# Questions about spring snow season in ND.



## jeepguy (Nov 7, 2005)

When is the season? We hunt around Michigan, ND. And how much does it costs to hunt snow in the spring in ND if you are a non-res.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

From NDGF website.



> Non-resident hunters can hunt during this season by purchasing a 2005 non-resident spring light goose season license ($50.00). This license enables them to hunt statewide for the entire season. This special license does not affect the eligibility of a non-resident to purchase a regular non-resident waterfowl hunting license for the fall 2005 season.


The season generally runs from February to May. ND season is proposed to start February 18

Bob


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

If I were a betting man I'd look to plan your trip up there right around the first of April.


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## jeepguy (Nov 7, 2005)

Chris, I am going to talk to my buddies and plan for late march early april. 
What is the best way to hunt these things. How many decoys? What to scout for? What is pass shooting? I hear it works for spring geese. And what kind of decoys are the most economical and yet effective.


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## quackattack (Sep 27, 2003)

Jeepguy,

-As many decoys as you can put out, the more the better
-Scout for fields holding good numbers of birds(to me good numbers would be no less than 10,000 birds)
-Pass shooting is setting up somewhere where you know the birds are gonna fly past within range such as a fence row that butts against the field they are feeding in or possibly a rock pile in a field they are using, there are many different spots you can use
-Windsocks are the way to go, you can make them on your own or buy them for not too much money. I'd say if you gonna go with a spread you'll want to have a bare minimum 600-800 dekes. Altought you could kill birds with less, the spring is a numbers game, bigger spread=more birds. A rule of thumb would be 300 dekes for every person hunting
Hope this helps :beer:


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

> Altought you could kill birds with less, the spring is a numbers game, bigger spread=more birds


Im not sold on that idea anymore, I use to think it but it all depends on the weather, the spot you are hunting and if you are catching fresh birds that just arrived into an area.


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## goosehunter21 (May 18, 2004)

I couldn't agree more, I've killed just as many geese on days where I set up small spreads than on days when I set up 1300 + decoys. The only time I would say that huge numbers of decoys is better is if you are in an area where there is 3 spreads within a couple mile radius of you other wise I would say the numbers don't matter. It is all a combo of wheather, finding staging birds, and finding and area where there isn't 10 other groups jumping the SHI% out of the birds.

When you are scouting for snow geese it is quite a bit different than scouting for snow geese. If you are hunting in the heart of the migration you don't necessarily have to have a field with geese in it to hunt. Although it may look more appealing, you may want to find a field/Water combo so you can hunt both birds looking for water and birds looking for feed. The longer the season goes on and you only find small pockets left in the state that is when you want to find them using a certain field, because chances are they are juvies staging and they will more than likely go back to the field the next day. 
Just my personal opinion and thats how I like to hunt the spring season. Im sure many others have there opinions and other strategies.


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## Curt Grindeland (Dec 22, 2005)

I would plan around the last couple of days of March and the first 10 days of April. The snow line plays a huge role in the migration. Bring plenty of decoys...preferably some in a tub, like windsocks so you can get them out into the field because you most likely will not be able to drive in the fields.

Curt


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## Joltin_Joe (Oct 11, 2005)

I am another guy that is a complete rookie to hunting snows.

We are planning a Nodak trip for this spring that I am sure will be largely a learning experience.

I got two dozen shells for Xmas. Would mixing these shells with 300-400 socks be somewhat effective or should we use all socks?

Is it important to have some full bodies and/or shells involved in your spread?

How important is calling?

Am I going to become completely addicted to this?


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

There is no "perfect spread". Most days I don't think you'd notice a difference if you added the shells or not. I've put out thousands only to shoot a couple and one of my best shoots was by myself with only 14 decoys. You gotta be at the right place at the right time.

In the spring with the amount of geese and with ecallers, you'll probably wear yourself out calling over the ecallers before you notice a difference. Great time to practice though.

And ya, you'll be hooked. :thumb:


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

As stated above.....the geese will push the snow line.....which means lots of mud.You may not be able to drive on praire trails or into fields....thus having to carry decoys.Which means light weight decoys.....like windsocks.

If you come later when the juvies are bringing up the rear of the migration,I have had no trouble driving into fields.With the huge number of juvies in this years flocks....there should be excellent hunting.


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## Herters_Decoys (Mar 1, 2002)

During the first big push north that are mainly adult birds, how do you guys hunt them, do you scout in the evening and set up the next morning or do you afternoon and eveneing hunt. I do a fair share of both but then it also depends if I'm hunting water or fields. I was just curious how the rest of you all spring hunt.


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## dosch (May 20, 2003)

It's really not as hard as some make it out to be.....holy **** some of the questions I see make ya wonder. :roll:


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## Herters_Decoys (Mar 1, 2002)

Well Dosch, maybe since you have everything figured out about hunting snow geese :roll: you should just keep off any kind of fourms that have questions on how to hunt them and let the rest of us who want to keep learning do the discussing. There should be no such thing as a stupid question even if you've heard it a thousand times. Not everyone is a snow goose expert like you.I don't care if I can go out and shoot 50 snows everytime i go out I'm still gonna be looking for a better way to hunt them and to shoot more. The more you learn and figure out about the bird the more dead ones you'll have on the ground.


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## DeerScarer (Jul 23, 2005)

Well put, H_D! Some of these self-described experts have zero tolerance for people trying to expand their horizons.


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## Joltin_Joe (Oct 11, 2005)

All of the idiots of the world that don't understand the intricacies of snow goose hunting make me want to uke:

I just wanted to use that emoticon.

From what I understand so far hunting snows differs a lot from other waterfowling. I think you have to understand that a lot of waterfowlers from other states like myself who haven't had the opportunity to freelance snows find it a bit intimidating for the first time in comparison to coming out to find ducks or honkers. It seems to be of a completely different nature.

At this point in my life the trip is going to bite relatively deeply into my pocket book, and I don't plan on taking my first trip without abundant research. So thanks for the input that goes beyond the stuff that I can read in topical articles.

To the other people like myself, be sure to search the forum for past threads. It sounds simple, but sometimes I find myself starting threads to ask questions that have been answered many times.

Then again, we wouldn't have much to talk about if we didn't repeat ourselves every once in a while. :beer:


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