Snow Geese | Short Reed Goose Calls

Spring Snow Goose Hunting

When it comes to goose hunting, perhaps nothing is as big of a spectacle than the spring snow goose hunting season. The sheer number of birds is truly something to behold. On top of that how often does anyone get to hunt in the spring? For this reason alone many people have taken up the sport. This, of course, isn't even taking into consideration the fact that the limits on snow geese in the spring is big or even unlimited in some locales. Add these three things together and you have the making of quite an impressive season in which to participate.

There are some key things to remember if you decide to chase snows across their flight north in the spring. The first is that they travel in enormous flocks. When you are looking for a place to hunt these birds, you need to be looking for thousands of birds, not the hundreds you would in a fall Canada goose hunting trip. Simply check out any snow goose hunting videos and you will see what I mean. Flocks of ten thousands birds is pretty common in the spring flight. So if you come across a group of 50 birds I wouldn't get too excited. Keep looking and you will find what you are going to need in terms of numbers to have a successful hunt. One of the amazing things to me is the number of birds you need to have in your area for a quality hunt. I'm used to being able to target a reasonably small number of birds (say one thousand) and feel confident that I will have a successful time Canada goose hunting. That isn't the case with snows. You really need to be near a huge population for success.

When it comes to snow goose decoys, the more the better. These birds are known to travel in 10,000 bird flocks so a lot of white on the ground is required to get their attention. Silosock decoys are almost a must as putting out a thousand full body goose decoys is far too time consuming and who has room for that many full bodies in a trailer! Make sure to have the decoys very spread out and visitable. You really want the spread to look enormous from the air. Putting a line of decoys out 150 yards is a pretty common occurence.

The spring hunt allows for electronic callers, so it you have any chance at going that route I would do it as opposed to blowing your own snow goose calls. This isn't to say that won't work, it will. Just that the actual real deal Holyfield taped and played over speakers is easier to sustain for an entire day and it sounds more realistic. You may need to work with amplifiers and so forth if you want to place the speakers in several locations in your spread.

When it comes to goose blinds, it is pretty hard to beat layout blinds for ease of transport, ease of packing up and moving to another field and comfort. Just make sure to use whatever surrounding cover you have to hide them. A key reason some hunters are more successful than others is concealment. The ones that are freaks about hiding are the ones that have the most success in the goose blind.

You can try to use goose flags, but as a general rule they aren't employed as much in this spring season as it is in the fall while sitting in your Canada goose decoys. Movement is always a good thing, just know that it isn't a major player with guides and such in the spring.

A Good Snow Goose Jacket – A Overlooked Piece of Equipment

As much as we hunters spend on goose decoys, guns, ammo, hunting trips, waders, and goose calls - we often overlook one of the most important peices of equipment - OUR CLOTHING. Lets face it the conditions for hunting waterfowl are not like hunting doves in Argentina. The air is usually damp and wet and the air temperature can be fridgid at times creating the ideal environment to be cold.

A goose hunting jacket can make you much more comfortable while hunting in the field or over open water. What should a goose hunter look for in a good snow goose hunting jacket. First, look at the grams of insulate. Since you are hunting snow geese in late fall and early spring the jacket should be rated for at least 20 degree weather - preferably warmer. Another great feature in a jacket is layers - many of the great jackets have a inner and outer layer allowing you to hunt in a much wider range of temperatures. Next, look at the camo pattern - not all camo patterns are created equal -- Especially in snow goose hunting where the combination of white and dark can give you away for miles. The camo pattern needs to closely match your conditions, concealment is a key feature. Finally, flexibility and motion are crucial point to choosing a jacket. When in the store, grab a gun when wearing the jacket and see if you can move around to shoot. Lack of mobility will cause you to be uncomfortable and make the hunt less enjoyable.

Take a look at some of these great deals right now on snow goose jacket. enjoy your spring hunt!

DTK - Camoclad Deluxe Truck Camo Wrap Kit
Paypal

US $1,049.99

Tags: flexibility, layers of clothes, mobility, snow goose hunting, snow goose jacket, warmth
Posted in General Goose Tips and recipies, Snow Geese | No Comments »

The Importance of Snow Goose Hunting

Snow goose hunting in both the spring and fall has become a very popular sport in many parts of the country. The reality is that the sport has grown in popularity the importance of snow goose hunting is extremely important for both ecological reasons and financial reasons.

A fact is that is that the blue/snow goose population has grown substantially over the past decade for many reasons. The decline of predators in both the artic and migtration routes. Abnormally warm winters allowing for warmer than normal breeding seasons and longer breeding seasons has allowed more than normal snow geese to survive the hard winter conditions. The population has grown so much that the geese have actually started to destroy their own breeding grounds. From an ecological reason it is important for hunters to curb the population of this growing species.

For a financial reason, the snow goose hunt has added a substantial amount of revenue to the coffers of the state DNR organizaitons. Many of the plains states and east coast states have a special spring hunt that gives hunters another chance to get out and spend money and participate in their hobby. Even with these extra hunts the number of birds continues to grow. In fact, New Jersey state Fish and Wildlife Division will allow hunters to kill an unlimited number of snow geese from March 11 to April 18 in an attempt to control the growing population. These geese are now destroying farm lands in addition to their breeding grounds.

For hunters, snow goose hunting can be a fairly low cost alternative to canadian goose hunting. Some of the low cost means are to use shell snow goose decoys or the old Texas Rag decoy (white rag on a stick). Hunters can use a white sheet to conceal themselves in the snow - the key is always is picking a good location. However, if you do pick a good location it is not unreasonable to see 200-300 snow geese at a time to land in your decoys.

Tags: importance of snow goose hunting, snow goose decoy, spring snow goose hunt
Posted in General Goose Tips and recipies, Snow Geese | No Comments »

Snow Goose Decoy Spread – How Many Decoys Should I Use?

Ever talk to a avid snow goose hunter and discuss the topic of decoy spreads? Chances are the hunter will have told you at some point in the conversation that you need as many decoys as humanly possible when building your decoy spread.

As it turns out this is very good advice - lets explore why. When snow geese migrate they travel great distances. As I pointed out in a previous post - snow geese travel from the artic all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Only the artic turn migrates further than the snow goose on the North America continent. To travel that great of a distance, it requires a tremendous amount of energy and food supply. To conserve energy snow geese take advantage of the jet stream currents and migrate at tremendous heights and in great numbers to take advange of drafting. An average flock of snow geese migrate at heights of 2000 - 5000 feet in the air. In addition, once a flock decends to feed - the whole flock will come down to feed. Snow geese feed for long periods of time in the same location, because it takes a lot of energy to ascend to the heights that they migrate.

Thus it makes sense to use a huge amount of decoys - so that they can see them from that height. The objective is to attract as snow geese into our spreads as possible. The larger the snow goose spread - the bigger the flocks that will land in the spread.