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
Posted in Goose Decoys and Goose Decoy Patterns, Goose hunting accessories, Goose Hunting Information | 2 Comments »
Cheap Snow Goose Decoys
In an earlier post I talked about how many decoys to use in the spread and basically mentioned that many is a good thing when it comes to snow geese. However as someone noted in the comment section, who has several thousand dollars to buy snow goose decoys, especially given our current economic condition.
Here are some ideas for some very cheap snow geese decoys.
1) First the Texas Rag: basically a white rag tied to a dowel. Quick and easy to set up and really cheap. I have heard of people contacting linen companies and getting their throw out towels for this purpose. I must mention that the geese will fly closer with a big spread, however, their needs to be some realism to the decoy spread. So a few traditional decoys mixed in will help. The snow geese are looking for the contrast at high altitudes and the white specks are all that is needed. Something to remember is that snows are more community feeders than Canada geese, therefore a large bunch is very common for them. Canada's tend to be much more aggressive and will chase snows away and sometimes feed in smaller quantities.
Dont forget to remove the label - they make great snow goose decoys!
2) The old Clorox bottle - drill a hole and place a dowel through the bottle and the it will remarkably resemble a decoy. In fact the body of the bottle strikingly resembles that of a goose body. Give it a shot and you might be surprised at how good it works.
3) If you are looking for a professional decoy that is pretty cheap - don't forget to look at the silosock decoys. The simple design allows for a fast setup and take down. In addition, it will give some very lifelike movement to your decoy spread. Use in combination with your cheap free decoys and you can be successful without spending thousands.
Tags: cheap snow goose decoys, silosock
Posted in Goose Decoys and Goose Decoy Patterns | 2 Comments »
