Snow goose hunting

[Rainier10]

Just wanted to give a shout out to Echternkamp Guide Service for another great day of hunting snow geese in Moses Lake.

I have been on four different hunts over the last five to six years with Aaron and his crew and can’t say enough about the service they provide. It is always a great experience with good people.

They do a great job at the things they can control and make it an enjoyable trip when the things they can’t control don’t work out.

Last year we shot 100 snow geese. Today we shot 7. Probably should have had 15 if we had shot better and would have had 30-40 if we would have had any kind of wind from 8am until 10am. The geese’s were checking out our spread but with no breeze the sock decoys just weren’t moving.

We hunted out of pit blinds today and they had a spread of what seemed like 1,000 decoys.  The amount of work they put into the setup and the small amount they charge for you to hunt is a great option for the part time waterfowler and the hardcore guy that needs a break from all the work of DIY.

Anyways I highly recommend booking a trip with these guys.

[h2ofowlr]

Sounds like a typical snow goose hunt.  My buddy hunted with Bill Saunders on the 19th and they shot 35 snow geese.  The next day they hunted with Cole from Bill Saunders and shot 91.  He went over and hunted again with Cole this week on 26th and no shots fired.  Every day is different.  He also mentioned Bills Saunders crew on Monday only shot 10 snows out of the pit.  I think he runs 2,500 snows out of the pit and Cole hunts out of Rogers A-Frames in Othello over about 1,500 socks.

[ducks4days]

Snows have always driven me nuts. The success is extremely hit or miss, even if everything else goes right. BIG spreads take a lot of work to set up and tear down. Successful days are worth getting 5-10 guys together for the hunt, but if 10 guys show up to set out 1k+ deeks and nobody gets a shot, its hard to get the same guys to come out the next time.

Ive had a ton of good shoots where a few guys get 60+ on the ground. Ive also had a bunch of windy days with with our 1200 silo sock spread where we saw 10K snows in the field for 2 days in a row, get landowner permission, call everyone I know, get everyone up at 4am and get set up for first light, only to sit until quitting at 2pm because the flock never showed up.

Its just straight up discouraging. I didnt set up for snows once this year.

[h2ofowlr]

Yes, it's lots of work especially on the west side, we have to pack everything out on our backs for most hunts.  East side, they drive to the spot and unload.

[Rainier10]

Tons of work to setup and get permission for that’s why I think using a guide service for snows is the way to go. The guide has the 2,000 decoys and the land secured. These guys make setting up and tearing down fun and when it is on fire there is nothing better. This year on the day we went it was slow but still a great time.  Better than being at work. 

[wadu1]

Tons of work to setup and get permission for that’s why I think using a guide service for snows is the way to go. The guide has the 2,000 decoys and the land secured. These guys make setting up and tearing down fun and when it is on fire there is nothing better. This year on the day we went it was slow but still a great time.  Better than being at work. 

You know that WORK is a four-letter word! 

[HaydenHunter]

This was the third year we freelanced in South Dakota during the light goose conservation hunt.  Unbelievable numbers passing through every day when you hit it right.  We tend to find a good place, set decoys and stay.  This year we pulled up stakes and moved once.  We are usually between 2-3 weeks on the ground there.  We hunt between 1200 and 1800 decoys (full bodies and socks), plus vortex, flyers and recorded calls, which are legal during the conservation hunt.  Probably the most frustrating thing is the thousands of specks and ducks (and hundreds of honkers) visiting your spread that are NOT in season.  But it's a great show nonetheless.