Who's going snow goose hunting?

[IceHawk]

Well 2 days and were off boys. The geese are stacked up heavy in Sd and as of today the first sightings of snows came from ND. The geese are concentrated fom the SE corner of Sd to as far as Sand lake refuge which is holding around 50,000 or so. The weekends weather calls for chance of snow flurries and wind just what us decoy hunters want I can't wait!!!! I will post a report when we get back.

Are any other FMers going to SD this weekend I'll be out there from Friday until I get sick of it, If anyone is heading out shoot me a email at [email protected]. We can exchange cell phone numbers and also relay info about what were seeing hunting as far as numbers and and locations that are holding birds.

Finlander if you see this post I was wondering when you plan on heading out there I think we hunt the same general area?

[fishin5]

Don't forget to bring your cow forms out with ya!
Don't get me wrong, I love to decoy sky carp as much as anyone but i always seem to be out on a bluebird sky day with just enough wind to keep those skittish buggers at 80 yards over my spread looooookin and looooookin!
It's times like these that I have to take out my frustrations on em by breakin out the cow form and go redneck on em for a few hours!

[Finlander]

Icekawk,
Going to Redfield saturday morning!
Be there until Wednesday!
Staying at the Super8 motel.
Hope to see ya at the cleaning table behind the motel and i'll show the coolest way to clean dem'der'snows!

[This message has been edited by Finlander (edited 03-11-2004).]

[Sartell Angler]

Finlander.....you are one lucky guy.....I'd give my left arm to be out there hunting snows that long...oh well, maybe next year.

S.A.

[Finlander]

Just about got a divorce over it!
It was for that many days or two three day weekends!
I hope these days from the 13th thrigh the 17th will pan out for some great shooting!
Can't wait! It's hard to sleep just thinking about them SOB's!

[IceHawk]

Finlander: I'll be in Redfield were staying at the Wilson motel. Look for a new 4 door white Ford 4x4 or a newer green 4 door chevy 2500 these are our vehicles. We'll have trailers and 4 wheelers and decoys stacked everywhere shouldn't be hard to find us.

We plan on hitting the main drag restaurant and bar for grub and cocktails erach night I'll look for you there or shoot me a email and we can exchange cell numbers again.

Looks like the birds are stacked up in the area and with south to SE winds scheduled for the next few days more should arrive. If I don't run into you good luck and CUT EM!!!!!

[IceHawk]

Our group just returned from our first snow goose trip of the year. We saw a ton of birds but managed shooting only 15 in the decoys. The bird numbers were there it was just that the birds seemed decoy shy this year, and the weather didn't help out much.

The one thing that I noticed hunters doing this year was shooting birds off of there roosts. Hunting in a area where this is happening can make hunting tough real quick. The birds need places to rest and shooting them off of their roosts make them vacate the area real quick.

We plan on heading back to SD possibly later this week, hopefully things will improve on our next hunt.

One thing I want to comment on is how friendly the people of SD are, we have found over the years that gaining permission to hunt areas has become real easy. We have had more yes responses then no's when asking, with even a few farmers going out of their way to call neighbors and friends trying to locate snows for us.

To anyone who plans on hunting later this week I would look to the northern part of SD(Sand Prairie management area to the southern parts of ND) alot of birds were pushing North at night, and my guess would be that they are stacking up below the snow line in ND just waiting for the right time to bust into CANADA.

[jlm]

This is the first year in many years that I have decided not to hunt the Spring snows in ND. It has gradually declined and I am not sure it is worth the effort anymore. The first Spring hunt several years ago was by far my best, we harvested more birds than I could cound and I shot over a case of ammo in three days. It was a trip of a lifetime. Every year it has declined. The birds get smarter and the hunters get thicker. There are just too many road hunters now who chase the birds around. It makes it very difficult to hunt. For those of you who choose to go, I would offer this advice. Steer clear of the high pressure areas. There are lots of birds in these areas (such as Devils Lake) but there are also a ton of hunters. Get away to places that have fewer birds and little pressure, you will increase your odds dramatically. I will be hunting snows this year but I have decided to do it in MN. There are huntable numbers of birds and no other hunters. It is still possible to decoy these birds which makes all the difference in the world. Good luck to everyone and I hope you are blessed with good hunting. It is a sight you will never forget...the skies dotted with birds and a roar of wings and "goose talk". Nothing compares!

[rattlem'up]

where in mn are you planning to hunt snows? Maybe if its not to far from me and if your willing, we could get together and try out luck on some snows. I dont have any snow decoys but i have about 5 doz canadian to mix in if you have some snows. if anyone's hunting in mn for snows and wouldnt mind someone tagging along let me know. [email protected] thanks jesse

[jlm]

Where are you located. I will be hunting on land I lease from a buddy who is a large farmer in NW MN.

[rattlem'up]

I live in Glencoe! Its about 60 miles south of the twin cities. But am willing to drive a little ways.

[Tour. Pro 175]

Hotline phone numbers N. Dakota 701-328-3697 S. Dakota 605-885-6401

[This message has been edited by Tour. Pro 175 (edited 03-18-2004).]

[Finlander]

Just back from Redfield South Dakota and the snows are thick!
There were about 500,000 sitting on Twin Lakes Wildlife management area on tuesday evening and more pouring in!
And the local people there say they are just about peaking!
What a sight!
Our group of five shot 32 SOB's from the town of Tulare to just north of Scatterwood
lake.
Bring alot of shell's for sure!!
Good Luck!

[Tour. Pro 175]

Finlander

Were you decoying or jump and pass shooting? What was the hunting pressure like? Where would you recomend staying and are there rooms available? Thinking about leaving Sat. morning very early. Any info would be great.

Thank you,
Paul

[Finlander]

Paul,
stayed at the super8 on the main drag of Redfield. They were not booked up last weekend, this weekend don't know.
If there booked try the Wilson motel there.
Hunting pressure light. Should be lots of geese there on saturday as they are hitting a snow line in North Dakota then coming back to open water in South Dakota.
Check out Mud Lake in the Twin Lake Wildlife Area as there were more geese there than i've ever seen before and this was my fourth year hunting that area. Bring a video camera to record the amount of geese there, it's unreal!
We shot all our geese pass shooting as we tried to get in between feeding flocks that went back and forth between them.

[This message has been edited by Finlander (edited 03-18-2004).]

[Tour. Pro 175]

Finlander,

Thanks for the info!

[Tour. Pro 175]

IceHawk,

Thank you for the info and the offer! I tried e-mailing you back but am having some trouble with the server. We are now leaning towards N. Dakota after watching the weather. We have a few connections in the S.E. corner of the state. We leave at 4:00 am I'll give a report on Sunday.

[Tour. Pro 175]

Just got back from S.E. N. Dakota. We hunted North and East of Ellendale. On Sat. there was geese everywhere!! I've never seen so many geese. The high winds did their part in keeping the birds from going North, as it seemed every bird was landing and feeding in the area we were hunting

Today was a different story. Last night the low was around 10 degrees, the sheet water in the fields was froze solid and the geese that were everywhere at sunset were gone. we did manage to find a few flocks to harass early, but by 10:00 most of the geese we saw were flying high and heading North.

From what the locals were saying and what we saw, I would say that the migration is at it's peak in the S.E. there is no snow, the sloughs are opening and temps are going to be in the 50's, there is nothing to hold these birds back and will move through the state quickly.

[walleyewacker]

I wouldnt speak too soon on the peaks. Tonight was the most incredible night I have seen all year. Kingsbury Co. SD was flooded with the biggest tonadoes I have ever seen. There are influxes of birds coming in and heading out on a daily basis.