Spring snow goose hunting involves a pretty significant decoy spread. Large flocks of birds like to see large flocks on the ground, and to try and emulate that, you need to set up a large number of decoys.
From full bodied decoys to windsocks to shells, there is a variety of options out there. Are you guaranteed birds will dump into your spread if you set all those up?
Of course not. Nothing is ever a guarantee, but if you’d like to increase your chances, you need to increase the movement in your spread. Movement is key as it offers that lifelike element to your fakes.
Consistent with most styles of hunting, the wind is your friend. With socks, flappers and flyers, you count on the wind to do the moving. Reel Wing spinner decoys are deadly with the right wind. But what do you do when you don’t have that wind?
Rotary machines and flags have helped fill that void, but that involves someone moving in their blind and hauling car batteries into the field. A new(er) product from Reel Wings has come out that offers a simple solution.
The 360 Airwings offer movement in your spread in winds as little as 2 mph. An all too common wind speed that can make it a long day in the field. They’re easy to set up and travel light.
The 360 Airwing is essentially the wing from a Reel Wing spinner, only slightly modified for a solo performance. 5 years of testing on land and water has given you the opportunity to have Flyer like motion and spin, with an affordable, easy set up.
We set up 6 of these on a recent hunt and will not venture out in the spring conservation season without them. From a distance they resemble birds that are jumping over other birds in the feeding line. Anyone who has watched a flock of snows on the ground has seen the constant movement of hungry birds. There is almost always a bird or 5 in the air bouncing around. The 360 Airwings give you that movement without having some of the negatives associated with other snow goose decoys.
They store easily, they’re durable and set up quickly. If the wing is bent, it doesn’t take much effort to reshape it back to it’s original form. You don’t have to worry about tearing wings or breaking inserts.
You may need to take them down in real high winds, but that is common with any decoy. You just need to watch for realistic movements as you would with your entire spread.
The decoy comes in 4 pieces. The wing with it’s attached line, then a 3-piece pole system. A stake with an angled end for sticking in the ground, an extension to raise it higher and a motion arm that spins in the wind.
As with any stake that you have to put in the ground, when its still cold, the frozen ground may offer some resistance. Bring a drill or something similar to create a hole first. Pounding on the top of the stake is not recommended as you might flatten it out or worse.
Use a little care and common sense and the 360 Airwing will be a welcome addition to any snow goose spread!