In many places, traditional holiday meals include a fat, roasted goose, and we all know the most fun way to get that delicious dinner is to hunt it yourself. Geese are plentiful in many parts of North America and make for excellent sport and eating. Like ducks, they are hunted from blinds and boats, and decoys are often used to help get them within shotgun range. Some are simply static decoys floating on the water or sitting on shore, while others are designed to mimic the movement of a real goose. Either way, the art of the decoy has brought a lot of different decoy products, and here, we look at the 4 best goose decoys on the market:

Big Foot Canadian Goose Floating Decoys

This is a classic decoy and by virtue of time tested-design is one of the all time top goose decoys. Designed to realistically mimic the appearance of a live goose and meant to be anchored in shallow water to resemble a Canada goose at rest, the Final Approach decoy comes in a handy six pack perfect for laying plenty of decoys in front of your blind. Built of durable modern weatherproof synthetics, you’ll get many years of reliable performance from these decoys. Buy a couple of six packs and be sure to have more than enough decoys for your next hunting trip!

Higdon Half Shell Decoys

These are the best goose decoys for the money if you are trying for a little variety and are setting up your decoys on the shore. Life-sized and highly detailed, these decoys let you simulate a group of Canada geese in various activities and poses, suggesting a flock at rest with no real threats nearby. The half-shell construction allows for easy stacking and storage, while their rugged construction ensures you’ll get many years of good service out of them. At this price, there is no reason not to buy a couple of packs so that you never have the problem of too few goose decoys.

Lucky Ducky Flapper Goose

We like this one. It’s the best goose decoy on the market if you want to simulate a goose in motion. The Edge Innovate Flapper is designed to be hung from a pole, and will behave as a Canada goose in flight with even a light breeze. The head is flocked to make it look even more realistic, and the overall impression is that of a wild goose safely in flight. Several of these mixed with more traditional decoys will give the impression of a bunch of geese going about their goose business without humans in the area. Buy a couple and mix it with some other decoys and your goose will be cooked, but in a good way!

Silloscocks Snow Goose Decoy

This one is for you folks hunting snow geese. The most effective goose decoy is one that not only does a good job of visually mimicking the bird itself but also makes it appear as if the bird is engaged in a peaceful activity that suggests a safe area for geese. Sillosocks’ feeding goose decoy does just that, providing a realistic looking snow goose decoy that looks to be feeding. This will help lull real snow geese into a sense of false security and aid in bringing them into shotgun range. Much more affordable than comparable full body decoys, yet just as effective, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal on a quality snow goose decoy.

Lying to the Geese

Migratory waterfowl is all about deception and camouflage. Because it is unsporting and often illegal to shoot a bird on the ground, goose hunting has evolved into a sport where deceiving the geese into flying within shotgun range is an important part of the hunt. Decoys thus are an extremely important part of goose hunting, and choosing the best goose decoy on the market can make the difference between a fat goose for dinner and needlessly cold feet with nothing to show for your labors.

Some of the most popular goose decoys are designed to mimic geese swimming on the water. This is a safe activity for geese and suggest to overhead birds that the area is for the moment predator and danger free, and thus a safe place to land, rest and find food. Such decoys are typically anchored in shallow waters and used in a group to simulate a small flock.

Another popular decoy follows the same principals, but instead places the geese on land. In some areas you may wish to mix decoys in the water with decoys on the shore to provide a more complex illusion. Either way, the principal is the same, with the added bonus that a land based decoy only really needs to look real when seen from the water, meaning you can make a half body decoy that is very effective but much cheaper to build.

Lastly, we have decoys that attempt to mimic a goose in flight. Seeing a what appears to be a living animal taking off or landing is a powerful illusion and can draw geese in for a closer look, or simply complete the looking of a resting flock .

Hunters typically need to buy quantities of goose decoys, making cost as much a factor as quality and reliability. The most common goose decoys are often sold in six packs, making it easy to get enough decoys for the hunt and have a couple left over as spares in case you lose one. Picking the best goose decoy isn’t hard. Just find ones that are life-sized or reasonably close to it, mimic the appearance of a goose from the angle you expect them to come in, and that can withstand the sort of weather that sometimes pops up when hunting migratory waterfowl. Goose hunting can be a rewarding and delicious experience (check out these mouthwatering recipes) and it pays to do it right the first time, so your hunt has the best chance of success!