Gearing up for geese

Outside of the danger of falling asleep and missing the entire flock of birds flying overhead, the best of the new layout blind hunting bags can provide extraordinary comfort on a cold day. And that’s not even their purpose. Portable, sleeping-bag-like camouflage layout blinds are designed to fool geese (and wayward ducks) in places where geese and ducks might otherwise be difficult to hunt — open, flat country and fields. It’s a bonus that a waterfowl hunter might be warm as well as undetectable.

“You’re wrapped up like a burrito in there,” says Rob Sprow of Ultimate Waterfowlers.

Layout blinds are not brand-new, but they are improving in quality and comfort. This late in a season that will last until January, waterfowl hunters will get chilled on early-morning expeditions if they don’t protect themselves. Lying down in one place is only likely to get them colder faster, so a good blind is very helpful.

Steve Bierle, a representative of manufacturer Hunter Specialties and a top goose-caller, put on a demonstration of shooting from a layout blind in Alexandria, Minn., earlier this fall. Basically, when birds are close, you cluck like a mad fool to try to attract them, then fling open a flap, sit up and fire.

“Birds coming to a specific field are set on that pattern,” says Bierle, who is from South Dakota and has competed in major calling contests in Illinois. “The biggest job is getting started to hunt them in the exact spot where they finished eating the night before.”

A layout blind, Bierle says, permits the hunter to blend in with what’s in the field.

“You should pay attention to details on your concealment,” he says. “We’re trying to ambush these birds.”

Bierle is also a great believer in flag use. Prone, with only an arm sticking out the side of a layout blind, a hunter can wave a small flag vigorously to mimic the flapping of wings.

“Birds that have been hunted a few times have a wariness,” he says. “This gets the birds closer. Typically, those birds are incoming to your field. They have their minds made up. A flag will really lock them in. It can be really effective to seal the deal.”

Dennis Armour, who operates D&D Hunt Club along the Illinois River, says layout blind usage has grown over the last decade.

“It’s becoming more and more popular all the time for field hunting,” Armour says. “It’s just kind of a new style of hunting. There are guys who put heaters in them.”

Somewhat more surprising — or not given that product development is a never ending source of “what will they think of next?” — Armour says he even has seen companion layout blinds for dogs to disguise themselves next to their hunter.

“It’s like a little side car on a motorcycle,” Armour says.

Waterfowl hunting in blinds on water, shooting from boats or sitting in corn at the edge of a field is not going away. But Sprow says he has developed an appreciation for layout blinds.

“I use them where I lease land and can’t get the farmer to agree to let me dig a pit,” he says. “For guys who are hunting on their own, or with just one or two guys, it’s great. You can move around the field.”

Sprow says some layout blinds are “cumbersome” to transport, measuring more than 7 feet long and more than 3 feet wide with aluminum frames. But he recently tried a blind that has a foam backing, a headrest angling upward for better shooting and folds down for easy carrying.

“It rolls up into a backpack,” he says.

Bierle says a good layout blind, intelligent calling and creative decoy patterns, are hunters’ best friends. Not everything hunters try will pay off, he says. On calls, Bierle says, there’s really not that wide a range.

“People are trying to make sounds that no one has used,” he says. “It all boils down to that basic cluck. If you can blow a basic cluck you will be a successful goose hunter.”

Bierle also is not keen on blanketing an area with 250 decoys.

“I try to get away with as few as possible,” he says. “Thirty or 40. If you can keep your tools hidden, you have that much more in your bag of tricks.”

And even if a hunter does everything right, from choosing a layout blind wisely, to making the proper calls and waving flags till his arms cramp, there is no guarantee he will bring geese into his neighborhood.

“It’s a matter of persistence. You’re not going to fool every flock,” Bierle says. “Ninety-five percent of the birds are going to fly over your head like you’re not even there.”