# changes in snow goose behavior?



## schnizzlepro (Feb 12, 2005)

I have been hunting snows in Arkansas for 10 years. In the beginning we would kill 50-100 geese over 100 garbage bags. In the past 10 years my spread has increased to 100 windsocks, shells, and kites. The hunting has declined steadily year after year. Last month I went down there and hunted for three days and killed one or two decoying geese per day. Everything was perfect, we had the spread and were in the center of a 1000 acre flooded rolled rice field in well camoed layout blinds. The geese would lock in from 500 yds, get to within 150 and flare like we were 1000 coyotes. I took down the kites, tried calling, tried the nobodies home call, you name it. Has anyone else noticed the difficulty in decoying snows?


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

Everyone here knows how difficult adult snows are to decoy.They circle over your decoys,very gradually lowering.Then about the time they hit 80-100 yards above you,they fly away.It happens all of the time.I know several people that wont hunt them unless it is overcast,windy,and preforably foggy.


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## charles (Mar 20, 2004)

The hunting pressure and the way the folks are hunting em have modified the birds behavior. My two cents say that when you have pressure all the way up and down the migration route that the birds are going to learn real fast. We have all seen it before you have the "perfect spread" the birds (any species) come in take a look (out of range for those of us whom do not bust) and go directly to either other live birds or just over the fence. Last spring we were able to get close to where the birds fed. We set up between a refuge and the field they were feeding in. We did get some good pass shootin in at good ranges. However most birds went high over our spread of mostly full bodies and one piece shells with kites and goose magnets and dropped directly into the 20k flock. The gravy daze of easy huntin em are coming to a close. In my humble opinion it is due to many factors the main one being adaptation. We humans are very predictable.
Snow goose hunting can be darn easy and equally as hard in the same day. I have been chasin em for 9 now 10 years. Can't wait till I can chase em the entire route at least once in my life.

:2cents: 
Chuck


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## schnizzlepro (Feb 12, 2005)

Glad to see that I'm not the only one having trouble. I'm goin down to Arkansas in a week or two, if things don't pan out I might have 1000 decoys for sale on ebay! Putting out 1000 deeks to kill a goose or two is behind me.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

The hatch is EVERYTHING when hunting snaow geese.Adult snows are the toughest waterfowl there is to decoy.Canadas,Whitefronts,and Ross seem to have to learn all over about decoys every year.Not snows...they are as tough to decoy the first day as the last day.

So....when there is a good hatch,like 2003...hunting is easy....2004 had a poor hatch....tough hunting.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Plus the fact tha they are virtually hunted year-round now!!!


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## duxnbux (Feb 25, 2002)

KenW hit the nail on the head...without good numbers of juvies or just the right factors snows are tough. With fewer juvies this year there are going to be fewer opportunities over decoys.


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## schnizzlepro (Feb 12, 2005)

Another hurdle in snow goose hunting is the huge flocks they fly in. think about how many times you have had 1000-20,000 birds funneling down, you take em kill a handfull and tens of thousands fly off that much smarter, Add to that the fact that snows will live to 30 years old. Out of a flock of thousands it only takes 3 or 4 30 yr old birds to lead the whole flock away. to take it a step further in a 1000 bird flock you probably have 3-4 30 yr olds, 5 25 yr olds, 10 20 yr olds, 25 15 yr olds, 35 10 yr olds.........I am extremely discouraged to say the least


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Here is the way I look at it, the guys that shoot birds will always kill birds over the decoys and the guys that have hard times will either stay the same or get better and more efficent at killing snows. Like when we hunt the front push of the migration we get the 4+ year old birds to decoy quite well. Hatch does matter but it isnt everything to snowgoose hunting. You have to know what you are doing.


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## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

GooseBuster3 said:


> Here is the way I look at it, the guys that shoot birds will always kill birds over the decoys.... Hatch does matter but it isnt everything to snowgoose hunting. You have to know what you are doing.


 You are right.
But 90% of spring snow goose "hunters" IMO are clueless. Look at all the run & gunners who are sneaking/jump shooting them---and guys wonder why the Snows are so cautious and spooky? 2 years ago as I crested a hill going 30 mph on the road a flock of 5000 got up and they were 3/4 mile away a full 1/2 mile off the road! They have gotten that spooky from the 3 previous days(weekend) of R&Gs after them, the bane to decoying them are the R&Gs who imo have made them so spooky.

I 1st started hunting snows 30 years and really got into it in '87 after the duck pop plunged, hunting today is nothing like 15 years ago in my experience, nothing at all as you never saw R&Gs back then and the snows come to you in a lot smaller more decoyable flocks too. Nothing to it to bag your 5 a day limit back then.


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

i couldn't agree with you more h2ofwlr


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## Top Flight Waterfowling (Oct 21, 2004)

You guys are all right, i've seen it all..........I have seen guys take a 4X4 Truck floored petal to the metal into a farmers field, no permission and open up fire on a big flock of feeding snows, also it scary when you got guys start belly crawling 1/2 mile away towards your spread. :roll: Makes you stand up in a heart beat, or watch vehicules surrounds a field hopeing the geese will come there way................. :eyeroll: 
Adam


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## honker (Feb 13, 2005)

doesnt help when people are ski busting them and jumping them


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I think everything posted here comes together for the big picture of snow goose hunting.

Like Ken said, snow geese seem to have a memory like no other waterfowl. And like others have posted, they're pressured so hard for so long that they never seem to let their guard down.

To fool old birds consistently you need the odds in your favor. They have to be right off a migration and be that hungry, or the weather needs to be in your favor. And I'm sold that geese know what an average snow good spread looks like. If you want to put some odds in your favor you need to pay close attention to their daily routines where you're hunting. And in the spring, the right spread usually requires a lot of work to be done right and most aren't willing to put in the time or effort.

That's why I love snow geese, they are the greatest waterfowl challenge. I could really care less about shooting them, but I love to find ways to fool them.


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## charles (Mar 20, 2004)

Chris Hustad said:


> I think everything posted here comes together for the big picture of snow goose hunting.
> 
> Like Ken said, snow geese seem to have a memory like no other waterfowl. And like others have posted, they're pressured so hard for so long that they never seem to let their guard down.
> 
> ...


Chris,
you said it all I'm of the same mind set better decoys more detailed motion work em in close....good luck and fun when they get up to you


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## NEHONKERZ (Jan 17, 2005)

Here is my take on it as well. I hunt in SE and South Central Nebraska. I have noticed that the birds will almost always hit that 80 yard mark and leave. Here is my therory. NW Missouri is getting over-run with guides, if you don't belive just look every other mile down there. Guys pay $200 a gun per day to shoot at birds and i've seen the constant sky-busting from certain spreads, and a few let the birds work perfectly. But what I am trying to get at is that if a guide has this kind of pressure of getting people shots they are going to take long shots just to keep the fellas happy. I don't know, it seemed the birds were so much easier to decoy before the CO became so commercialized  . Not to mention the spookiest birds on the planet. :lol:


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

Conservation season....Pressure, pressure, pressure. Hunters of all kinds are chasing birds from Canada to the gulf. It is no one particular kind of hunter that is making the birds "smart" but everyone is doing their part. Skybusters, sneakers, decoyers and pick up chasers have all been around for decades. If I were going to point my finger I would point it at the conservation season which has changed the season to all but the summer nesting season which is pretty short on the tundra. People also have disposable income to chase them from Canada to Texas and back to Canada and some even use the internet to follow the snow line and their progress!!! If they weren't so smart we wouldn't need the Conservation season!! It may get to the point that they are so smart that the next new decoy will be a snowgoose sitting on a nest so we can decoy them in the tundra!


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## Salacia340 (Nov 17, 2004)

I've been hunting snows in Texas for 20+ years. I've taken them over paper plates, rags, full bodies, you name it. Here are my observations.

Its not that snows are any "smarter" than other geese. They aren't. A goose brain is a goose brain. That's like saying Japenese are just smarter than Anglo Saxons... etc. Snows are however different. They are not exclusive grain feeders. Biologist will tell you a snow goose will eat lots of different stuff. If a insect goes in front of them, they are just as likely to gobble that down as grain. I'm not a biologist, but I believe snow geese have an eye which is better adapted at detailed vision. Just like a hawk's or eagle's eye is. Its not the same, but it has some attributes that make it better at seeing things. Ever notice how a snowgoose can positively ID the difference between a bald eagle and a buzzard at over a mile? They can identify the difference farther away than I usually can. That means something!! I think their brains are pretty much the same as any other goose but their advantage comes from better eyesight. So, the more they see, the more they learn.

Hunting in Texas changed a couple years before the conservation season started. Hunting started to get a lot harder. Hatch had something to do with it but the increased hunting pressure up and down the flyway had more to do with it. Canada, letting e-callers be used during the fall migration is TERRIBLE!!! The birds get an education even quicker that way. Sure it works for them but hurts us.

Since e-callers, the geese migrate north in the spring stopping less, moving faster and getting to the nesting ground quicker (weather permitting)... i.e. more stress on that eco system.

I'm still an advocate of e-callers. When the weather is good, it works great. I think they should be used in the US during regular season - if Canada can do it, so should we!!

The problem is not going to get better. The guys all up and down the flyway are learning to hunt better, harder and more effectively. The birds are just getting educated quicker.

If you want to really cull older birds, they should let us bait them or use live decoys. The wildlife folks will never do that but it will be effective!!


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