GOOSE HUNTING. LEARNING ABOUT CONCEALMENT. PART 2. By DENNIS HUNT I talked about building a blind within the decoy spread or just, laying in the decoy spread. I did that for many years until I realized the geese were seeing me and my hunting companions. The reason geese are looking into the decoy spread is: They have been shot at going towards decoys and they don’t trust them. They are hungry and are looking for a safe field with food in. They are attracted to decoy spreads like metal to a magnet. They see the fake geese and are trying to figure out whether those are live geese or not because they do not trust decoys. Every goose hunting trip I took in the 1970’s and 1980’s, I laid in the decoy spread. Everyone else did in those days. Most would sit on 5 gallon buckets with white outfits on. Flock after flock of hungry geese would flare off of our decoy spread and we could not figure out why? Finally, the light in my head came on and I decided to lay downwind from the decoy spread. At first it was 10 yards and at the present time, it could be 40 to 200 yards away from my spread. It all depends on: Whether there is any natural cover in or near the decoy spread. How wary the geese are that I am trying to kill. The first time I tried laying away from the decoy spread, there was no wind and I still ended up frustrated. The second time I tried it, there was a 20mph wind. I played it perfectly and flock after flock of geese flew over my hiding spot and we "killed them". For 20 years, I was too ignorant and stubborn to try something different. Before I made the switch, I would build a blind within the decoy spread. I would use goose magnet flyers. I tried 10 foot conduit poles and would set 6 magnets on the tall poles and would lay underneath in a white outfit. If the wind came up, the magnets would flap like crazy and scare the geese away. I switched to 6 foot poles, 4 foot poles and finally 3 foot poles. The shorter poles worked the best but, it still was not a good situation because the geese would always see the wild flapping of the magnets or see someone move within the decoy spread. We were not getting shafted by the geese but, by ourselves. At the present time, I will only be within the decoy spread on a "no wind" day. Then, I will lay between the first 2 rows of decoys within a Final Approach low-profile blind that will be covered up with straw or corn from that field. When you don’t have any wind, you don’t know what direction the geese will come from. You could "outsmart yourself" by laying away from the decoy spread with a no wind situation! Digging a pit is a good hiding spot if the land owner will allow it. However, the geese you shoot at won’t come back to that field again. You have to pray for a new group of geese to come towards your field with the pit in. Before I started using the low profile blinds and laying downwind from the spread, I used a back rest and a face mask. We would lay 40 yards downwind against the back rest and throw 4 sacks of barley straw over us. The geese would look at the decoy spread and pay no attention to the pile of straw laying in the field. We would play the wind correctly and the geese would fly over the top of us. The back rest gave us a "sitting up position" and our shooting improved drastically. The back rest was made from plywood and was 18" by 24" with _" copper tubing legs. It cost us less than $5.00 to make! Try it, you might like it!