First blues and snows

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

As a head's up, had first flocks of blues and snows flying over today in Western, IA.

 

[robby denning]

from a non bird guy, what's that mean?

migration south beginning?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

from a non bird guy, what's that mean?

migration south beginning?

No worries, the migration north is started. Huge flocks of blue and snow geese pass through the midwest on their way north to the tundra to nest. Several states have no restriction (number of shells in gun or bag limits) conservation hunts on them due to their massive numbers and negative impact on arctic habitat.

 

[robby denning]

No worries, the migration north is started. Huge flocks of blue and snow geese pass through the midwest on their way north to the tundra to nest. Several states have no restriction (number of shells in gun or bag limits) conservation hunts on them due to their massive numbers and negative impact on arctic habitat.

See! I had my north/south migration mixed up lol.

Cool, so is this a temperature/weather dependent thing, or more about the calendar? Are they on time, early, late?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm no expert, but I think they generally follow the ice/open water north, pausing along the way depending on conditions. @KurtR or one of the other waterfowlers on here can confirm for sure. Hunting them can be challenging as they are fairly wary and travel in huge flocks. So from what I've read, a guy typically needs a much larger decoy spread to get them to take the bait and come in close enough for shots.

 

[Novahunter]

Got a group of 11 of us going on a guided hunt in MD on Friday. Last year we got skunked and our whole hunt was cancelled because it was so warm all the geese were in Canada by this time last year

With the large decoy spread needed to hunt these birds going guided is super helpful. I've got my Benelli SBE ready with an extra long mag extender!

 

[KurtR]

See! I had my north/south migration mixed up lol.

Cool, so is this a temperature/weather dependent thing, or more about the calendar? Are they on time, early, late?

They are early. I dont start thinking about them till mid march and i would guess they will be the leading edge up in north part of south dakota this week. The first push is generally adult birds who can be 20 plus years old and have seen every trick in the book and are really hard to hunt. They had a great hatch this year so the juvies could make for a fun spring. There is little to no snow from here to the canadian border so they could just blow through real fast if no weather holds them up. Spreads of a couple thousand decoys with rotary spinners and e callers are the norm for spring. We lovingly refer to them as the white devil the second you think you have them figured out they will make you look stupid but that on day out of 50 it works and you have spins of 10000 landing on you make all the pain and suffering worth it haha.

this video is a dream day

 

[robby denning]

They are early. I dont start thinking about them till mid march and i would guess they will be the leading edge up in north part of south dakota this week. The first push is generally adult birds who can be 20 plus years old and have seen every trick in the book and are really hard to hunt. They had a great hatch this year so the juvies could make for a fun spring. There is little to no snow from here to the canadian border so they could just blow through real fast if no weather holds them up. Spreads of a couple thousand decoys with rotary spinners and e callers are the norm for spring. We lovingly refer to them as the white devil the second you think you have them figured out they will make you look stupid but that on day out of 50 it works and you have spins of 10000 landing on you make all the pain and suffering worth it haha.

this video is a dream day

Learing all the time, so they're early due to the weather? Are they earlier on average the last decade (just picking a number) or is this year an anomoly?

I ask because you hear all this stuff about climate change and I never know who to believe, but I do trust hunters with years of knowledge about certain animals migratory patterns.

We went through a time of more milder falls here (can't prove it, but seems that way) but it's so hard to know what's an anomoly and what is a trend.

Anyway, I also had no idea a migratory bird could live 20+ years!!!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

They are early. I dont start thinking about them till mid march and i would guess they will be the leading edge up in north part of south dakota this week. The first push is generally adult birds who can be 20 plus years old and have seen every trick in the book and are really hard to hunt. They had a great hatch this year so the juvies could make for a fun spring. There is little to no snow from here to the canadian border so they could just blow through real fast if no weather holds them up. Spreads of a couple thousand decoys with rotary spinners and e callers are the norm for spring. We lovingly refer to them as the white devil the second you think you have them figured out they will make you look stupid but that on day out of 50 it works and you have spins of 10000 landing on you make all the pain and suffering worth it haha.

this video is a dream day

Wow. My super 90 extended would have fun doing that. Not sure I could afford the ammo though!

 

[KurtR]

Learing all the time, so they're early due to the weather? Are they earlier on average the last decade (just picking a number) or is this year an anomoly?

I ask because you hear all this stuff about climate change and I never know who to believe, but I do trust hunters with years of knowledge about certain animals migratory patterns.

We went through a time of more milder falls here (can't prove it, but seems that way) but it's so hard to know what's an anomoly and what is a trend.

Anyway, I also had no idea a migratory bird could live 20+ years!!!

Ya its the weather no snow and they will be on the move. They will sit on the ice as long as they can get in fields and feed. I would say its an odd year last year they did not show up till the middle of april we had so much snow and then just blew right over us with a few small pockets sticking around. We had a really mild fall here and some honkers never left. Average high is 20's right now and its high 40's to mid 50's the next 2 weeks. It could all change with a big snow which i hope we get in march or april as it will get dry fast.

Overall i would say the average time the mass shows up is mid march to late march. The spring snow goose hunters are a fickle bunch they see one flock and panic. You want some comic relief go to a snow goose migration page on facebook. The latest is some guy plowed some guys spread under in Arkansas . They get wild down there and in SEMO.

 

[KurtR]

Wow. My super 90 extended would have fun doing that. Not sure I could afford the ammo though!

I think the guys that won macks contest last year shot 15 cases. good thing it only happens about once every 40 hunts haha.

 

[robby denning]

Ya its the weather no snow and they will be on the move. They will sit on the ice as long as they can get in fields and feed. I would say its an odd year last year they did not show up till the middle of april we had so much snow and then just blew right over us with a few small pockets sticking around. We had a really mild fall here and some honkers never left. Average high is 20's right now and its high 40's to mid 50's the next 2 weeks. It could all change with a big snow which i hope we get in march or april as it will get dry fast.

Overall i would say the average time the mass shows up is mid march to late march. The spring snow goose hunters are a fickle bunch they see one flock and panic. You want some comic relief go to a snow goose migration page on facebook. The latest is some guy plowed some guys spread under in Arkansas . They get wild down there and in SEMO.

thanks for the education Kurt.
and...

You want some comic relief go to a snow goose migration page on facebook. The latest is some guy plowed some guys spread under in Arkansas . They get wild down there and in SEMO.

lol!

 

[Novahunter]

You want some comic relief go to a snow goose migration page on facebook. The latest is some guy plowed some guys spread under in Arkansas . They get wild down there and in SEMO.

Dude, no joke! I found a few of those pages on Facebook a couple of week ago, and they are full of drama. I left a few cause it was just crazy drama.

 

[KurtR]

Dude, no joke! I found a few of those pages on Facebook a couple of week ago, and they are full of drama. I left a few cause it was just crazy drama.

Ya I make a point of not posting on them but the reading is just plain goofy what those guys do for snow geese

 

[Wheels]

As a head's up, had first flocks of blues and snows flying over today in Western, IA.

I'm surprised you're just now seeing them. There have been over a million at Squaw Creek in NW MO for the last week or more. The adult birds are always in a hurry to get to the tundra.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm surprised you're just now seeing them. There have been over a million at Squaw Creek in NW MO for the last week or more. The adult birds are always in a hurry to get to the tundra.

My buddy lives 3 miles east of me on Dunbar Slough, one of the largest continuous marshes in Iowa. I just asked if he's seen any snows yet, and he hasn't noticed any so far. However, he's on the far south end, and the areas that still have some water left in them are in the next section north. But typically he'd see them buzzing by otw north in mass.

Last week there were thousands of Canadians (I think the smaller ones- Ross?) and more swans than I've ever seen in my life.

 

[KurtR]

My buddy lives 3 miles east of me on Dunbar Slough, one of the largest continuous marshes in Iowa. I just asked if he's seen any snows yet, and he hasn't noticed any so far. However, he's on the far south end, and the areas that still have some water left in them are in the next section north. But typically he'd see them buzzing by otw north in mass.

Last week there were thousands of Canadians (I think the smaller ones- Ross?) and more swans than I've ever seen in my life.

Ross are the little white ones a mini snow goose. The little Canadians are lessers

 

[BadEarth]

Where you at in SD Kurt? I graduated from SDSU 7 years ago and sure miss the spring snows. Our last hunt in 2016 we killed 132 Juveys in 45 minutes. I burned my hand on my gun barrel it was so hot. We did more jump shooting than decoying tho, like you said it takes a lot of spread. Good luck this spring

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Ross are the little white ones a mini snow goose. The little Canadians are lessers

Gotcha, thank you for that, and these were definitely the lesser Canadians. About the size of a snow but same coloration as regular Canadian. Literally thousands of those buggers.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

My cousin pinged me yesterday, and he and a bunch of guys went on an outfitted hunt in northern AR last Th-Sat. They killed 173, but saw tens of thousands.