# what should i look for when scouting snows??



## jaspersonn (Oct 22, 2005)

I looked over the email talking about picking out a spot for ducks that was submited on this website. that being determining the roost location and relating that w/ the feeding field or transition slough. does that hold true for snows.

one of the guys coming w/ us has experience duck hunting out here, but snows is pretty new to us.

I really hate to sound too green to all of this, but I tend to hold a lot more stock in the people out in the fields on a daily basis instead of the magazines just trying to make a buck. Again, thanks for any suggestions you may have for me. If your in Rugby this next week, maybe I'll buy you a brew or two :beer:


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## mach (Aug 29, 2005)

Just came back from a great hunt in Sask. Canada..due to late rainfall..many small sloughs became roosts for snows and the snows would go to more than one roost and feed in the fields near the roost..the trick is to find the flight path direction between roosts and most likely see them feeding in one or more fields there..get permission and have a good time or..as I saw many Americans set up along road allowances and fence lines and pas shoot them as the snows went out to feed and return....I think you have more large bodies of water and it would be similiar roost wise for you..I hope that this helps.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Look for the biggest feed that is a ways from the roost(so the pass shooters don't screw up your hunt) that you can get permission for.


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## mach (Aug 29, 2005)

Later in the season, the geese may move to fields further away from the roosts and won't be bothered that much by pass shooters..however pass shooting still might bother any feeding consistency of that field..make sure you scout the field for consistency and most importantant of all get permission..find out who else the farmer is letting in and secure the x..go out just after the geese have left the field and squeeze fresh turds and you will know you are in goose turd heaven tommorrow. mark the x with a white flag for night visibility.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Snow geese oke:


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

Squeeze fresh goose turds? You are kidding right???? I have shot hundreds of snow geese and never squeezed one! But.....if it works! I think I will just watch where they are feeding in the field and hope I don't sit on one in the morning!


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Actually the wind is a big determining factor in when and how far geese fly to eat.


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## mach (Aug 29, 2005)

My First Nations friend/guide .. for many years long time ago taught me the thing about squeezing fresh turds..and looking for down feathers to define the x dead on the money.... if the birds eat they gotta go...same they gotta go back to roost for a drink.. if you are off the x by say 30-50 yards that could mean the difference in getting the the barrells hot & smoking ...or play running traffic and flagging & calling..... distant sliding shots..in most scenarios, how can you judge distance and depth perception and find the x from a distance of half mile usually...say the birds are in a slight depression and only visible because birds are landing in...could you find the x at 4 am...do you want to leave a bunch of tire tracks in the field looking for the x and screw up the landscape and scare birds off totally..yeh, I'm not kidding.. it's not rosy but it works. ..one more scenario...you are driving around at 3:30 in the afternoon and you see snows... piling into a quarter section. you pull out the digital camera to record the spot........the landowner is just down another quarter section and you dash off to see the farmer and you get permission..you are so happy.....and pumped up, you go to the hotel bar and talk it up about next morning's massacre....in the meantime the snow geese can eat up a field so fast and move on down the field 200 yards when you last saw them..next morning you set up and as dawn breaks you see them comming in from the edge of the field and they start landing 200 yards from you........ :eyeroll: 
Of course there are situations on smaller fields where you can actually eyeball and clock off the x... 

Just to draw some discussion.


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## Goose Huntin' Machine (May 8, 2005)

Dont tease me...I am really knew to chasing snows....but what is, "The 'X?'"

I too need to know everything I can about chasing snows. Thanks!!

Jeff Given


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## Decoyer (Mar 2, 2002)

"the X" is the exact spot in the field that the geese were feeding the night before... in a large field, say a half section, you could be in the same field, but a half mile from where the geese want to be. That is just like being in the wrong field. Pay attention to where they were the night before and look for poop the next morning before you set up. That is "the x." When scouting snows, don't just be looking for the white blob on the ground, as with all geese follow the flying flocks and they will lead you to the mother load. Also you will have a better understanding of the flightpath which with snows is more important than Canadas and ducks. Snows don't come back to the same fields as often as Canadas, but they generally will be flying in the same flight path from day to day. Get in a feeding field in that flight path and you are in business.


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## mach (Aug 29, 2005)

Thanks decoyer..I hope that you helped the newbie out...snow geese don't always come back to the same field...is the only negative side of snow goose hunting...the rest is smoking barrells :sniper: :sniper:


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

...and don't forget, always have a Plan "B" because you just never know!


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