Spring Snow Goose Guide, Spring Snow Goose Hunts

Spring Snow Goose Hunts:

Our spring snow goose hunts take place in Missouri and South Dakota near major concentrations of snow geese. Several hundred thousand snows are common during the peak migration periods. These staged birds along with the untold numbers of migrating flocks provide great decoying action. The dates for the hunts are February thru early April during the Conservation Order. This special season has liberal laws allowing the use of electronic callers, unplugged guns, and liberal limits.

Missouri always comes close to or leads the nation in total snow goose harvest during the spring season. It is our most popular hunting destination. South Dakota hunts typically have a higher average with a lot less hunting pressure but the window of opportunity is more weather dependant. Both states have very good potential during the time frames we hunt them.

New Deadly Decoys used in all decoy spreads.

The hunts take place on water or in grain fields on our private leases over large spreads of Deadly Decoys. These decoys were designed by my partner and me in my decoy business. They are an ultra realistic windsock decoy that has an internal support system that gives them a full body appearance, striking feather detail, and unrivaled realistic movement. The blinds we use are Final Approach SUB blinds. These are lay-down type blinds that provide excellent concealment, comfort, and mobility. The electronic callers we use are capable of producing sound quality of the utmost clarity without the background noises or distortions that plague most callers and recordings. A large spread of realistic decoys, movement, and sounds are the keys to successfully decoying snow geese. We have put a major emphasis on refining these areas over the years. Additionally we have several subtle tactics that we use to set us apart from the crowd. These little things are what makes our hunts more consistent and successful then the competition.

We take pride in being able to successfully decoy these wary birds. While we have many amazing days in the field each year it takes the right conditions and little luck to have those 40, 60, or 100 plus bird days. Most years we have a couple fields that get zeros and a couple that near or exceed the century (100 +) mark.

Weather can play a significant role in the success of spring snow goose hunting. We run our snow goose hunts over the most productive parts of the spring conservation season however we never know what Mother Nature has planned yearly. When weather issues develop we rely on our years of goose hunting experience and weather forecast to try to predict how conditions will affect the geese in our area. Sometimes we nail it and sometimes we end up with a sore thumb but we always try to do what we feel is in the best interest our customers. Our policy is we hunt under all weather conditions unless conditions become hazardous.

Good Day Afield Would you like video proof of our quality hunts? We have two videos that are available for purchase. The first is “Snow Flurries”, filmed during the spring of 2003 with clients as shooters. The second video is “Introduction to Deadly Decoys”. The snow goose footage in it was filmed over clients during the spring of 2006 and there is some very nice fall field mallard hunts too. Both videos will give you a good idea of what to expect on a guided hunt with us. You can purchase both videos by calling 563-382-0530 or to purchase on line go to www.deadlydecoys.com/store/.

Order the Video

This past spring of 2007 was above average overall. Our Missouri hunts got off to a muddy start but bird numbers were strong and the hunting was good. South Dakota was great but short lived this year. We arrived in northern SD about the same time as the birds. There was wave upon wave in the air however conditions changed from cold with frozen ground to temps in the high 60's and 70's with a strong south wind giving the birds a lot of sheet water roosts. This resulted in a massive migration with birds moving as far north as Canada. Snow geese in Canada before April are pretty rare. We kept thinking there has to be one more storm to push them back because this was just too quick but a look at the weather forecast convinced me to cancel the last three days of our hunts. After speaking with several outfitters that ran hunts over that weekend I am very glad we cancelled as their success was poor. One week to the day of canceling the hunts a snow storm moved through much of Canada, ND, and SD pushing large numbers of birds back into the areas we hunt. Too late for us to reschedule but never the less it is a good example of how weather can affect the hunting.

Our harvest was up more than 1200 birds over last year. The total harvest was 5653 snow geese. We had two fields shoot zeros. Both occurred on half day hunts, one in MO and one in SD. Five fields broke the century mark, two 100-bird, two 101-bird and one 103-bird days. The upcoming 2008 spring season will be our 8th year in operation. Over the past 5 years our annual harvests have been 5653 (2007), 4442 (2006), 3653 (2005), 3583 (2004), and 1266 (2003) snow geese. Over the last 7 spring seasons we have harvest 20,115 Snows, Blues, and Ross geese.

There has been a lot of hype created around the spring snow goose season. As you can see from the pictures we have many truly amazing days in the field each year. These are the above average days and show the potential. Daily harvests in the teens and twenties are considered average hunts. We are highly successful but WE DON’T GUARANTEE BIRDS. Slow days are a part of hunting and do occur. These are fair chase hunts for wild migrating birds. When you book a hunt with us you are paying for access to our fields, use of top notch equipment, and potential.

Rates:

Our 3 day (Fri-Sun) or 4 day (Mon-Thurs) hunt packages give you the best opportunity for success. They are structured this way because we honestly feel your success increases dramatically when hunting 3 or more days. If this structure doesn't work for your party contact me and we will see if we can make arrangements that will work for both of us or add you to our on-call list. These hunters will be notified by email when openings become available due to cancellations and such. We are able to be more flexible with those hunting the on call dates.

Our hunts are legal shooting time until sunset with the exception of your last day on which you hunt until noon. This allows most hunters the opportunity to drive or catch a return flight home yet that day.

A blue goose that was banded almost 25 years ago.

White Neck Collared Blue Goose - Extremely Rare!

The two banded birds shot out of the same flock (in front) were consecutive banded numbers!

3-Day Weekend Package: $500 per hunter - Youth: $450

This hunt package is Friday-Sunday. Friday & Saturday are full day hunts (legal shooting time until sunset) and Sunday is a half day hunt (legal shooting until 12:00 pm).

3- Full Days: $525.00

4-Day Weekday Package: $675 per hunter - Youth $600

This hunt package is Monday-Thursday. Monday-Wednesday are full day hunts (legal shooting time until sunset) and Thursday is a half day hunt (legal shooting until 12:00 pm).

4-Full Days: $700

1. Prices don't include lodging, license, bird cleaning, or gratuity.

2. Party size of 6 hunters guarantees your own field. Groups of less than 6 hunters can reserve their own field for an additional fee. Otherwise groups of less than 6 hunters will be combined with other smaller sized groups to reach 6-8 hunters per field. No dogs allowed on combined group hunts, no exceptions! If you have your own field well mannered dogs are allowed.

3. Half-day hunts are from legal shooting time until 12:00. Full day hunts last until sunset and typically break for lunch if the hunters choose.

4. Youth are those under age of 18 and must be accompanied by an adult.

5. South Dakota hunts require sales tax.

Payment:

One person in your party needs to be a contact person. I would like to have this person’s email address and cell phone number (if they have them). They will be the one sending me payment, receiving the confirmation letter, and any other communications concerning the hunt.

A deposit of 50% is due within 2 weeks of booking your hunt. Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable (if a hunter cannot make the trip it is acceptable to replace them with someone else as long as the party size remains the same). If you can't make the hunt and can't find a replacement you forfeit the deposit. The 2nd half of the payment is due the morning before your first days hunt. If we have to cancel the hunt the deposits will be applied to a future hunt during the remainder of the current or next years season.

The deposit portion of your hunt can be paid with a personal check, money order, or credit card (Visa/MC/Discover). For the 2nd half of payment we only accept cash, money order, or credit cards - NO PERSONAL OR COMPANY CHECKS!

Lodging:

Lodging is at the local motels. I will provide you with the local motel numbers once you book the hunt. It is your responsibility to call and make those reservations.

License:

Missouri Spring Snow Goose Hunts: February 1-March 16: There is no daily or possession limit. Unplugged guns and electronic callers are legal. License: $6 Migratory Bird Permit & Hunter Safety Certificate if born on/after 1-1-1967.

South Dakota Spring Goose Hunts: March 21-April 3: There is a 20 bird daily but no possession limit. Unplugged guns and electronic callers are legal. License: Spring Light Goose: Adult - $45, Youth under 16 - $25 plus Hunter Safety Certificate.

snow goose outfitters Bird Cleaning:

Bird cleaning is the hunter's responsibility and is usually a group effort. By law a wing needs to be attached to the meat for identification purposes. We will dispose of the cleaned carcasses for the hunters. For those not wanting to clean their own we can typically find someone to clean them for a fee. Storage of the cleaned birds is the hunter's responsibility with most using large coolers.

What you need to bring:

• Non-toxic shotgun shells…3” steel BB’s.
• Camo clothing and facemask for warm and cold weather.
• Food or drink (non-alcoholic) you may need while in the field.
• Camera to capture the hunt on film.
• Rubber boots or Field boots. Waders are not necessary but nice if muddy.
•Willingness to have fun and help with the decoy spread.

Up North Outdoors, Inc. offers Missouri spring snow goose hunting over field and water spreads. Up North Outdoors, Inc. spring snow goose outfitters offer top notch spring snow goose guides that use custom northwinds and custom floaters to ensure quality hunts. Most of the snow goose hunting is done near Squaw Creek Refuge. They offer Missouri Spring Goose Hunting and South Dakota Spring Goose Hunting.