Hi,
I went to Illinois last week on a Snow Goose hunt, not very productive, 4 birds in 2 days with 5 hunters, all immature geese.
I saw thousands in the sky above us, but the birds just kept on flying by. I was with an outfitter using 2000 decoys and electronic calls. Does anyone have any suggestions on guided hunts for snows, and or specklbelly geese? I know there are alot of places on the internet that offer such, but I am looking for references to such places Thank you for any help. Brian
http://animalartstudio.tripod.com
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
Up here (north dakota) decoying snows is usually a fruitless effort. Those geese have only one thing on their mind, and thats getting to their breeding grounds and making babies. Most of the time we find geese that are feeding out in a harvested crop field. What I do is make a cardboard cow, yes you heard me, a cow. I cut a cow out of cardboard, paint it to look like one and tape the pieces together so that it looks like a cow. Then 2-4 people are walking behind this cow, in full view, and we just start walking out to the geese. This method does work. They start flying when you are within 30-40 yards. About that time you drop the cardboard cow and start unloading your guns.
Snowgeese are just as wary today as black ducks are to decoys. Easton's advice works. The only other option we do around here is to line a group of gunners in a hedgerow or ditches and then have a driver walk or drive around them and flush them in the direction of teh shooters. Action is fast and furious and when it's over, it's OVER but quite productive. If you're hunting huge prairies or pastures, my method seldom works as they see what's coming.
www.outdooradrenaline.com
Better just stick to chasing the snows/blues...There is no spring season for Specklebellys...you'll have to wait until next fall.
The Cardboard cow is a good idea, I live in Ohio, I have only seen one Snow goose, and it was with a flock of Canada`s, so I have`nt any to experiment on. Goerge, what state are you from?
I know the speck season is out, and Iam not going on another hunt this year, looking for ideas for next year. Thankyou
i have guided snow goose hunts in n.w missouri for 6 years. Squaw Creek nationl wildlife refuge is located in Mound city, MO and holds huge numbers of birds. I am not sure what the weather was like were you were hunting but the weather is everything with those birds. If it is clear, you can plan on killing a couple a day, on the other hand if it is snowing or very windy or you have a hard south wind watch out! Hunt during the afternoon 10:00 to 2:00. I have been hunting so many times during that slot when everyone is at lunch and the migration starts, especially on a south wind day. watch the birds work everyones sets and get to yours and hear the calls and tornado right in. Last year one day we killed 45 between 11:00-12:00 and 18 more between 12and 1. And we had many other days like that. When you do that you are pretty much hunting fresh birds that have "missed" or "overshot" the refuge. I would always tell the clients to bring a lunch or take a break around 3 oclock. The other big thing is the tape that you run. Remember the average snow goose sees lots of sets of decoys everyday. If everyone is running the same and yours is different, you may have a better opportunity. The guys that kill lots of them in the decoys, have acatual recordings of feeding snow geese. Last thing, ponds are the way too go... you got water, you got food, you got geese.
If you need any info i can get you the gus name that i worked for and he has a very straight shooting business.
Just my 2 cents
I know a couple of guy's that use a full length wardrobe mirror to get close to feeding Snows and Blues. They walk towards the birds and get within range and put the hammer to them. I'am not kidding. These guys also use the cow ploy with good results. Good luck!