[TEC]

anyone know if big al's silo's are any good?

 

[stevenstiegel]

If you email him he will send you one in the mail as a sample. A few on this board swear by them, and I would have went with them if I didn't have such good luck with real geese this year. Mightyjoeyoung will hoepfully chime in.

 

[Big Chris]

I ordered a dozen, they shine, and the steaks are metal and just slide in.
They fall out constantly, and if the ground is ever remotely hard they bend and are worthless after bent. Plus the metal rods are only 4 in high, so if ur in any kind of stubble they disappear cause there is no height to them, they go in flush to the ground. They are ok in a grass field on a cloudy day,
other than that very dissapoinging . there made of chrolaplast (sp?) so they bend easy and since there so light they flap very unnaturally in any wind. I think there
terrible. Very overpriced for what they are. There about $100 by the time u pay shipping, actually $94 if I remember correctly, so for $40 more u can get real geese which are 20x the better dec. thank u.

 

[TEC]

which real geese do you suggest?

 

[Big Chris]

Pro series 1 or if ur buying a few dozen, buy the mag lites and a $25 flocking kit. They look unreal. Good luck

 

[Tyler Fegley]

I run renzo's silos they have them on Rogers for fairly cheap. I really like them, and IMO they look very good. They also have a metal stake but I never had a problem with them bending even in frozen ground. They come folded in half and that worried me but when you get the stake in them they stay straight. Great decoy for the price.

http://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/expedite-renzos-canada-goose-pack-edge-expedite-p-1244.html

 

[waterfowl hunter]

get real geese theyll last longer an look better

 

[mightyjoeyoung]

I have had mine for going on 3 years now. I hunted them a bunch last year in 30+ mph winds and they put geese on the ground every time I ran them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,but it would be nice to at least have the facts straight before they give you that opinion. They do not shine any more than any other non-flocked silo on the market...period. They are printed with a blend of ultra-flat inks that unless the sun is hitting them at very low angles and you are on that same angle they just do not shine that much at all...again, just like ANY other silo will shine. they are made of choroplast yes, and they may be moderately flexible but they can and do hold up to wind as I noted earlier and when you can carry almost 3 times the number for the same weight compared to some other silos, that weight savings will be appreciated when you have a long walk in to your spot. The stakes are an "H" design and the stakes the new models are 7" and 6" long depending on which side you have inserted into the decoy body. Again, I have hade mine for going on 3 years now and the stakes do not fall out constantly and I have the older design and the newer design and have had no issues with them falling out. They also come in two sizes, lessers and Greaters. The greaters are BIG and are fantastic for running traffic and the lessers are great for a mixed size spread or if running by themselves for packing in a BUNCH of decoys in a small space. The coloration is also spot on for the geese we have in our region and fly zone(s). The lessers run 69.97/doz plus shipping and the greaters run 79.97/doz plus shipping so even with freight, they're still almost half the price of even the RG Mag Lites that run around $149.99/doz plus freight. As for pushing a silo stake into frozen ground? RG or not, that can be tough to next to impossible. You can buy the stake puch from RG for a whopping 80 bucks or in the case of the Big Al's, make one for around $20.00. I made up a few using 5/8" rebar and 1/4" cold rolled/hardened steel rods and a welder in about 35 minutes each. they'll puch through a tank and I didn't have to pay 80 bucks for it either. No decoy is perfect, but for the money, I don't think you can find a better decoy out there right now than Big Al's silos. I ran them long BEFORE I ever decided to staff for Al, so I was a satified customer first if that tells you anything. A QUALITY, AMERICAN MADE product for a great price, with fantastic CS...and Al is just a plain great guy to boot.

 

[Big Chris]

Well I guess it's pretty simple, you get what you
Pay for. I hunt geese almost every day. I use real geese a lot and they look great and kill birds constantly , and hold up for a couple years now.I tried big Al's and they were having issues inside of 2 weeks. Just my experience. Oh and btw speaking of facts, the real Geese mags are only $129, check Mack's prairie wings...

 

[stevenstiegel]

I have had mine for going on 3 years now. I hunted them a bunch last year in 30+ mph winds and they put geese on the ground every time I ran them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,but it would be nice to at least have the facts straight before they give you that opinion. They do not shine any more than any other non-flocked silo on the market...period. They are printed
with a blend of ultra-flat inks that unless the sun is hitting them at very low angles and you are on that same angle they just do not shine that much at all...again, just like ANY other silo will shine. they are made of choroplast yes, and they may be moderately flexible but they can and do hold up to wind as I noted earlier and when you can carry almost 3 times the number for the same weight compared to some other silos, that weight savings will be appreciated when you have a long walk in to your spot. The stakes are an "H" design and the stakes the new models are 7" and 6" long depending on which side you have inserted into the decoy body. Again, I have hade mine for going on 3 years now and the stakes do not fall out constantly and I have the older design and the newer design and have had no issues with them falling out. They also come in two sizes, lessers and Greaters. The greaters are BIG and are fantastic for running traffic and the lessers are great for a mixed size spread or if running by themselves for packing in a BUNCH of decoys in a small space. The coloration is also spot on for the geese we have in our region and fly zone(s). The lessers run 69.97/doz plus shipping and the greaters run 79.97/doz plus shipping so even with freight, they're still almost half the price of even the RG Mag Lites that run around $149.99/doz plus freight. As for pushing a silo stake into frozen ground? RG or not, that can be tough to next to impossible. You can buy the stake puch from RG for a whopping 80 bucks or in the case of the Big Al's, make one for around $20.00. I made up a few using 5/8" rebar and 1/4" cold rolled/hardened steel rods and a welder in about 35 minutes each. they'll puch through a tank and I didn't have to pay 80 bucks for it either. No decoy is perfect, but for the money, I don't think you can find a better decoy out there right now than Big Al's silos. I ran them long BEFORE I ever decided to staff for Al, so I was a satified customer first if that tells you anything. A QUALITY, AMERICAN MADE product for a great price, with fantastic CS...and Al is just a plain great guy to boot.

I see the boys at the Christian Waterfowlers association are using them and tearing them up. I also saw that Sean Hammock is running them as well. So, the evidence is there that you can kill birds over them.

 

[stevenstiegel]

I have had mine for going on 3 years now. I hunted them a bunch last year in 30+ mph winds and they put geese on the ground every time I ran them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,but it would be nice to at least have the facts straight before they give you that opinion. They do not shine any more than any other non-flocked silo on the market...period. They are printed
with a blend of ultra-flat inks that unless the sun is hitting them at very low angles and you are on that same angle they just do not shine that much at all...again, just like ANY other silo will shine. they are made of choroplast yes, and they may be moderately flexible but they can and do hold up to wind as I noted earlier and when you can carry almost 3 times the number for the same weight compared to some other silos, that weight savings will be appreciated when you have a long walk in to your spot. The stakes are an "H" design and the stakes the new models are 7" and 6" long depending on which side you have inserted into the decoy body. Again, I have hade mine for going on 3 years now and the stakes do not fall out constantly and I have the older design and the newer design and have had no issues with them falling out. They also come in two sizes, lessers and Greaters. The greaters are BIG and are fantastic for running traffic and the lessers are great for a mixed size spread or if running by themselves for packing in a BUNCH of decoys in a small space. The coloration is also spot on for the geese we have in our region and fly zone(s). The lessers run 69.97/doz plus shipping and the greaters run 79.97/doz plus shipping so even with freight, they're still almost half the price of even the RG Mag Lites that run around $149.99/doz plus freight. As for pushing a silo stake into frozen ground? RG or not, that can be tough to next to impossible. You can buy the stake puch from RG for a whopping 80 bucks or in the case of the Big Al's, make one for around $20.00. I made up a few using 5/8" rebar and 1/4" cold rolled/hardened steel rods and a welder in about 35 minutes each. they'll puch through a tank and I didn't have to pay 80 bucks for it either. No decoy is perfect, but for the money, I don't think you can find a better decoy out there right now than Big Al's silos. I ran them long BEFORE I ever decided to staff for Al, so I was a satified customer first if that tells you anything. A QUALITY, AMERICAN MADE product for a great price, with fantastic CS...and Al is just a plain great guy to boot.

I see the boys at the Christian Waterfowlers association are using them and tearing them up. I also saw that Sean Hammock is running them as well. So, the evidence is there that guys are killing birds over and over with them.