snows near talcott

[pheasant maniac]

was just wondering if the snows are still in that area?

would like to get out if i can.

[Sky Carp Blaster]

I plan on driving all around Western/South Western Minnesota tomorrow looking for some snow geese and possibly shooting a few. I plan on starting the morning around 3:00 AM, so I can be down that way for sunrise. I will start by driving down towards Marshall then cutting West towards Ivanhoe, before driving south. I will post what I found late tomorrow night.

[Sky Carp Blaster]

Made the trip out to Western MN yesterday. I didn't have high expectations, just wanted something to do; I've been bored on my Spring Break. Left Rogers at 3:50 AM, by myself. I was making good time until roads turned to glare ice by Cokato/Hutchinson. I drove south on 23 towards Marshall, and cut West just before town. I checked out a bunch of lakes/ponds to the West of Marshall and found nothing but Canadians. Drove to South Dakota border to Hendricks. Lake Hendricks has two large open areas of water, holding tons of Canadian geese, ducks, and a few snows. I saw a couple flocks of snow geese up high and coming from the South towards lake Hendricks-I thought maybe it would be a good day for hunting. I left this area and visited some other lakes on my way to Lake Benton. Most of these lakes have open water because of aerators- and are holding tons of dark geese and ducks, with a few snows mixed in. I then drove South farther towards Luverne, cut west a couple miles north of town, and drove north again towards Hendricks, without seeing anything. When I got back to Hendricks, I sat on some public land adjacent to the lake to try to possibly get some pass shooting. I didn't fire a shot. I didn't really care too much. I put 660 miles on my F-150 yesterday, driving all over the place. I saw thousands of dark geese and ducks, only a couple hundred snows. It was worth it though, and I will definately be making more trips as soon as the migration starts up again.

[Duck-o-holic]

Thanks for the good post Sky Carp Blaster. I often make that exact same drive in pursuit of fowl. I usually do it in the fall, and bag plenty of pheasants while scouting those areas. Sounds like a fun trip even without shooting any birds. Nice to just be out there and learn new areas. I think if you'd just gone 30+ miles to the west, the skies and water would have been a lot "whiter". Good luck if you make it back out!

[Sky Carp Blaster]

Thanks Duck-o-hoilc. I had a blast. It was fun just to get out and explore. Got lots of cool pictures of geese and ducks in the process too. My friends looked at me kind of funny when I told them I put on 660 miles on my truck with gas prices kind of high. I thought it was worth it and I didn't fire a shot. If I make another trip and get some shooting, I'll be really happy.

[Sartell Angler]

Best of luck to you Sky Carp Blaster...I too understand how it can be fun to sit in a truck all day. When you're exploring new areas, seeing birds, and having a chance at pulling the trigger on a snow it isn't hard to enjoy yourself. Only problem I see with your trip is that you didn't have a buddy or two along...nothing beats a good 'ol fashioned road trip...crank up the tunes, talk about huntin'/fishing, live the good life... I plan to head down there with my bro and our buddy from high school next weekend to do something similar to what you did today. If you are gonna make the trip again solo, perhaps you'd want to join us. We're all in class all week but once next weekend gets here we're golden...don't know if we're going for one day or two, but I'd imagine that our chances would improve substantially if we had a day to scope things out and then targeted birds we knew existed the following day.

anyone else interested in collaborating for a snowgoose hunt that weekend, feel free to shoot me an email:

indy500as at hotmail dot com.

SA/wdw

[iceman16]

went out to arlington, S.D. last weekend saw thousands and thousands of snows. the grounds and lakes we covered with birds, just nto where we were. 9 guys we ended up with 5 birds. had a blast it was worth the 7 hour truck ride out in a snow storm to see that amazing sight. goin back out next weekend to try it agian try some different fields. that was the first snow goose huntin trip for me and i am hooked, i will post after our next trip.