# Weather up north



## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

As far as the weather goes, things are looking great for the birds. The extended forecast for Churchill is looking good!


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

That's too bad. Hoping for a complete bust hatch. How much tundra can possibly be left at this point?


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

Tilley, are you a snow goose hunter? just curious.


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

Yes absolutely! Not as much as I was at one time, prefer to shoot mallards in the field more than anything else. Why do you ask?


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## Trapperjack (Feb 25, 2007)

Seeing that the tundra is only a few thousand miles wide, I'm sure there is a little bit let up there. lol


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

Well that is just crazy...12 years ago or so we were all told they were eating it up, ripping out the roots of the fragile plants and the even more fragile tundra was in imminent danger. The mid continent snow goose population was about to crash along with the eastern curlew and other miscellaneous creatures would also succumb. It was bad, real bad. We needed to act and act immediately with Spring seasons, no limits ,e callers, ground pound em,belly crawl em, water swat em and whatever you want to use to KILL em. and now you say there is still some tundra left??? The hell you say.


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

Hey Tilley, haven't you ever heard of the ole saying, you can't believe everything you read! Like I have said earlier in other posts, There is just too much land up there for them to wreck. They have been going up there for hundreds of years and things are still just fine. Instead of worrying about it how about you just jump on the bandwagon with us and enjoy hunting them in the spring while you can :thumb: Sounds like they have had an above average hatch by the way from all reports I have been gathering from various resources and from what I have been reading. Sounds like the Rossi reproduction was stellar as well! The Rossi Possi will be in full force this fall! Can't wait. Don't mean to spoil your party Tilley, but the snowgeese ain't going anywhere anytime soon. :bop: :bop: :bop: Hey by the way, Tilley, if you wanna go hunting sometime next spring I would love to have you along. Hunting snowgeese IS a lot of fun!


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

Well General you are correct and many of us, myself included, made this very point years ago. The whole thing has been a scam from the start and I was just making a point, as the demise of the tundra was the reason for the season. Strangely, nothing has been said for years about this now. Here is one for you General, Why a limit on snows in the fall and not in the Spring?


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

> Why a limit on snows in the fall and not in the Spring?


States have different limits during the spring.....now that is interesting if you ask me. One state allows 20 another bordering state no limit??? Then the fall daily limits but no pos. limits is interesting.

The tundra is and was getting eaten up. The problem was that the plants were not re growing fast enough. They were destroying it and still are. The population was exploding at an alarming rate. The reason again for the spring season was to keep the flocks moving so they don't get time to rest. The researchers believed that if the snow goose didn't have the fat reserves they would not produce big hatches....ie lay 0-2 eggs instead of a 6+ type of thing. If you have looked at the population numbers they are holding steady. They really haven't had the huge spike or decline. So that is showing you the spring season is working (to a certain point). It is a tool in holding the population steady. But it isn't decreasing it at all. So it isn't doing 100% what they wanted it too. But is doing 1/2 of it.

Then like what Tiley is trying to say..... is the money making part of the season.....ie another time frame where motels, restaurants, cafe's, guide services, decoy companies, call makers, ammo sales, license sales, etc. The Fed's like this so even if the spring season started to make the population decline....it won't go away completely....ie you would see limit restrictions and what not.


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

tilley said:


> Well General you are correct and many of us, myself included, made this very point years ago. The whole thing has been a scam from the start and I was just making a point, as the demise of the tundra was the reason for the season. Strangely, nothing has been said for years about this now. Here is one for you General, Why a limit on snows in the fall and not in the Spring?


Good question, That does not make much sense to me either.


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

Yes, it is a good question and I have not had anyone answer it with anything but poorly thought out nonsense or parroting something they heard. Sadly, almost everything today is political including wildlife management. There is no biological sense for a spring snow goose season or an August gosling hunt. I contend that if the birds were not constantly harassed ,i.e. hunted almost non stop (Spring) that they would be easier to kill in the fall when there are more guys out in the field,etc.,etc. I just think the whole thing is a joke just as raising the possession limit now is simply catering to the hunting industry and the big money boys. I will say this to all of you fellas, enjoy what you have now as ,at least to this old hunter, the future of our sport looks mighty grim for the average joe.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

What would you propose to do about the over population of snows and resident Canada geese then?


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

I have been hearing some very good reports from various sources about the hatch! I hope they are true.  I am feenin' for a flock of snows!!!! November can't come fast enough.


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## Trapperjack (Feb 25, 2007)

The pictures of the tundra devastation came from the colonies around Hudson Bay. This area has been hit hard but for couple of reasons. 1) It was a very large traditional breeding area and 2) It is also a major stop over location. It gets hard by birds staging there in the spring waiting for the weather to break before departing for colonies much farther north. It also gets hit again when they come back south. 3) It also still has a colonie their all though the summer.

The area up there is huge, granted not all is suitable for snows and the hundreds of thousands of caribou. lol The birds are adapting and are moving to different locations and they are still finding new colonies that they never knew were there. For a reference, look at a map and compare the area to the lower 48. How are 10 million geese going to destroy it? Now is the time to be a snow goose hunter. ENJOY!!


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## fungalsnowgoose (Sep 11, 2004)

All right then just to play Devils advocate here. If Snow geese are not hurting the artic eco system why not do away with the spring season. If the species isn't encroaching on the carrying capacity of the land then there is no emergency to mandate a season outside the frame work of the waterfowl treaty. We'll call it a success story and go back to the traditional fall season with a limit of 5 and no more electronic calls.


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

That is a good twist, but we all know it is about the money at the end of the day and that is why the spring season will not end anytime soon.


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## Trapperjack (Feb 25, 2007)

fungalsnowgoose said:


> All right then just to play Devils advocate here. If Snow geese are not hurting the artic eco system why not do away with the spring season. If the species isn't encroaching on the carrying capacity of the land then there is no emergency to mandate a season outside the frame work of the waterfowl treaty. We'll call it a success story and go back to the traditional fall season with a limit of 5 and no more electronic calls.


Why? Does it appear that the added harvest and opportunity is having a negative effect on the population? It is possible that the carrying capacity could be reached. What that number is, who knows. Do we want to reach that point and see the devastation all over the artic that occurred on the colonies in the Hudson Bay area? I don't think so. It's obvious that due to the increased pressure the population has leveled out or at least stopped growing as fast as before the CO. Don't know about you, but I love to hunt the light geese and there just isn't anything like hunting them in the spring.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

I agree with trapper. If anything the government is getti g in the way of us helping the goose population. If they would let us hunt them in the fall over baited fields with live decoys then we could do some good. Keep limits on specks and canadas the same and no limits on snows all fall. The reason they can't do that is too many tree huggers.


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## fieldgeneral (Feb 12, 2013)

I hear ya on the tree hugger part!!


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

A lot like the economy. Govt in the way. On the other hand if u look at how many fewer birds we now get down in texas compared to before the conservation order it is a raging success


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

blhunter.. well I would take a different approach and I don't and didn't ever buy into the "destroying the tundra" part. I would leave them alone in the spring and have higher limits in the fall and I think the overall kill would be as high or greater than it is now without all the bs that is part of the spring nonsense.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

Why have a season at all. Why let the government that can't take care of themselves have anything to do with limiting them. If they are that much of a threat why not let us hunt them by any means necessary. We keep giving the government too much control over our game and natural resources.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

Guess I don't get everyones beef with the spring season. I am racking my brain as to who in the heck it is hurting. Maybe its just because I'm from texas. We have one of the longest deer seasons in the country and have nearly a quarter of the nations whitetail deer. We also use feeders and boy that is frowned upon by others. Its no wonder the liberal gun grabbers are winning the battle. We can't keep from fighting amongst ourselves when we should be uniting and takin our aggression out on them and no I'm not talking about physically.


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## coyotebuster (Oct 8, 2007)

Well tilley lets hear what approach you'd take. Why not just have a higher limit in the fall along with the spring hunt? I highly doubt that just as many if not more would be shot in the fall alone, but I would like to hear your reasoning behind it.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

The only thing about no limits in the fall is that the geese have shifted their wintering grounds. About one fourth of what historically went to the texas and louisiana coasts make it that far. The birds are scattered into the panhandle and a ton stay in oklahoma and the motherload is in arkansas. The problem with arkansas is every inch of the water in the state is leased for duck hunting because it is big business. The snows hardly get messed with until after duck season is over.


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## tilley (Jul 28, 2011)

Well the reasoning behind it is that as you are aware over the past years they have become harder to hunt and guys bemoan the fact that the juvie pop is low because these are the birds they can kill for the most part. It is my belief that the constant pressure is one contributing factor to the birds becoming more wary and difficult to kill. I think less is more if you get my drift.
Just an opinion.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

I don't really see them being any harder to hunt. Well maybe a little cause we used to kill them with rags thrown on the ground and now we use sillosocks but down here in texas we probably kill just as many adults as juvies. Also when we head to arkansas we kill more adults early than juvies. Like always weather is usually the kicker for us. I hear of people wanting to stomp the eggs and really don't know what this accomplishes if everyone thinks you can't kill adults. Having a good mix of juveniles has been the death of many adults as if you let a few juvies slide in first unharmed many times the whole wad will come in behind and u can pick the adults. Again we need to quit hating on each other and unite and be happy that people are hunti g by any legal means. So.e people jump geese and that gripes peoples rears. Well that first yr or two of jumping might just be the beginni g of an addiction so applaude those guys and invite them to sit in decoys with u. Get my drift


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

tilley said:


> Well the reasoning behind it is that as you are aware over the past years they have become harder to hunt and guys bemoan the fact that the juvie pop is low because these are the birds they can kill for the most part. It is my belief that the constant pressure is one contributing factor to the birds becoming more wary and difficult to kill. I think less is more if you get my drift.
> Just an opinion.


In a lot of years snow geese overfly North and South Dakota in the fall.The only season on them here is in the spring,since the fall season would end on March 9th.Which means no geese here during the open season.
I can understand why southern hunters want no spring season to wisen up the birds as stated above.So us up north hunters should basically have no snow goose hunting so they would decoy better in the south????? :eyeroll: :eyeroll:


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

I'm in the south and don't see the problem with the season. Honestly think about it. Before the conservation order a good hunt was twenty birds. Nowadays in the spring its not uncommon ti shoot eighty or one hundred. That after they been shot with ecalls from canada to tx and back up.


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## kpgoose (Aug 5, 2013)

Fact of the matter is our early geese are the hardest to kill. Once they have been shot and busted up some is when we have best hunts


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