Snow Geese hunting in April

[Axel Larson]

Because of new regulations http://www.hatvt.org/ there will be a snow geese season from early March to late April, as it is I have a week off from school in early April and was planning on geese hunting in the fall this year anyways. So my question is first what do I need to hunt them is there anything different since it is in the spring not fall. I have a shotgun that will work, a ground blind that might work. Also where would you suggest to set up I was thinking a corn field for the fall but in the summer I am not sure some farmers might be working them already. I have no decoys and from what I have seen they are pretty expansive so I am also wondering how much it would be to get set up.

 

[MCgunner]

I hunt with Texas Rags. I have 200 of these.... http://www.mackspw.com/Item--i-TEX80S

Mine came with wooden dowels, see they're using fiber glass now. These are quite effective. Many outfitters/goose guides use them here in the Eagle Lake area and after hunting over them, I bought mine. I have public land to hunt and use these successfully.

 

[Patocazador]

I have never hunted snow geese, Fall or Spring. However, the info from the magazines and videos seems to all agree that you need LOTS of decoys and LOTS of scouting. In Spring they are working their way north and will only stop where there is a bunch of feed. If there's not a lot of feed, they move north. Here today & gone tomorrow.

 

[MCgunner]

That's why I really prefer to use hunting club/outfitters for goose hunting around here. They do all the scouting,. It's a bit expensive, but the shooting is usually good. I don't hunt that often, maybe will hunt several times next season with outfitters in the Eagle Lake area.

My public hunting is done in a marsh close to a HUGE roost. They get up in the morning to fly off to the fields to feed, will circle around and will decoy, but they're all gone by 9 AM usually. So, it's get up early and get set up for sunrise. When we hunt the grain fields, heck, they don't even start coming in until well after sunrise.

They winter down here. Up where the OP is, they're just passing through. It's gonna be harder to pattern them.

200 well placed Texas rags works well for me. I've hunted over 1000 or so and if you get too many, the perimeter can be out there. Need to set up with a hole between the deeks to lure 'em to, similar to a duck set. We'll lay out prone in a white coverall if there's no cover or if a ditch or something is near the deeks where we wanna set up, we'll camo out and build a quick hide.

The public land I hunt, pretty open. White tyvek works well. They're attracted to large masses of white. The Texas Rags move around in the wind, really do a good job and much more affordable than an equal quantity of full body deeks.

The weather matters. The best days are low ceiling days where they have to come down below the cloud deck to see what's talkin' to 'em. Bluebird days can be tough. They don't like to get down below 50 yards. That's where the 10 gauge and steel Ts come in. What once was out of range no longer is.

 

[HB]

I try to pass shoot geese on public land all the time. Right now snows are starting to come through, just gotta be at the right place at the right time without the deeks. I sit on a huge hill on a powercut near a lake. Every morning geese leave their haven on a state park and fly over me on a conservation area. Do your homework is the only advice I can give. You need to know exactly what time and what weather they prefer.

HB

 

[MCgunner]

My obligatory goose hunt pic. This was a good hunt several years back over full bodies and rags, only about 150 deeks that morning, on a rice field in Calhoun County, Texas, on the coast. It was one of those perfect days, set up on a fence line, drove right up to the spot, no walking. We set a hide there, sitting on chairs, 60 degrees in shirt sleeves. It was like dove hunting for HUGE doves, only more comfortable as it wasn't 90 degrees plus. There was a low ceiling that day, about 50 yards high that held until nearly 11AM before breaking up. It was perfect. We were hunting with an outfitter there, a guy I know through other folks, his family has half the land around there and he has an outfitting service and farms rice. This was my first hunt with my 10 gauge and I really didn't need it. Birds were falling in from 25 to 30 yards, most shots. It was awesome. It's days like this that keep me coming back.

 

[chas08]

You need to be in the field they are coming to to feed! Even with a large spread many times they will pass you right by if you aren' exactly where they're headed to!

The next best thing is to set up close to a roost (half mile or so) and hope you are on their flyway as they leave and just pass shoot!

Good luck! They aren't as easy as Canadas or Ducks!