Final Approach Blinds do they work?

[Gun Rod Bow]

OK Guys,

I expect a lot of varrying statements and opinions but here goes.

I've hunted these little geese around the valley pretty hard and as successfully as about anybody I know in my area (I know you/your buddy has killed way more than me, save it please :tongue: ).

As I mentioned in a previous post I have historically used whatever cover was available. Little shallow ditches, the short grass around stand pipes, a deep furrow or tire track... etc and have always layed well outside of my decoys, never in them. It has worked very well.

Problem is, I can't stand success and have to change things that work [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] It's a genetic thing I think.

Here's where the problem starts:

I hunted with a buddy over around Maupin a couple of years ago in Final Approach Blinds. We knocked em dead two weeks in a row. Had honkers and mallards landing at our feet, and it was the last week of season. I thought, gee these things are cool and a lot warmer than laying in a muddy tire track with a piece of muddy burlap for a blanket.

I bought two. Have used them a couple times late last year. Never had a good day, birds usually flared. Wrote it off to decoy shy birds.

I've had some really good shoots this year, limits for 2 to 4 hunters, that was without the FA blinds.

The past three trips, we have set up in good fields, birds coming in all morning with wings set, turning towards the call, dropping to the double cluck..and then..and then..at about 100 yds out, they skirt the edge of the spread start flapping, pull up and fly by.

Today was the third trip in a row. Birds acted exactly the same.

Now these have been big open fields, mostly young winter wheat or similar. We have "mudded" the blinds with a broom and grassed them...as much as possible in winter wheat. I have a good buddy in Junction City who hunts waterfowl hard. He bought a FA blind last year. Feels the same way as me...no confidence in them.

I've seen all the videos of guys whackin' them at 10 yds from these things, but I'll tell you, this Willamette Valley gosse hunt is not like any other goose hunting in the country. I've hunted all over the west and it's just a lot different. Big flocks, little birds, muddy decoys, identifying duskies, etc..

Me and 2 budiies hunted a perfect spot, with a perfect spread, on a good day, (yesterday) and had lots of birds fly by wanting the field. The only bird that came in was a single when we were up walking around out of the blinds :whazzup: We got one more by just laying in the field after we had picked up.

We had a number of singles, small groups of 3-4 set right up for their "Final Approach" and just skirt around and leave. These should be gimmies.

One buddy went back there today, same field as yesterday, with 5 ugly faded shell decoys, layed behing a stand pipe covered in burlap. Had birds work good, had good shots at 4 or 5 bunches and killed a limit of cacks.

I'd love to hear a serious valley goose hunter tell me that the FA blinds work in the valley. If so how.

Thanks,

GRB

[Phil Layer]

I'm no expert on valley goose hunting. I've only done it twice this past winter, both times with a guide.

We got lots of geese near Jefferson and were using final approach blinds.

Again, I'm no expert but the guide did spend considerable time putting the fake grass in the blinds wherever he could.

Good luck to you.

[Flatfish]

They work just fine. I dig areond the perimeter of them and pile the dirt on them to further reduce their profile. I also wipe some mud and wheat( or whatever is growing in the field hunted) on the exposed camo to tone it down too. Had 2 geese try to land on it once. They did not make it out of the hole alive. The dog was a bit excited by then though. So was dad.

Mark and the excitable dog.

[Rauly]

GRB
I think you should give me your blinds and continue to lay in the mud. You have no confidence in them so they will not work for you. I am sure I will be able to build confidence in them over the next couple of years and when I get them broken in I will give them back to you. Sounds good to me.

Rauly

[Fishy-Fingers]

I have a Finisher Blind (Same concept and the Final Approach and I have hunted with guides with both types. My experience, with and without the guide, is that you "must" add additional camouflage to the blind using the native vegetation, sticks, etc, to break up the outlines and square edges. The more you are camouflaged the better. I use a face mask if I am going to be sticking my head out calling, etc. Once while hunting on a shore of a small lake the guide used dead branches from some near by trees and some drift wood to break up the outline, it worked well. You should also "mud" the blind (rub dirt into it to keep it from shinning. The instructions with my blind said that this was one of the most important steps in the set up. If you are interested in selling your blinds, let me know. I am selling my Finisher (see classifieds) because it is not big enough for my and the dog. I want a little bigger blind. Good luck and Good hunting.

[Steeliehunter]

I can understand were you are coming from. There are alot of varibles that could cause that but the blinds can cause a problem in newly planted winter wheat fields. I like to find a edge of the field with some cover, water juntions or anything that has been in the field that sticks up and put my blinds next to them to help break up thier profile. Then I make sure to grass them up good with whoop grass and the natrual cover of the area. Then set your decoys out in front of you and make the hole between you and the decoys. If you can place a few of your best decoys in the hole and give them some movement. If you have to hunt in a open field grass up the blinds and pile the decoys tight around the blinds with a few small groups to make a hole. I hope this helps you out. Just remember the geese we hunt in the valley are pounded on for three to four months so they get a little spooky.

[Lured In]

GRB...if everytime something in my hunting efforts spoiled the hunt I questioned why I had it, I would own nothing (inlcuding my gun and me). :grin:

As you probably know, there is NO miracle for making the birds suck in tight. Blinds, calls or otherwise. Experiment with the camo efforts suggested above and see what happens. Also try finding a low spot or hump in the field you can use to break up the outline from the approaching birds.

I have had some of my best days doing unorthoxed spreads, (3 dekes, etc.) simply because I don't have enough dekes to compete with the big boys. The other thing may be decoys around the blind (even on top) that can help hide the blind. Keep in mind though, it might not be the blind, they might be smelling you. :whazzup:

[Gun Rod Bow]

Rauly & Fishy,

Please remember; we never sell hunting and fishing gear. We buy, we store, we sometimes use but never, never sell. Usage does not affect this rule.

Lured,

Sorry, I had no idea you caught my scent trail from up there, but with the way I've been "stinkin' it up" in the goose fields lately, and with the wind out of the south...it could be. :shocked:

Believe Me,

I'm no stranger to failure. I wouldn't have posted if not for the pattern. Three days, three different fields, different zones of geese, same reactions. Last time out we had two big ol honkers bomb right in to the "gauntlet" to their doom. The little geese just don't seem to like the FA blinds.

I've been hunting flat baby winter wheat fields where digging is not allowed. We have coated the blinds with mud using a little broom and mud "du jour". There really is no way to grass the blinds in these fields.

Corn fields and other fields are pretty easy to hide in. I used to drive by these fields and say they were unhuntable. I just hoped these magic blinds would work.

If one of you can set up in a flat baby wheat field with 3-4 FA blinds and have at least 10 birds to show for it, please submit a photo of your set up.

I'm gonna try without them for a few trips. Back to the old ways...that worked.

Please keep the goose chat going!

[img]graemlins/program.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]



GRB

[bigshark]

They are changing these next year. Be sure to look at the guide model which will feature a small wet bar and a microwave that is operated on batteries...........Hot buttered rums!................Oh how I like this modern hunting!

[Lured In]

While not specific to the valley, the hardest field I have ever hunted was a BURNT stubble field near Wasco. You may have seen these if you spend any time out there. The field isn't flat from a topography standpoint, but there aint a lick of cover anywhere in it. The geese love them. (lot's of 'puffed' wheat on the ground ). We took some silos and made a rectangle out of them and laid in the middle. Given the approach of the birds, they never saw us. (I love it when they come right in without circling.)

Something else that has worked for us in the valley on occasion is using 'tank o flage'. It looks just like a blackberry bush. Many of the fields in the valley have well/sprinker heads with blackberries around them. I believe some of the geese are used to seeing this and so it doesn't bother them. (kind of like hay bale blinds).

Another idea I have yet to try is a 10wx10lx2h foot ground blind. That would enable several s******* to lay under it and you could actually put dekes on top of it. With the right camo, it would look like a hump in the field with geese standing on it. add some 'doors' for sitting up and shooting and you would be good to go. Maybe one of these days I will get around to trying it.

[Gun Rod Bow]

Hmmm,

Tank-O-Flage Huh? I'd like to hear more about that. I thought about weaving berry vines into the grassing straps on the FA blinds. It sounds to me like the moral of the story here is to add some grass, leaves, sticks something to break up the straight edges and change the solid "texture" of the blinds. I still like to be able to roll around and see what they're doing.

I hunted today and went back to sitting in what was available and had geese come in nice and straight.

I spent till noon looking around and trying to find a big wad that I had spotted the other day and see if I could access them. No deal. :depressed:

We set up a nice little spread of 8 floaters and about a dozen big feet and while it was completely un-scouted, we got three bunches in and got 4 geese. I feel much better now. :smile:

Good new is the geese have spread out into many different fields instead of one mega wad. At 4:30 the check station had checked about 35 birds. I did scout some up in a field where it should work good tomorrow. :grin:

Also saw more ducks along the river today than I'd seen all year. Lots of p-tails, but more ducks in general. Talked to a duck hunter with 4 birds. He said thats about as well as they have done.

We will give them no quarter! [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

GRB

[Lured In]

Tank o flage is the army surplus camo they use to cover tanks and artillary in the field. They are big and usually heavy. Some are strictly dark brown and dark green, while others have some lighter brown and even a sand color in them. They can be spray painted to match fields or whatever you are hunting.

GI Joes in Delta Park has a 'light wieght' version that is similar, but doesn't wiegh anywhere near as much as the real stuff. (My buddy has a 20x30 sheet of the real stuff and it probably wieghs 40 pounds or more.

We have primarily used in on barb wired fence rows that run between two fields that the geese are working. From a distance it looks EXACTLY like a blackberry bush. Just lay it over the fence and climb under with a stool or bucket. We have cut some shooting flaps in it that we can throw back when we need to. (Not as often as we might like, though. )

[Get Bit]

GRB, WRO & LI,

Have you guys seen Dave Smith's Whoop Grass he invented ? Has since sold it to Final Approach(Kolpin) but the stuff looks awesome. Comes in two colors: tan or green. Think its costing about 150$ per color to do an entire eliminator. One guide out of Texas bought some and attached it to a blanket the color of the dirt he was hunting in. Guess it works awesome.

Get Bit

[Tilla]

Always looking for good ways to hide in a Grass field. I've built goose chairs, built fiberglass monster "hide inside" decoys and they work OK especially early westside season. Most guys that have used the Final Approach blinds admit to occasional naps! But they do well too. The blinds need to be "greened up" to blend with grass or winter wheat.
We watched waves of Sandhill Cranes yesterday crossing over as we stood in the blind BS'ing when a small group Sandhills passing close the Bigfoots honked instead of coo-ed. :shocked: Caught us unaware but got two. My younger Lab Josie took a 250 yd straight as an arrow blind retrieve and stepped on the bird that dropped way out. I got a witness. :grin: