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Snow Goose Hunting Tips
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- Begin
by driving back roads to locate fields where snow geese are
feeding.
Scouting the fields for where the geese want to be is the key to
success. Find the landowner and always get permission to hunt before
anything else. If the decoys can be set by mid-afternoon, you can
hunt
the field that evening and again the next morning.
- Snow geese usually return to a field until the food
is exhausted.
However, they have good memories and won't return to a place where they
have been shot at. Finding a hot field and setting out decoys may
result in two or three successful hunts; an evening, morning and
possibly another evening. After that, the birds are gone and its back
to scouting.
- Hide all signs of human activity, including tire
tracks, candy wrappers and any other non-natural items.
- Park vehicles at least a half mile away.
- Set out a minimum of 500 decoys (1,000
to 1,500 is better).
- Supplement shell and silhouette decoys with lighter,
less expensive white rags or white plastic bag decoys.
- Wear camouflage or white if snow covers the
ground.
- Don't over call. Calls are most useful for calling in
single birds or isolated pairs.
- Don't begin shooting while birds are still landing.
For maximum
shooting opportunity, wait until birds already on the ground begin to
get nervous and take flight.
- Hunting partners should agree on fields of fire so
shooting opportunities are not wasted by shooting at the same
bird.
- Take your first shots at birds that are at the fringe
of your effective range, then work your way back through closer
birds.
- Focus on one bird at a time.
- A morning's shooting ends when the birds go back to
roost in refuge
areas during the middle of the day. Sometimes that is as early as 9
a.m., other times they may not roost until noon. Afternoon feeding
flights can arrive two hours before dark, but they may not appear until
shooting hours are almost over.
- 2 3/4-inch shotgun shells with No. 1 or No. 2 steel
shot work well for snow geese.
Snow
geese are fast learners and quickly become wary when hunted. They are
long-lived and travel in large flocks, so thousands of experienced eyes
examine every potential feeding and resting place for danger before
landing. Furthermore, their nomadic lifestyle makes them difficult to
locate.
Hunting snow geese
requires hard work and specialized strategies, but those who learn the
tricks find it immensely rewarding. Several hunters claim that
few
outdoor experiences can compare with being at the center of a
swirling-vortex of several thousand squawking snow geese settling into
a decoy spread.
Article Source: Ducks Unlimited
Inc.
Ducks Unlimited conserves, restores and manages wetlands and
associated
habitats for North America's waterfowl. These habitats also benefit
other wildlife and people. Visit their web site at www.ducks.org
to learn more, support their mission or to find more info.
For more hunting info visit Romwell Travel Advisory -
Hunting Guide |
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