Jump shooting snow geese

[MaxxiD]

I've been wanting to ask this question for a while, but I've been worried about coming off stupid. I don't know what's changed, but here goes; can you jump shoot spring snows?

By this I mean, can you sneak up on them and hopefully bag a few before they all bugger off?

I'm not ready to invest in a heap of decoys, nor am I wanting to drop $300 on a guided hunt. I'm a diy kinda guy

Thanks for stopping by

[calgarychef]

I have, it’s not easy and it’s sure not very effective. But if you have access to a spot where they happen to land it can’t hurt to try.

[anthony5]

If you get the chance give it a go. Hiding in a blind is no different than sneaking up on them if you can. Gota be pretty sneaky tho.

[jungleboy]

The very first time I ever hunted anything in Alberta , my future Father in law took me goose hunting. We spotted the geese (snows) and when they left the field to go back to the water we went in and dug pits.
The next morning we got into the pits and covered with straw and waited. The birds were not coming so we decided to go to the water where they were nested in the next quarter.
We got half way and they started to fly . We layed down flat in the field till they all passed over and literally landed exactly where we had dug in . We crawled all the way to the water and waited . We made some hides and when they came back we were ready. There were 3 of us on that hunt we all got our limit and we had a total of zero decoys , we were wearing our work coveralls and not a stitch of Camo .
Now that was 1980 but I remember that hunt right down to the last goose that flew past me and I knocked him out of the air with my last shot from my Lakefield mossberg 12 ga .
So I think if the cards are in your favour and you work hard at it then why not. Make a plan execute it and you could get some geese without spending a fortune

Ps. Yes we did fill in our pit blinds when it was all over.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by jungleboy

The very first time I ever hunted anything in Alberta , my future Father in law took me goose hunting. We spotted the geese (snows) and when they left the field to go back to the water we went in and dug pits.
The next morning we got into the pits and covered with straw and waited. The birds were not coming so we decided to go to the water where they were nested in the next quarter.
We got half way and they started to fly . We layed down flat in the field till they all passed over and literally landed exactly where we had dug in . We crawled all the way to the water and waited . We made some hides and when they came back we were ready. There were 3 of us on that hunt we all got our limit and we had a total of zero decoys , we were wearing our work coveralls and not a stitch of Camo .
Now that was 1980 but I remember that hunt right down to the last goose that flew past me and I knocked him out of the air with my last shot from my Lakefield mossberg 12 ga .
So I think if the cards are in your favour and you work hard at it then why not. Make a plan execute it and you could get some geese without spending a fortune

Ps. Yes we did fill in our pit blinds when it was all over.

That's a great story. Yeah, I was figuring it's not the most effective way to hunt them, but as they say; if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid

Screw it! I have all the gear and a license from last year, I'm gonna give it a go

Thanks all for the words of encouragement

[C & C]

i have never done it in the spring but in the fall I do well by a lake with high banks. I just drag my kayak with me so i can retrieve them.

[MyAlberta]

I've not hunted spring goose, but I can easily say that my best hunts for whites in the fall is not with decoys. It is rare that a jump shoot develops, but we did run into one two falls ago. They were pouring into a field with a dirt cross road excavated into a hill. We drove right next to the flock and into the excavation, from which we ambushed them over the rise. 3 shooters with 3 shots each, 31 birds. My favorite though is getting under them stringing from field to field. Easily the most fun I've had shooting whites.

[KGB]

We have done just that once, lol! Saw the birds on a field, there was a tall grass between the road and the field… We crawled very slowly on our bellies right to the edge of the grass, we could see the birds at the first row standing on guard watching for troubles. We were about 30 yards away.
Jumped out and run towards the birds, they started to take off and we started to fire….3 of us got 5 birds down and then 2 more wounded we recovered later. Was fun!

[CBintheNorth]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

That's a great story. Yeah, I was figuring it's not the most effective way to hunt them, but as they say; if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid

Screw it! I have all the gear and a license from last year, I'm gonna give it a go

Thanks all for the words of encouragement

If you've got enough cover it can work to bag a few as snows are pretty easy to knock down within 40 yards.

But be sure to talk to the landowner about the day you plan to do it. Sometimes permission has already been given to another party for the upcoming days and that could really screw them up.

Just a reminder, and incase you were unaware, even though the migratory license is still valid for the spring season, your fall Alberta license will be expired.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by CBintheNorth

If you've got enough cover it can work to bag a few as snows are pretty easy to knock down within 40 yards.

But be sure to talk to the landowner about the day you plan to do it. Sometimes permission has already been given to another party for the upcoming days and that could really screw them up.

Just a reminder, and incase you were unaware, even though the migratory license is still valid for the spring season, your fall Alberta license will be expired.

Good point about the Alberta provincial licenses expiring, many people overlook this fact.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by CBintheNorth

If you've got enough cover it can work to bag a few as snows are pretty easy to knock down within 40 yards.

But be sure to talk to the landowner about the day you plan to do it. Sometimes permission has already been given to another party for the upcoming days and that could really screw them up.

Just a reminder, and incase you were unaware, even though the migratory license is still valid for the spring season, your fall Alberta license will be expired.

Aw yep, that is a good call! On both points. I would hate to screw up someone's hunt just so I could possibly bag a bird or two. And x2 on the license thing, I would have possibly overlooked that as well

[Big Grey Wolf]

Old Alberta 'Red Neck' goose hunting technique was two guys standing in back of pick up, drive like hell and fire away. Brother in law almost killed his brother when hit a ditch in the field and flipped him into the stubble.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Old Alberta 'Red Neck' goose hunting technique was two guys standing in back of pick up, drive like hell and fire away. Brother in law almost killed his brother when hit a ditch in the field and flipped him into the stubble.

I'm game

[tikka250]

I spent one whole spring going out on my own and trying to jump shoot snows.
I found that depending on your area it can be extremely difficult as they will stay 60-80 yards away from big bushes and other easy cover making it hard to get that nice big heavy numbers flock shot.
There's lots of talking to landowners cause you don't want to step on anyone's toes who is trying to scout for decoy shoots.
If you get a good close up flock shot have lots of spare ammo ready as there is a lot of wounded birds to take care of in short order. Best shoot was 14 birds on the ground in 2 shots. After that it was probably half a box in rapid succession trying to get all the cripples before they flew/ran off.

[ganderblaster]

If you do jump shoot please please please get permission first. I had a shoot I had spent a couple days patterning, got permission, checked the morning before the afternoon hunt when finally conditions and work schedule aligned to hunt only to find a couple guys walking in and shooting two birds out of a 30k bird feed and scattering the birds. Would have been a 70-200 bird shoot with 4 guys I figured. That’s the way it goes and I support all legal hunting but with jump shooting not requiring much effort it brings out the shady side in some people.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by ganderblaster

If you do jump shoot please please please get permission first. I had a shoot I had spent a couple days patterning, got permission, checked the morning before the afternoon hunt when finally conditions and work schedule aligned to hunt only to find a couple guys walking in and shooting two birds out of a 30k bird feed and scattering the birds. Would have been a 70-200 bird shoot with 4 guys I figured. That’s the way it goes and I support all legal hunting but with jump shooting not requiring much effort it brings out the shady side in some people.

I can see that yeah, but you won't have yo worry about me. I am a law abiding fellow and would never dream of discharging a firearm on someone's property without permission

[303 Hunter]

I did last year. Not on snow geese specifically but a neighbor has a large slue that would stay when they were not feeding. By hiding in the grass along the shore where they would land or the route they would use to get to the water when they were gone you could get a few good shots. I was able to shoot three white fronted geese using this tactic be I only really tried three or four times. I also shot a crane by predicting where they would usually fly over my parent’s property when they took off from the surrounding field.

[threeforthree]

As a kid from 16 to 25,did it a couple times. We did a duck sneak, 3 guys , 9 shots total, and how can I say we got so Lucky to have only 23 birds down.

Ask yourself is it worth losing your license for over your limit. do we need the meat that bad, but its legal so have fun.

[hilt134]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

That's a great story. Yeah, I was figuring it's not the most effective way to hunt them, but as they say; if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid

Screw it! I have all the gear and a license from last year, I'm gonna give it a go

Thanks all for the words of encouragement

It costs ya gas and time. It definitely can’t hurt.

[hilt134]

Originally Posted by threeforthree

As a kid from 16 to 25,did it a couple times. We did a duck sneak, 3 guys , 9 shots total, and how can I say we got so Lucky to have only 23 birds down.

Ask yourself is it worth losing your license for over your limit. do we need the meat that bad, but its legal so have fun.

Sounds like he’s going solo. So I’d be pretty impressed if he needed to worry about over limits of snows jumping them with 3 shots.

[Pixel Shooter]

Way more fun field shooting. If one was to find a great field and get permission it would be pretty easy to find someone with a a set up that you can join in and enjoy a good shoot. In my young young days i have jumped em. You get a few. Have had way more success when in numbers pass shooting and having some great success. Especially in fowl weather or windy days.

[303 Hunter]

Originally Posted by 303 Hunter

I did last year. Not on snow geese specifically but a neighbor has a large slue that the geese would go when they were not feeding. By hiding in the grass along the shore where they would land or the route they would use to get to the water, when they were gone, you could get a few good shots. I was able to shoot three white fronted geese using this tactic but I only really tried three or four times. I also shot a crane by predicting where they would usually fly over my parent’s property when they took off from the surrounding field.

Just correcting a few sentences.

[260 Rem]

Way back in the late sixties I was teaching in the Halkirk/Castor area … rural/bus kids would tell us where the geese were landing and we had more than our share of good shoots. For snows, we used white (gallon) bleach bottles for quick-set decoys and they seemed to work just fine.

[TrapperMike]

Grew up in Alsask and shot lots of geese. Used white towels and rags with a few decoys thrown in, sat on white lawn chairs and wore white coveralls. Shot more geese than than I can count.

[raised by wolves]

Wear whites and try walking in on the big flocks that are spread across a large area. It seems weird, but sometimes you can right into the middle of them if there are birds on the ground and others in the air. Don't get jittery and shoot the first birds that fly. Get into the middle of them before the shooting starts. There is so much noise and chaos in the big flocks that the shooters may get multiple volleys by sitting still and allowing more birds to return to the same feeding area.

Another trick is to find a ridgeline above the nearest large body of water to the feeding areas. With luck you can catch a few birds as they move between roosting and feeding.

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by TrapperMike

Grew up in Alsask and shot lots of geese. Used white towels and rags with a few decoys thrown in, sat on white lawn chairs and wore white coveralls. Shot more geese than than I can count.

as we head eastward on our annual bird hunt, we get a taste of things just before Morengo, being the first time we see whites in any real numbers. We hunt the Goose lake area and back towards Biggar. Truly a wonder of nature when a super cell of snow geese form up and string out over sections of land. We are always looking for the intercept. Getting excited already.

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Way back in the late sixties I was teaching in the Halkirk/Castor area … rural/bus kids would tell us where the geese were landing and we had more than our share of good shoots. For snows, we used white (gallon) bleach bottles for quick-set decoys and they seemed to work just fine.

We hunted Toefield south to Halkirk in early 70's for birds. Never really saw whites except for Beaverhill. I mostly remember chasing ducks, but that was back when there was water about.

[thumper]

If there's low snow coming down, or a fog or mist, find a stretch of fence-line that they're crossing, hang a jacket on two posts about 60 yards apart, and hide by a fence-post right in the middle of the two jackets.

With low visibility, flocks fly low and by the time they spot the jackets, they're too close to choose a new route, but still move away from a jacket - then spot the second one and funnel right down the middle - often just off the deck, and right over your head.

[TrapperMike]

If you can get a spot between 2 flocks, you can get a good shoot if your dressed in white. Just lay on the ground, for some reason they will come in close to check you out. Curious I guess.

[swifthunter]

It can be done if the terrain allows it. Pass shooting can be more productive. IF you have two people it gets easier, drop one guy off on one side of the birds and they hide. The other one drives around to the other side and when the birds fly away, if they fly over the hidden hunter you can get a couple good shots off sometimes. But shooting them on the water can be your best bet if you have a way to retrieve them