Why are their so many snow geese?
Why are their so many snow geese today compared to 20 years ago? I was doing some research today on the Journal of Wildlife Management and I learned some interesting facts about snow geese and the size of their brood.
Many people suspect that the reason snow geese have grown so much in population is that the predators in the artic are less than ever, therefore no competiton yields more geese. When in fact this is not true - today there are as many artic fox's as ever and now there is evidence that the polar bear due to a shrinking ice cap is adding snow geese to their diet. So what then is causing the massive increase in snow geese?
The research indicates that the evidence is that related to the amount of fat reserves a goose has once breeding season starts. The clutch size is directly related to the nutrient reserves after migration. So what does this mean for a snow goose hunter. A snow goose is going to feed heavily in migration to keep the nutrients high to produce high amounts of chicks. Therefore it is important to hunt where food is abundant. The geese will hang around a day or two where their is food. Since snow geese eat vegitation naturally look for open areas around rivers and water in the north migration for feeding geese.
The use of many cheap snow goose decoys in your spread will entice the geese to think food is abundant.
Tags: brood, cheap snow goose decoys, ckicks, clutch size, Snow Geese
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Canadian Geese – Why do they fly in a V?
Want a great joke to tell other hunters - especially kid hunters?
Question: So why is one side of the V longer than the other side of the V?
Answer: Because there are more geese on the that side!
So really why do geese fly in a V? The answer is really quite simple it has to do with areodynamics and the conservation of energy. Geese fly an amazing distance each year when they migrate and that requires an amazing amount of energy to be expended to travel that far. Ever notice that geese fly very high up in the sky when migrating? That is because they need to ride the jet stream as best they can to use less energy when travelling great distances. This is also why a goose hunter needs to use so many goose decoys when hunting geese in the fall.
The v formation is a very areodynamic position. It helps break the wind - each goose takes their turn at the front of the V such that they are not constantly breaking the wind. As the other geese rotate to the front the leading goose can fase to the back and conserve energy. The V formation is natures way of helping geese travel great distances to their breeding and winter migration grounds.
Tags: canadian geese, fly in a V, migration
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Snow Geese Feeding Patterns – A Key to Success!
With out a doubt the rise in popularity of snow goose hunting over the past couple years is extreme. As the population of snow goose hunters goes up; the hunting pressure will eventually make it much more difficult to find and hunt snow and blue geese. A key to snow goose hunting or any form of hunting is understanding the feeding patterns of the animal.
To understand the feeding patterns of the snow goose, we first must have a better understanding of where the goose lives, breeds and migrates. The snow geese breeding grounds are in the artic tundra area. The prevalent food source is grasses and marshes. The geese primarily hang out near the water edge and feed on the tundra grasses. When they migrate south the winter in the Gulf of Mexico area and feed on sea
Snow Geese Feeding
marshes and grasses as well. The only variation to their feeding pattern is that during the fall migration they have adapted to eating grains from the harvest. Since they migrate late they feed mostly on corn and soy beans during the migration south. On the migration north, they will forage through both the melting fields and feed at any open water spot. Some farmers will leave some grains specifically for the spring hunts. In particular early winter wheats can be a favorite of the snow goose. When scouting for spots to hunt these bird pay attention to these feeding patterns it will help you become much more productive.
Tags: snow goose feeding, Snow goose migration, what do snow geese eat
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Spring Snow Goose Hunting – Migration Map
As the spring snow goose hunt nears it is important to remember some of the patterns of the snow goose. Snow geese typically fly in few large flocks at very high altitudes - especially on clear days. Snow geese migrate extremely large distances - thus their hunting seasons are both later in the fall and earlier in the spring. The spring snow goose hunts through Nebraska and the Dakotas take place in Late Feb - Early April.
Snow Goose Migration Map
If we look at this migration map it tells alot about the patterns of the snow goose. The red represents the summer breeding grounds, the grey the typical migration patterns and the blue the winter resting areas. Snow geese feed almost entirely on plants and grasses - so as the snow melts and exposes young early plants the main migrations begin in the spring.
Tags: Snow goose migration, spring snow goose hunt
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