a few more pics for fun - snow geese

[Dustin07]

I'm just using a little canon point and click my wife bought me for my birthday, but it's fun to look at the pics. Feel free to add your own if you have some!

[Dustin07]

[Dustin07]

[Dustin07]

[ducksdoom12]

very nice   *censored*s came down way to late this year. i hate warm weather during the winter

[Dustin07]

we were getting limits in November! just hard to time them. they are closer to you... so you see them more often I guess, but for me, that 2 hr drive makes it hard to get any scouting in. I pretty much just took it weekend by weekend.

[corktex]

Great pics!   How close do they let you get?? Even some bird watchers say they spread avian colera,in the central fly way and down here we have the "conservation order" late season on snows...People don't like to eat them as much as they do the Canadians and they are running out of room where they nest!! What part of the state is that? 

[Dustin07]

so I've hunted the central flyway during the conservation season. I got my mounted snow goose (a blue phase) in Missouri. No limit hunts, 100 bird days, etc. it's awesome. I ate all of mine though. wish i had more to eat! I've never heard anyone complain about the cholera, can that not be cooked out?

yes they are too numerous in population. I've been told last years flock was approaching 6,000,000 in the tundra, with a target population of only 3,000,000. I don't know if those numbers are accurate. I've been told our local flock up here ranged from 60,000-100,000-ish??? depends on who you talk to. But when I was in Missouri the game department reported 1,8million on the reserve 5 miles from where I was hunting. it was insane. 

[Dustin07]

sitting perfectly still on the edge of a field/road, the snows started landing about 300 yards away from me and came within about 10-15 yards before I left. I was in a truck though.

[corktex]

About 10 years ago or so,the Adobaun Sp? society lobbied for more killing of snows because avian colera was killing rare photogenic birds and biologist found that the snow were the culprit! Humans are not known to catch avian colera,I just wouldn't drink goose water! I was duck hunting alot in N. Texas back then and talked to lot of people who hunt them! They said they jumped the flocks in the Fields,like in your pics and said the flocks had to "funnel" to gain altitude,that when they get'm! Sounds like fun to me and I eat duck,so I would love to challenge the weber with some snow! These goose guys said they would get so many they would just fillet the breast and they didn't like the meat as much as Canadians! When I get some bird or fish that does taste as great as I hoped,I make a batch of gumbo with and it just becomes another of the many ingredients,always works out! Just like you guys up there can make sausage out of most any meat,gumbo always gets people to ask what in it and most really don't wanna know! Never got to get or eat any,as I was just hunting public all by myself,really want to some day!......thanks for the post and the pics....

[h2ofowlr]

After the season you can drive your car right up next to them to take pictures.  They were about 5 feet away when I pulled over.  They didn't seem to bothered.

[Dustin07]

yeah they feel safe with the mother flock I think.


Hey Corktex- the midwest snows may taste a little better because they are basically all grain fed, whereas these ones live along the salt their whole lives as far as I know, from Russia-WA. With that said, I don't notice much difference in how a snow goose tastes vs a duck that I take from the same region. I usually cook snow goose up like steak. Either some montreal steak seasoning, cooked rare to medium rare, or sliced into tiny strips to make a philly cheese steak sandwhich  it all tastes pretty good too me, but maybe because it's seasonal I trick myself into thinking its a delicacy..

[jordano]

Those are absolutely incredible pictures! Thanks so much for sharing!