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Old 02-25-2021, 07:10 PM
hilt134 hilt134 is offline
 
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Default Solo snow geese hunting.

Trying to get into water fowl this year. Figured spring snow goose would be as good a place as any to start. I’m looking at doing a 4-5 day hunt on some different conservation association sites. From what I’m seeing online I need about 1100 decoys, a truck, trailer, and friends. I have a small car and a back pack 😂

What do you guys consider the most important/minimum gear needed? Will a handful of decoys suffice to hopefully get a bird or two? Is a blind really a necessity?
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Old 02-25-2021, 07:41 PM
marky_mark marky_mark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hilt134 View Post
Trying to get into water fowl this year. Figured spring snow goose would be as good a place as any to start. I’m looking at doing a 4-5 day hunt on some different conservation association sites. From what I’m seeing online I need about 1100 decoys, a truck, trailer, and friends. I have a small car and a back pack 😂

What do you guys consider the most important/minimum gear needed? Will a handful of decoys suffice to hopefully get a bird or two? Is a blind really a necessity?
Probably not the best way to start waterfowl hunting
Better of trying to get in as a single on a existing guided hunt
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Old 02-25-2021, 07:52 PM
elkhunter11 elkhunter11 is online now
 
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If you are going to hunt yourself, wait until fall, and hunt some ducks over ponds. You don't need much for decoys,and you can hide in the sloughgrass or cattails.
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Old 02-25-2021, 07:57 PM
dth_ dth_ is offline
 
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Sounds like your best bet will be wait until September and get half a dozen mallard floaters and some waders and find a slough if thats the kind of hunt you want.
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Old 02-25-2021, 08:04 PM
schleprock schleprock is offline
 
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You could try pass shooting. Watch the birds to see where they are feeding and see if there is a spot where they fly over fairly low like a fence line, rock pile or a tree line. Get permission as needed and be there when they fly over.
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Old 02-25-2021, 08:17 PM
roper1 roper1 is offline
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Try one of the sites with a pond, you should have a chance at them arriving or leaving. Certainly head out this spring, can be a bunch of fun. Make sure you're on the correct piece of land & enjoy!
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Old 02-25-2021, 08:57 PM
anthony5 anthony5 is offline
 
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Default Snow Geese

Quote:
Originally Posted by hilt134 View Post
Trying to get into water fowl this year. Figured spring snow goose would be as good a place as any to start. I’m looking at doing a 4-5 day hunt on some different conservation association sites. From what I’m seeing online I need about 1100 decoys, a truck, trailer, and friends. I have a small car and a back pack 😂

What do you guys consider the most important/minimum gear needed? Will a handful of decoys suffice to hopefully get a bird or two? Is a blind really a necessity?
Might be the most frustrating way to get into waterfowl hunting, but can be done with the bare essentials. Be in the field that they have been feeding in, couple dozen decoys, mouth call, covering to match the field cover(burlap-white sheet). Being out there will get you educated in a real hurry . Next thing you know you will have a truck and trailer with 1100 decoys . Get out and enjoy the madness, snow geese are dinks
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Old 02-25-2021, 09:58 PM
Hunter3006 Hunter3006 is offline
 
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Default Waterfowl in the fall

Pending where you are depends on what you might need. I am a newbie as well and only started last fall. I have 0 decoys but may purchase a dozen this year. All I had was a pump shotgun, a dinghy and jumped from pond to pond, lot’s of ducks in the north, made it a bit easier for me. Not everyones style but it was fun lol. This year I have a Chessie joining me so we will see
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  #9  
Old 02-25-2021, 10:21 PM
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jungleboy jungleboy is offline
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First time I ever hunted geese was back in 1980.

We spotted a huge flock of Snows where they landed in the field to feed and we dug pits (fall hunt). We didn’t have a single decoy.

We lay in the pits and waited but not long enough. We got impatient and decided to head for the water where they were resting.

We got half way to the water and they lifted off and went straight to where we were initially dug in.

We hit the dirt and laid flat till they all settled in to feed and then belly crawled across that field to the water and got all covered up in willows and grass.

We waited and sure enough they came back and we got a shoot. 3 of us limited out that evening and I still can see my father in law striped down and wading that pond with a skiff of ice six feet out from the shoreline, picking up birds lol.

My first and probably most memorable goose hunt ever.

He’s gone now, bless his heart. I blame him for starting me on this wonderful journey of hunting.
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:22 PM
calgarychef calgarychef is offline
 
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I’ve tried this for a couple springs with no decoys..l we got a few but it’s not easy and you might drive hundreds of miles to find them.
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:40 PM
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threeforthree threeforthree is offline
 
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Find a field with low lying water that you have seen the snows use, and set up your decoys...glad garbage bags will work if you cannot afford,,your looking for a few shots not a 50 bird limit. Sit there all day when they move around...bin there done it and had great success doing a solo hunt.
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Old 02-25-2021, 11:01 PM
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Pixel Shooter Pixel Shooter is offline
 
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Careful snow goose hunting can be an addiction. Lol
Shooting ducks and geese once u know what your doing is not much of a challenge. Having said that, Snow goose hunting is a whole different animal in itself. Just when u think u got it, u don’t lol. I find now 1/3rd hunts poor, 1/3rd are good and 1/3rd are stellar and keeps u going back for more. Because of the amount of gear it’s typically not bought in one shot, took me years to build spread, motion dekes, e caller, flyers, list is long. I,ve done it with 6 dozen dekes and 1300-1400 dekes. We have more but just no lol. Location as in exact same spot as they were night before is not critical whatsoever. Take advantage of the landscape where u can. Running traffic can be the sweet spot especially during heavy migration. Don’t shoot water.

Some guys are happy to have people tag along and experience, some out there like sherpas because quite frankly it’s work!. Get up in spring at 2-2:30 am or earlier depending if u can’t drag a trailer so your quading stuff in because fields too wet, set up 1000+ dekes, deal with all electronics; flyers, blinds yada yada cause your shooting 5ish am in morning. Absolutely Stupid early. U get into an awesome hunt, shoot 50 birds per person, now have to pick everything up, get back to vehicle and travel and then clean a ridulous amount of birds, quick nap and go scouting again for next am and over half the newbies are out after day one and don’t ever want to do that again. Shooting is fun but snow hunting is allot of work. If u luv it, then look out because it is an addiction that just grows. So if u get to tag along Ask a ton of questions and learn and do your part. We all have our own ways of doing things.

If u go solo. Great days to hunt is when u have weather or cloud and wind. You can have allot of fun pass shooting. U don’t get out guarantee u won’t shoot anything. Fill up the truck and put some miles on. Find where they roost and where feeding and get in the middle. Find best vantage point in the path. Have had great shoots pass shooting spring or fall.

I’m already counting the days, prepping gear and stoked to get back at it. Serious snow goose hunting’s are a little, well u know, a little special, special needs cause it’s nutz but i luv it. Nothing like watching your pup do some serious work. More importantly get to spend time with your buds and create new stories and have a ton of laughs. Best part of waterfowl hunting is the comeraderie. . 6-7 weeks and counting.

Last edited by Pixel Shooter; 02-25-2021 at 11:09 PM.
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  #13  
Old 02-26-2021, 02:20 AM
MyAlberta MyAlberta is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hilt134 View Post
Trying to get into water fowl this year. Figured spring snow goose would be as good a place as any to start. I’m looking at doing a 4-5 day hunt on some different conservation association sites. From what I’m seeing online I need about 1100 decoys, a truck, trailer, and friends. I have a small car and a back pack 😂

What do you guys consider the most important/minimum gear needed? Will a handful of decoys suffice to hopefully get a bird or two? Is a blind really a necessity?
A good pair of binoculars, county ownership maps, and plenty of fuel. I don’t dec for snows when I’m solo, preferring to setup for pass shoots.
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Old 02-28-2021, 08:47 PM
Diesel_wiesel Diesel_wiesel is offline
 
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I'll second wat Pixel Shooter said
I tried starting out like you are thinking of starting out
made and built my own rotary machines, built my own ecallers
built up a decoy spread of over 1500 decoys , leave at 10pm work all night setting up alone , day light comes not a bird in the sky PFFFT
pick everything up
drive by the next morning the field covered in snow geese
that afternoon set up 50 decoys limit out , I'm lucky because here in Saskatchewan our limit is only 20 birds per day , sure glad i never had 50 to clean Like Pixel shooter gets
fall hunting snows is way better but the birds are tastier in the spring but dumber in the fall
setup for dark geese in in the dark, add 50 snows 4 yards behind you ,Saskatchewan you can only hunt dark geese until noon ) after you limit out set up a Cpl hundred more white decoys continues waiting and waiting and waiting eventually a few will come for a look see by late afternoon you got yer limit of both white darks and usually ducks , if you add cranes about 100 yards off you might even get yer limit of cranes as well
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Last edited by Diesel_wiesel; 02-28-2021 at 09:08 PM.
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