Snow
goose hunting over decoys
Successful snow goose hunting over decoys is largely dependant on
current weather conditions. Wind, snow, fog, and anything else that
limits a snow gooses ability to exam your decoy spread will surely
increase your success. So will hunting on the 'X'. By 'X' I mean the exact spot
the geese were feeding or roosting at the day before. Get the weather
and location in your favor and you will be well on your way to a
successful hunt. But...
Like most hunters chasing snow geese, I am a
weekend warrior. I can only hunt 2 out of 7 days. More than likely the
weather will not be in my favor. So how can I increase my snow goose
kill? Improve on what I can control: decoy selection, call
selection, and blind selection.
Snow Goose Decoy Selection:
My decoy trailer has 2
different decoy setups. One is for hunting over ponds and flooded fields
that I can drive into. The other spread is for hunting on ponds or
flooded fields where I cannot drive an enclosed trailer or when I
am hunting in picked feed fields.
If I can drive into the pond or
flooded field my decoy spread consists of 8 dozen full bodied snow goose
decoys and 5 dozen weighted keel floating snow goose decoys. The ratio
of snow to blue goose decoys is 3 to 1. The 
ratio of snows to blues in
the wild is something around 3-2 in the central flyway. I like to have
more white in my spread for visibility, so that is why I run a 3-1 ratio
of snows to blues. This full bodied and floater goose decoy spread is
highly realistic and consistently decoys snows into shotgun range (less
than 40 yards). This spread does not have a lot of movement except for
the floating goose decoys. The reason this is not an issue is that generally
birds roosting on ponds or in flooded fields are not moving that much;
they are resting. Snow goose hunting over ponds or flooded fields that I
can drive into is my preference. The decoy spread is easy to deploy, highly realistic, and when
birds are decoying into the spread they are almost always in range. The
negatives of full bodies and floaters are the cost, storage, and having
to stake them down in excessive wind.
My muddy pond and feed field decoy
spread consists of wind sock style decoys such as northwind decoys. The reason I like these
decoys is because they are highly portable and have excellent motion
when the wind is greater than 10 mph. I like to deploy at least 300
decoys, with 600 plus preferred. I use a 3-1 ratio of white snow
goose decoys to blue goose decoys.
This spread is used when I cannot
drive into the pond or when hunting in feed fields. The reason I prefer
windsock decoys over full bodies when hunting in a feed field is that feeding geese are always
moving, and with the proper wind, the
windsocks will be moving. On ponds I cannot drive into and it is too far
to walk floaters in, I stake some windsocks right in the water. A windsock spread is not as effective as a full body spread when
hunting over water, but sometimes you must compromise as you cannot
drive into the field when there is nothing but mud. This is often the
case when hunting North and South Dakota in the spring.
A
common question I receive regarding decoy selection is why I use so few
decoys when hunting over water and so many when hunting in the
field. My answer is I always use as many realistic decoys as I can.
The less realistic the decoy I am using, the more of them I need when
hunting.
My
current decoy trailer is a 6x12 enclosed, and it is fully packed with my
current numbers of full bodies and floaters. If I could store and
afford 10 dozen more full body decoys, it sure would help. Storing
600 windsock style decoys takes only three large plastic bins which
takes up very little space.
Snow
Goose Call Selection:
Selecting the right call is more important in the spring conservation
season than it is during the fall.  During the spring conservation season you can use electronic calls and they
are a huge advantage. Currently they are not legal during the fall
(check your current regulations) . I consider electronic snow goose calls
a must
have item for spring snow goose hunting and prefer electronic calls that
are powered by a car audio deck running 4 speakers. Car audio decks are
much louder than conventional electronic predator calls and the ability
to run 4 speakers lets you spread the sound out throughout your decoy
spread. I prefer to have the speaker pointing downwind at approaching
geese fairly close to the hunters blinds as decoying snows tend to focus
on the call. The other speakers are pointing in random directions (make
sure every direction is covered), with one pointing vertical in the
middle of the spread.
Selecting the audio tape or
CD for your electronic
call is very critical to your snow goose hunting success. I strictly use
the "Snow Talker" electronic snow goose call recordings by Performance
Calls. These snow goose recordings have proven extremely effective on spring snows
due to
the recording's incredible realism and clarity. Other recordings on
the market are recorded too far away from the feeding geese so it sounds like a snow goose
flock at a distance. Many recordings can attract snows to within 100
yards, but to finish them below that 40 yard mark, your electronic call must be playing the individual honks, murmurs and feeding
sounds those snows expect to hear from a flock on the ground. What the
snow geese do not expect to hear, but is commonly found on other snow goose recordings on the market
are the sounds of airplanes, wind noise, tweedy birds, humans
speaking, or the racket of humans playing snow goose calls. Don't let
the huge advantage an electronic call gives you go to waste during the spring season by playing a
poorly recorded tape or CD in your electronic call. CD's and tapes are
relatively inexpensive yet can play an extremely important role in your
success or failure of decoying snow geese.
Selecting a conventional
style snow goose call is fairly simple. Any major sporting goods store
sells snow goose calls, and your short reed Canada goose call can easily
double as a snow goose call by tuning it to be a little higher pitched.
Conventional calling is very effective on singles and small flocks. If a
snow goose barks at you as it circles above, bark back immediately. This
constant dialogue will often pull that bird in. We all know that
once one bird commits, the flock follows.
Blind selection:
I prefer to
use layout blinds when hunting snow geese. The blinds are very portable,
low
profile, and  when properly camouflaged with natural
vegetation all but
disappear. They are also very comfortable and will keep you warm. When I
cannot use a layout blind I prefer to surround myself in a tight pod of
decoys. I use them to break up my human outline. If the birds are
flaring, 9 out of 10 times lack of concealment is the problem. For
more information on hunting blinds visit goose hunting blind
selection.
The above suggestions will help you consistently decoy more snow geese.
For more goose and duck hunting tips please read other articles located
at duck and goose
hunting tips.
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