Snow Goose Mentor?

[Heartsblood]

I suppose it can't hurt to put it out there:

I'm a looking for someone to show me the ropes (the basics) on snow goose hunting. If any of you Skagit Valley waterfowlers would take pity on a noob like me I would be ever grateful. I am safe and reliable and am looking to expand my knowledge and experience. I am a participant not a taker - I contribute. At this point all I can offer is gas money, lunch and some decent company. I hope at some point to get my own set-up - decoys, calls, etc but I really don't know where to start, especially when it comes to etiquette in the field. I know I can watch some you tubes, go buy a bunch of stuff and walk out into the field but, it sure is helpful to have some tutelage.  I'm 43 and have a steady job. Married. I'm no flake - just glance at a few of my posts if you want to make sure I'm a stand up guy.

Any help? Thanks!

[NW-GSP]

I'm in the same boat as you,
It's hard to find you tube videos of snow goose hunting where they aren't using electric callers and other things that are not legal in wa

[Skagit_Hunter]

I'm no expert but have hunted then a time or two. You need decoys...ALOT of decoys. Shells or full bodies are the best. But you can get away with a few and use rags or silo's decoys as fillers.... call them all the way in. Listen to them flying and on the ground.... They never shut up.
Don't ground pound them. you will kill more than your limit, And wound a bunch more.
Get up really early and be at a QH field on cluster Island. But I dont know if they are the same as other QH fields that you can't be there before 4 am

[Heartsblood]

I'm no expert but have hunted then a time or two. You need decoys...ALOT of decoys. Shells or full bodies are the best. But you can get away with a few and use rags or silo's decoys as fillers.... call them all the way in. Listen to them flying and on the ground.... They never shut up.
Don't ground pound them. you will kill more than your limit, And wound a bunch more.
Get up really early and be at a QH field on cluster Island. But I dont know if they are the same as other QH fields that you can't be there before 4 am

Thanks for the tips Skagit_Hunter. What is "ground pound"?

I am totally down for buying dekes etc. And calling. What I am hoping for is if someone is interested in doing a little first hand teaching. Enough either to send me on my way, or, eventually to have another bud to hunt with who has MORE decoys and scouting reports etc...

[Heartsblood]

I'm in the same boat as you,
It's hard to find you tube videos of snow goose hunting where they aren't using electric callers and other things that are not legal in wa

It looks like you are more equipped than me by the sound of your handle - I forgot to mention I don't have a dog. Do GSP's retrieve geese??? But, if you'd be interested, maybe we could put our heads together and figure it out together. Like I said, I'd be into getting some dekes. And I've been decent at turkey and duck calling, so how hard can it be to learn geese??? 

[Skagit_Hunter]

shooting them on the ground. They are tight together on the ground like wigeon and pintails. check your pm's

[Heartsblood]

shooting them on the ground. They are tight together on the ground like wigeon and pintails.

That's what I thought it was. Nah! I think I'd only shoot 'em on the ground if they were wounded. I want to bag some geese, but not that bad....

[salmonfifty]

I'm no expert but have hunted then a time or two. You need decoys...ALOT of decoys. Shells or full bodies are the best. But you can get away with a few and use rags or silo's decoys as fillers.... call them all the way in. Listen to them flying and on the ground.... They never shut up.
Don't ground pound them. you will kill more than your limit, And wound a bunch more.
Get up really early and be at a QH field on cluster Island. But I dont know if they are the same as other QH fields that you can't be there before 4 am

and what he means by lots of deeks is not 100 or so..... multiply that by 6 or 7! I use rags, silos and full body GHG snows as well. best time to go is during the week on fir island. not as many people and easier to get a field.

[NW-GSP]

I'm in the same boat as you,
It's hard to find you tube videos of snow goose hunting where they aren't using electric callers and other things that are not legal in wa

It looks like you are more equipped than me by the sound of your handle - I forgot to mention I don't have a dog. Do GSP's retrieve geese??? But, if you'd be interested, maybe we could put our heads together and figure it out together. Like I said, I'd be into getting some dekes. And I've been decent at turkey and duck calling, so how hard can it be to learn geese??? 

I have a buddy that has decoys and calls, I will talk to him or I'm willing to just meet with ya and see how we do. I'm planning on buying decoys this next summer

[Skagit_Hunter]

the biggest thing that has a effect on the season is the juvie population. Weather on Wrangle Island is what kills juvies. If there is a large survival rate of juvies, It will be a good year. snows live a long time, Many trips. With a large population of juvies, It draws the adult birds into things the adults wouldn't do normally. These birds are not dumb.
Like last year, Low juvie count made for a tough season. after a trip or two they learn that decoy thing. So next year could be good like this one. Or bad for a few years. All is determined by the juvie survival rate.

[Heartsblood]

I'm in the same boat as you,
It's hard to find you tube videos of snow goose hunting where they aren't using electric callers and other things that are not legal in wa

It looks like you are more equipped than me by the sound of your handle - I forgot to mention I don't have a dog. Do GSP's retrieve geese??? But, if you'd be interested, maybe we could put our heads together and figure it out together. Like I said, I'd be into getting some dekes. And I've been decent at turkey and duck calling, so how hard can it be to learn geese??? 

I have a buddy that has decoys and calls, I will talk to him or I'm willing to just meet with ya and see how we do. I'm planning on buying decoys this next summer

I'll shoot you a PM

[Heartsblood]

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on some dekes.
http://www.sillosocks.com/Shopping.asp?CategoryId=74
http://www.deadlydecoys.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=20_1
http://www.whiterockdecoys.com/Store.html

http://www.cabelas.com/goose-decoys-real-geese-econo-silhouette-blue-snow-goose-decoys.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleBaseUSA&WT.z_mc_id1=734061&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=70067452-F5D2-DF11-82EF-001B21631C34&mr:referralID=NA

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=734874&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FproductId%3D741709%26destination%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fproduct.jsp%253FproductId%253D734061%2526WT.tsrc%253DCSE%2526WT.mc_id%253DGoogleBaseUSA%2526WT.z_mc_id1%253D734061%2526rid%253D40%2526mr%253AtrackingCode%253D70067452-F5D2-DF11-82EF-001B21631C34%2526mr%253AreferralID%253DNA%26WTz_l%3DYMAL%253BIK-224083&WTz_l=YMAL%3BIK-226677

Ideally I would get a dozen socks, a dozen sillouettes, and a dozen shells but. Probably only afford a coupla dozen total. Any thoughts on decoys? If you were to start with two dozen, which ones would they be?

I really wish I could get out with someone who knows something about hunting snows but. It looks like I'll be goin' it alone more than likely what with schedules being what they are. If anyone is able to school me, even for just a day, I'd be really grateful. And if my dekes show up in time, I could add them to the spread....

[ducklab]

I would definatly get shells first. Then silouetts and finally socks. Shells are the most realistic and will get some birds. Silouetts are the next best thing. Socks are the least realistic looking and are usually only used for filler volume. I would usually put the most realistic decoys near you and around the edges. Fill in the middle with socks.

[upwind]

I like the wind socks look great EASY to carry out in the fields they work great .I have 62  shell decoys mostly old canadian decoys repainted 12 full body decoys 48 home made siloutte48 wind socks 200 rags. Would like more but try to add every year would like to get up to 500 socks than i woulb be happy pm me maybe we could hook up and go get some geese .I guess i should of said if you hunt buy your self get the silos if you hunt with others get the shell decoys it takes me atleast two trips to get all my decoys out in the field i drag them out on a sled.