. When the flock is about to descend, the geese break their wing. At this moment, the hunters freeze and hide their guns under them until the moment when the flock drops to 30 meters. It is rare for even the most experienced hunters to lower it lower. At this moment, the senior gives the command to shoot.
How to blow a decoy
First you need to properly attach the decoy to your mouth. It's not difficult, just remember how to put a glass to your lips. To produce the desired sound, air must be pushed out of the lungs by the diaphragm. To clarify, let's take an example. When they want to wipe glasses glasses or lenses, they breathe exactly as they need to blow into the decoy. You should practice before you go hunting. Then you need to practice doing the same, but only more sharply, in order to feel how the abdominal muscles tighten. It is better to remember this feeling, because such an exhalation will be the main one when hunting a white-fronted goose. It is important to hear a sound that is somewhat similar to the cry of these birds.
Decoy care
Despite the fact that a do-it-yourself decoy for geese is purchased or made, caring for it requires the same care and attention. If this is neglected, then its settings can easily go astray, which will cause a lot of difficulties during its use. Experienced hunters recommend storing it in a bag made of soft material. It is necessary to monitor the absence of contamination. After all, untidiness can seriously affect the sound. With proper handling and storage, such a thing will last a very long time.
