Using Scarecrows to Scare Up Geese

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mitch Sanchotena of Middleton, Idaho, a longtime goose hunter and a pro staffer for Knight and Hale Game Calls, enjoys hunting geese in the Snake River valley in southern Idaho.

Question: Mitch, tell me why you use scarecrows.
Answer: We're fortunate to be hunting a really large farm today. We're on about 300 acres, and most of it is in corn. We want to try to manipulate the geese for a few hours this morning. So, to keep them from landing in some of the other fields and keep them moving around until they see this small spread of decoys we're using, we've strategically placed some scarecrows in those other fields.

Question: How do you make your scarecrows? What are they made of?
Answer: Our 6-1/2- to 7-foot tall scarecrow this morning starts with a large metal base to hold it up. That scarecrow has a white paper plate for a face and a red flannel shirt. He's the ugliest guy you ever saw. There's not a goose in the country that's going to get within a quarter of a mile of this guy.

Question: Where do you put your scarecrows?
Answer: This morning, the scarecrow is in a field about a quarter of a mile away from us. The geese have been landing in the field for the past few days. To keep the geese out of that field for a few hours this morning, we're going to keep the scarecrow out there. Eighteen decoys aren't a lot of decoys, so the spread doesn't create a big illusion from a quarter- to a half-mile distance. However, I hope the geese that are milling around the scarecrow will see our decoys and come on over.

Question: How did you get the idea to use a scarecrow?
Answer: No matter how effective we get as goose hunters, we're never going to be able to decoy ducks and geese like live birds can. There's just something about live birds, the movement and activity and everything that goes on, that once live birds start gathering up in the field, you're just about done for the day. Every bird that comes along is going to land in with those live birds.

We learned years ago on fields where birds were landing that if we could keep them stirred up with a scarecrow, they'll eventually give up on that field and come to the next field that's got birds in it, and we hope that's going to be our field.

Tomorrow: How to Shoot Geese