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Michigan hunters hit it big in early goose season with Fool-a-Bird

Think Outside The Box A Key Pro Staff Field Report

Vision Outdoors’ unique line of products is new to many, but this report should interest anyone who enjoys hunting, fishing or both. What may be most important about this report is the timing. This is the first report from any of the “Key Pro Staff” members to include hunting information for this season. It’s from an early season opener and may be just what you need to open your eyes and encourage you to, “Think outside the box.”

Background information: I received a conference call yesterday from Dave Engel and his gang. Dave is a Key Pro Staff member living in west central Michigan and has spent a lifetime in the outdoors. Dave and his son Hunter Engel make up four generations of outfitters and are two members of a family that can lay claim to have “successfully” hunted and managed the same family hunting club since 1886. Dave is an expert duck and goose caller and Hunter has learned well from his dad. As a competitive caller, Hunter has won numerous events and conducts calling seminars for some nationally known retailers and numerous local functions in Michigan. The icing on the cake comes from the last, but definitely not the least member of this trio, Bill Bale. Bill, like both Dave and Hunter has a lifetime of service in the hunting industry and can lure birds off the best in the industry. What makes this trio so unique isn’t their long history as hunting guides and outfitters. No, what makes them so unique is they are just as accomplished within the fishing industry and that’s where Dr. Jeckle, inventor of the Vision Outdoors line of products, first found them. Fishing in Lake Michigan and running the Best Chance Charters Too fishing service, based in Saugatuck, Michigan.

While on a fishing trip with the trio, Doc (as I like to call him) asked Dave to become one of his Key Pro Staff. While on that fishing trip, Dave and the others had personally witnessed the advantages of using Fool-a-Fish on a tough day. Needless to say, Dave, Hunter and Bill all agreed and jumped on board with Vision Outdoors. Since that time, Best Chance Charters Too has, for two consecutive years, been the top contest winning charter boat on Lake Michigan. Having seen what Vision Outdoors’ Fool-a-Fish could do for their fishing success, the trio decided to give Fool-a-Bird a try with their guided waterfowl trips and that’s where I come into the picture. Dave, Hunter and Bill have been long time friends of mine. We’ve not only hunted together, we’ve filmed TV shows, hosted numerous writers and enjoyed many days of fellowship while hunting together. With history aside, here’s the Fool-a-Bird field report Dave provided to me.

The Report: With Michigan’s early goose season approaching week two, the excitement in Dave’s voice reflected his feelings within minutes of my answering the phone. Dave couldn’t wait to tell me his results from the first week of season. A few days prior to opening day, the trio pulled out all their Canada goose decoys and went through the annual ritual of cleaning them up and touching up the paint. While a good cleaning is a must, this year they took a bit of extra time and sprayed Fool-a-Bird on all the decoys (After all, a good outfitter is always on the lookout for a competitive edge). According to Dave, they focused mainly on the topside of the decoys, the heads and the frontal views for the application of the Fool-a-Bird spray. Then Dave told me; “After seeing what Fool-a-Fish did to help our fishing season, I wondered if there was anyway Fool-a-Bird would do the same for our waterfowl season.”

Like the kick off for most seasons the first few days is normally real good, but by day four this trio of guides were beginning to wonder what was happening. Bill told me; “Over the years we have used well over a dozen different brands of decoys, looking for the edge, but we had not made a brand change this season and the birds were still working our spread like it was opening day.” Then it happened.

Going into day eight or nine, following several days of heavy dew and a period of rain, their bag numbers dropped off. “It was like it had always been … the wary old resident birds would spot the spread and do all they could to skirt around the edge of our decoys. We knew it was back to the old school. The school of wise and wary birds.” While they all hated what had happened with the birds, there was such an obvious change in the way the birds were working their spread, Hunter told me, “I knew what it had to be.” He knew the birds were telling him it was time for a change, but what do they change. That’s when Hunter told me; “There wasn’t but one thing we had done different this year over last and that was to spray the decoys with Fool-a-Bird.” Following those days with heavy dews and rain … the Fool-a-Bird must have lost some of its UV absorption ability or part of it might have washed off. After the trio discussed the issue, everyone agreed to put another light coating of Fool-a-Bird on the decoys. They also made sure to spray the synthetic coverings they used on their layout blinds and sprayed the cloth on the blinds, their hats and coats as well. Day ten was to be the test. As they set their spread, conditions were far from idea, but their hopes were high. Dave told me, “As the sun came up, there wasn’t any doubt left in our mind … the extra thirty minutes or so it took to touch up the 150 decoys in our spread with another pass of Fool-a-Bird was well worth it.” “It was like opening day all over again.” From the excitement in his voice … I could imagine how he felt putting his hunters on a shoot like they experienced that day. Dave did make sure he emphasized the importance of spraying the Fool-a-Bird on their blind cloth, hats and jackets and told me to be sure I sprayed all our synthetic material next time we hunted. While I did appreciate the report the trio of professionals provided, I was more interested in what they said about; “day ten was a hunt like opening day” and how they were confident Fool-a-Bird was proving as beneficial for their hunting business as it had with winning so many fishing titles the past two seasons.

For me, I’m still in the waiting mode for this season, but not for long. I’m meeting up with some of the other members of Waterfowler TV’s Elite Team in North Dakota in a couple of weeks. We’re filming a segment for next year’s TV line up, and then we’re on our way to Canada. I’ll have Fool-a-Bird with me all the way. But for now, my trigger finger for both my gun and … for the spray bottle of Fool-a-Bird, will just have to wait.

Charles “HammerTime” Snapp www.arkansaswaterfowl.com For hunting or fishing information With Dave and the trio, check out their website Best Chance Charters Too www.bestchancetoo.com or call 616-292-6098

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