TACTICS FOR SNOW GEESE

Bill Cooper
January 2010

Snow goose populations exploded over two decades ago, leading conservation officials to institute a special conservation order legalizing the hunting of snow geese during their annual migration back north. Snow geese became so plentiful that they are actually destroying their own nesting habitat on the Tundra.
Hunters immediately became ecstatic about the new conservation order which allowed them to take the plugs out of their shotguns and to use electronic callers. Additionally, there were no limits placed on the amount of birds a hunter could harvest.
The regulation sounded wonderful to hunters, but that is where the easy deal ended. Snow geese are notoriously difficult to hunt. They live a long time, generally 12-to-15-years, and are very wary. Hunters need something in the neighborhood of 1,000 decoys just to get a flock of snows to investigate. And some say the birds have become even more wary since the institution of the conservation order. In the beginning of the order many hunters used rag decoys. Now, most use full bodied decoys.
Snow geese travel in enormous flocks and it takes a lot of loud calling to entice them. It is wise to use two or more electronic callers strategically placed in the decoy set.
Snow geese are tough birds. Utilizing the best shotshells available is recommended for hunting snow geese. B’s, BB’s, BBB’s, and in some cases, T’s are recommended. These loads carry big shot which is required to bring a snow goose down.
Snow geese move about regularly searching for food sources. Unlike Canadas, snows are not likely to return soon to a field where they have been hunted. Daily scouting is paramount in order to be consistently successful at hunting snow geese.
Check with your state conservation agency about specific regulations for hunting snow geese in your area. And, take lots of patience to the field with you.