# what the heck are we doing wrong ?



## greenhead1485 (Apr 10, 2008)

hey everyone got some snow killin pics me and my buddy shot 38 in 13 days with 250 higdon shells on motion stakes and 28 flyers what the heck are we doing wrong ?
































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## jonesy12 (Apr 1, 2008)

Looks like a good time anyways........


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Looks like your killing a few birds so you can't be doing too much wrong.

But if you're looking for advice or tips, you might want to include a little background.
When / Where (no need to be specific) you where hunting.
How many birds you were seeing while scouting/hunting.
How the birds reacted to your spread..flared off, hung at 80 yards etc..

This can help others "troubleshoot" or offer a few tips/tricks..


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I'm willing to bet 90% of all hunter's problems is improper concealment, our group included. Our best success this year didn't have squat to do with our gear, but to the simple fact that the birds couldn't see us when our sole emphasis was to disappear.

My .02


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## quackstacker (Feb 18, 2008)

well said Chris, I tend to agree, the birds pick you, or your blinds, or your dog, or your ecaller, or whatever else is there out before they get close enough.


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## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

Chris Hustad said:


> I'm willing to bet 90% of all hunter's problems is improper concealment, our group included. Our best success this year didn't have squat to do with our gear, but to the simple fact that the birds couldn't see us when our sole emphasis was to disappear.
> 
> My .02


Amen, there is only two reasons why a snow goose won't decoy, something doesn't look right or something doesn't sound right. So you need to take a look at your spread and your blinds. And then your ecaller. 9 times out of 10 your decoys will work in the way they are set, often times though the ecallers are too loud. Also, blinds need to be 100 percent blending. If you can see them at 20 yards the geese can probably see them at 200. If the field is tilled, mud the blind completely, if its a combined field fill every strap with corn stubble.

After another spring under my belt though I am still not convinced that blinds work for snow geese.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

You weren't doing anything wrong!!!
You were hunting.


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## Large munsterlander1 (Feb 11, 2008)

djleye said:


> You weren't doing anything wrong!!!
> You were hunting.


Never have i heard more true words spoken! :beer:


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

goosebusters said:


> After another spring under my belt though I am still not convinced that blinds work for snow geese.


Ive said this from day one.

The only time we use blinds is in standing corn stubble. If its tilled, we wear whitesuits. ANY type of small grain, we wear white suits.


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## possumfoot (Nov 7, 2006)

layouts are hard to hide, but they work well. personaly, i like mud. and lots of it. w/ a bit of corn, but its not a must. i like winter wheat fields that birds have made muddy spots in.. just mud up and kill em.


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## sdrookie (May 21, 2006)

Paying dues! Thats what you're doing!

13 days is hunting for sure. Stick with it.


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## shooteminthelips (Jun 13, 2007)

Poor juvie hatch is part of it also. There were a lot less juvies this year. Hunting presure was also up this year. There were a lot more hunters out that means a lot more spreads and that means more times to look over spreads. Getting hidden is part of it when we were hidden well we killed birds. When we werent not so much.

On a lighter note with all the people not having the sucess and getting a taste of what it takes to kill geese in the spring. I have a feeling that a lot of people will be giving up on the spring season. Which means dumber birds in a few years. Just ask other hunters around what it was like for those who started hunting on the first conservation season. It didn't matter what you had for decoys or sound you were going to kill geese feet down.

Ask your self this. If you had killed 38 canada's in 13 days how would you feel about your success? That is a 3 bird a day average. I think you would feel good about yourself. Snow geese are the smartest birds out there 38 in 13 days is pretty good.


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## snowbus (Mar 7, 2007)

Your not doing anything wrong.....just because you see posts on here about a great hunt doesn't mean your bad! For every post of success on here there are probably 9 others that did not post their results because of a poor hunt.

Study the threads, watch the birds and keep hunting. Your time will come.


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## Traxion (Apr 16, 2004)

We had a tough go as well. Concealment like others have said is what I think it is. I always seemed to have 3 guys along who would stuff their blind once and not worry about it. Blinds just didn't blend. I am going to try whites next year as often as I can. I know the blinds are comfortable, but I'd rather be uncomfortable and kill a few birds than sit in a blind and sleep all day!


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## possumfoot (Nov 7, 2006)

might be too many flyers for the size of the spread


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

shooteminthelips said:


> On a lighter note with all the people not having the sucess and getting a taste of what it takes to kill geese in the spring. I have a feeling that a lot of people will be giving up on the spring season.


Theres a whole slough of 10-13 year olds out there that have never set a goose decoy. Theyll hear the stories, see the pics, and someday, theyll give it a try. Yes, some will hunt only one season and say screw it, but some wont. And behind them, theres a whole bunch of 2-3 year olds that have never set a goose decoy...... and so on and so forth.


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## possumfoot (Nov 7, 2006)

he means practice makes , well alot better than most, but cant say perfect


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## shooteminthelips (Jun 13, 2007)

Yeah but now people will be talking about how hard this game really is. It will make people think twice. Less and less people will try it.


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## snowsforlife (Mar 27, 2005)

it takes a different breed to keep going after snow geese . A good hunt happens 1 out of 10 times. Then most people give up after the first weekends because of the low kill #s and don't realize the good hunting hasn't even come yet. During the main migration this year i was happy to shoot one goose for myself and not get another one all day


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## sdrookie (May 21, 2006)

I often wonder what it is that makes some of us fall for snow geese. Most of my friends won't even try anymore because of the tough conditions the last few springs. They were living in SD when the CO started. Easy pickings them days. Most people just don't want to do the work.

Not me. I wish I was in Canada right now. Wallowing in the mud.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Ive always said theres no "in-between" when it comes to snow goose hunting. You either love it, or you hate it. Rarely do you meet someone who thinks its "allright".

I just dont think we'll ever see the "good ole days" when there were few hunters afield,....for anything. People have more money, more free time now than previous generations. Ya, you may see fewer numbers in the next couple years, considering the hunting was tough this year with the poor hatch, but we may have a great hatch this year, and than newbies will hear and see the photos and stories of numerous great hunts, and theyll give it a whirl. There will be low hunter number years and high number years, but I think the general trend will be increasing.

I always hear all this talk about losing young hunters. Well, it may be true in other parts of the country, but it sure as hell aint true up here. If anything, hunter numbers are increasing here.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> Amen, there is only two reasons why a snow goose won't decoy, something doesn't look right or something doesn't sound right


and a third reason, the field might be fed out all ready. very common mistake


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## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

buckseye said:



> > Amen, there is only two reasons why a snow goose won't decoy, something doesn't look right or something doesn't sound right
> 
> 
> and a third reason, the field might be fed out all ready. very common mistake


No doubt! I've ran into that problem. I think it is the main reason why when birds are around in big numbers it is not uncommon for them to switch fields daily. It doesn't take long for a flock of 50,000 birds to feed out a field.


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## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

That is a big reason why I try not to hunt the "X" for snows. There seems to be a lot more success if you can use your brain and think of the next logical place for them to go. So ideally you want to be on the "future X".


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## echoXLT (Aug 27, 2007)

You know I've seen this ever since the spring season started. People go out, assuming they are going to kill 100 every day, and a lot of it is from several things. Having no limit, unplugged shotguns, e-callers, etc., then on top of that, seeing people posting up pics of a few awesome days that they had, they expect this will happen with them too. I think this is the biggest misconception of newbie snow goose hunters. They think you should absolutely hammer em every day because of all the hype built up around snow goose hunting.

Most of these people are in for a big surprise...


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## AWO (Mar 9, 2008)

Those large number days sure are rewarding though, makes you want to keep at it day in and day out, no matter what. More you're out there, more you're going to learn, more birds you'll kill. Good luck.


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

greenhead1485 said:


> hey everyone got some snow killin pics me and my buddy shot 38 in 13 days with 250 higdon shells on motion stakes and 28 flyers what the heck are we doing wrong ?[


Looks like a pretty nice spread to me. Nice looking blues you have there.
Good work,
Dan


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## possumfoot (Nov 7, 2006)

part of my spread. its hard to get good pics.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

possum what you running in there?


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

PF, that sure looks like a good spread by the looks of it


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## possumfoot (Nov 7, 2006)

56 dz ss, 30 dz higdon shells on motion stakes, 10 dz hardcores, 6 dz custom painted flambou shells, 26 ss flyers, and 3 nw flyers


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