I now hunt with 28 non-magnum honker shells. Four of them are very old G&H Henryettans, I believe these were the company's earliest shell design. I don't use these four collectibles very often because for some reason they seem to be magnets for dew or frost. I can get all the shells into one shoulder strapped cordura nylon decoy bag (these are great bags for the money - see: www.bagdepot.com) and place it at the back of the cargo area in my Jimmy with plenty of room for the three dogs, my gun, shells, and toolbox. If I had more decoys (which aren't necessary for my conditions up here), I'd be putting them in the cartop carrier. This old Jimmy is much more useful for loading or unloading the cartop carrier (or deer on top of the rig) because it has a drop down tailgate to stand on as opposed to pop-up rear door (older model Jeeps) or side opening doors like this Liberty. These theoretically make it easier to access the cargo area but I have found stuff in the front is going to arranged through the back passenger doors anyway. The drop down tailgate is also invaluable for sitting on with friends and/or dogs at the end of the day photo shoot.

The new G&H standard field shells I bought this year turned out to be a disappointment. When stacked they are scrunched nearly to the point of being silhouettes and they don't "deflate" at all when set up. The plastic center spikes are useless. Yes, they're quick to set up and may provide some motion (like the geese moving at 75 mph are going to be able not notice a tiny bit of bob and weave on the ground). But the stakes are flimsy and most were warped. I immediately constructed wooden spring-loaded T-stakes for them similar to the ones G&H put on their earliest models.

The geese are now gone from here by the time snow is on the ground (no one seems to be able to figure out why they keep leaving earlier every year) so visibility can sometimes be an issue. Grain stubble is never much of a problem but corn fields may be depending on how the dairy farmer harvests the crop. If they combine for the grain, the stuff is cut higher. If they "straight cut" for silage, the corn is usually cut off very low to the ground. Rather than go with bulky magnum shells or even more bulkier full-bodies, I have found that "raising the stakes" has been a cheaper, more compact, and fairly effective method of dealing with visibility in tall corn stubble. I cut grey plastic conduit pipe into sections about sixteen inches long with one end sharpened at an angle. I usually paint the pipe flat black but I'm not sure that is necessary. I'll pound the pipe sections into the field at the desired height and then drop the staked decoy into the pipe. If you want the decoy free-floating (moving in the wind), pull the stake out once you've achieved the desired height, knock the dirt out of it, reinsert it back in it's hole, and drop in the decoy.

I fully agree with Phil (for once) that visibility is not dependent on size, or I would add, on numbers either. Getting "normal" or even smaller size decoys above the stubble works very well. Also, I am a firm believer in keeping the formation compacted. These days I never set my decoys more than two feet apart and usually much less than that. A black mass in the field, even if it is a small black mass, is much more visible from a distance than a bunch of spots splattered here and there. Anyway, observing geese in the field I don't very often see them anything but fairly compacted.

Thanks for a very bold contrary point of view, Phil. Interesting that you would take this position. Seems all the showboat waterfowlers these days feel they have to be dragging a big fancy enclosed trailer out into the fields half full (or less) of giant full-bodied (gold plated!) goose decoys or they're just not going to look like they know what they're doing. Nice to see someone taking the position that this just isn't necessary.

Holy Moly! Did you get help from the Democrats in approving your photo budget?

Ontario Honker -- I have been asking decoy makers to offer cackler or small Lesser floaters for years for exactly the same reason you suggest. Lugging goose floaters is a pain and I think the little duck-sized decoys would work well.