Snow Geese

[CP]

I’m glad to see that some of you have been successful with snows.  I’m now 0 for 3 on snow geese hunts this season.  The birds seem to be decoy shy already, or field shy and I’ve been in the wrong fields.  There also appears to be a lot less of the naïve gray birds and more of the savvy white birds.  Even the singles take a long hard look at the spread from a distance and then move on.   

[Dustin07]

what kind of spread do you have and how late are you staying out in the morning? a lot of people I've known who are used to hunting ducks in the dark give up before the geese even wake up in the morning...

[CP]

I’m just using rags, same spreads that I’ve been using for years.  I’m considering some more realistic full bodied decoys but I need them light and not too bulky so I don’t need so many trips to the truck.

As for hanging in there, I know geese are late risers.  I don’t usually leave the field until noon or later, depends on my work schedule though.   

[Dustin07]

ok i'm PMing you

[Shootmoore]

As for hanging in there, I know geese are late risers.  I don’t usually leave the field until noon or later, depends on my work schedule though.   

That right there is why I like hunting geese instead of ducks, I can sleep in a little later 

Shootmoore

[White Tornado]

Hey CP,

We have been pretty successful this year and here is the way we approach it....

The Snow's around here are hunted very hard and have seen it all a thousand times. Rag's will work OK for the first few week's of the season on young birds but after that they get smart real fast. In my experience with these birds, good decoy's are a must if you want to decoy Snows successfully later in the season or on years when there are not many young birds. Buy as many of the best decoys you can afford and then keep adding to your spread as you can. Avoid mixing Rags with good decoys just to make your spread  bigger. I would rather hunt with fewer quality decoys than a large spread that will spook them as they get close.

Just as important as good decoys is good concealment. I see spreads all the time with hunters sitting out in the middle of there decoys and again, while this might be OK on dumb juvenile birds for the first few weeks it does not work for very long.

Last on the list is to try to be where the birds want to be, or as close to that spot as possible. As I am sure you allready know, it is pretty hard to get Snows to decoy into a field when 10,000 of there buddies are all headed to another location. Scouting  is very important as their patterns can change quickly.


Good Luck!!!

[Dustin07]

Hey CP,

We have been pretty successful this year and here is the way we approach it....

The Snow's around here are hunted very hard and have seen it all a thousand times. Rag's will work OK for the first few week's of the season on young birds but after that they get smart real fast. In my experience with these birds, good decoy's are a must if you want to decoy Snows successfully later in the season or on years when there are not many young birds. Buy as many of the best decoys you can afford and then keep adding to your spread as you can. Avoid mixing Rags with good decoys just to make your spread  bigger. I would rather hunt with fewer quality decoys than a large spread that will spook them as they get close.

Just as important as good decoys is good concealment. I see spreads all the time with hunters sitting out in the middle of there decoys and again, while this might be OK on dumb juvenile birds for the first few weeks it does not work for very long.

Last on the list is to try to be where the birds want to be, or as close to that spot as possible. As I am sure you allready know, it is pretty hard to get Snows to decoy into a field when 10,000 of there buddies are all headed to another location. Scouting  is very important as their patterns can change quickly.


Good Luck!!!

how large a spread are you using right now?

[cowboytodd]

Once the eagles come down from up river you'll see more action

[White Tornado]

Hey CP,

We have been pretty successful this year and here is the way we approach it....

The Snow's around here are hunted very hard and have seen it all a thousand times. Rag's will work OK for the first few week's of the season on young birds but after that they get smart real fast. In my experience with these birds, good decoy's are a must if you want to decoy Snows successfully later in the season or on years when there are not many young birds. Buy as many of the best decoys you can afford and then keep adding to your spread as you can. Avoid mixing Rags with good decoys just to make your spread  bigger. I would rather hunt with fewer quality decoys than a large spread that will spook them as they get close.

Just as important as good decoys is good concealment. I see spreads all the time with hunters sitting out in the middle of there decoys and again, while this might be OK on dumb juvenile birds for the first few weeks it does not work for very long.

Last on the list is to try to be where the birds want to be, or as close to that spot as possible. As I am sure you allready know, it is pretty hard to get Snows to decoy into a field when 10,000 of there buddies are all headed to another location. Scouting  is very important as their patterns can change quickly.


Good Luck!!!

how large a spread are you using right now?

We have about 300 so far. I want to add about 200 more when I can afford it. The first 300 really killed my budget.

[Dustin07]

yeah it adds up quick if you're using decent deeks. well even if you're not using good deeks those numbers can add up quick.

[h2ofowlr]

CP,
We have pulled the rags, with the new rules on Fir Island that everyone was so happy about. The regs will also make it more of a challenge as all 22 plus quality fields plus private fields will be loaded up with decoys.  These birds can live up to 26 years for a reason.  Scout the fields, set up where they were the prior day and use good decoys.  We usually don't pull out the full bodies and shells until December, but we are pulling them out early this year.  Running 200-300 decoys.  Our group is over 60 snows for the season so far.