Spring Snow Goose Hunts In Arkansas & South Dakota

Up North Outdoors, Inc. has guided spring snow goose hunts since 2001. Over these many years, we have hunted in numerous locations in several different states. Our focus for that last decade has been Arkansas and, to a more limited extent, South Dakota. These two states have significant snow goose migration routes, resulting in high hunting success rates. Hunting is during the Conservation Order, also known as the Spring Snow Goose Season. The government enacted this season to manage the snow goose overpopulation in 1999. It differs from the regular waterfowl season by allowing electronic callers, no limits, and unplugged guns to help increase harvest.

Arkansas Spring Snow Goose Hunts:

Our primary focus is Arkansas during February. This region is unique with its rice fields that attract flocks of snow geese, making it one of our most popular hunting locations. Arkansas snow goose season opens on February 1, and peak hunting runs from the opener through the first weekend in March.

There is a large number of snow geese that spend the winter in Arkansas. In addition to the wintering birds, there is a steady supply of snow geese migrating from the south after spending the winter in the southern Gulf Coast states and Mexico. Once we finish in Arkansas, we take a brief break to recharge and give the snow geese time to migrate to South Dakota.

South Dakota Spring Snow Goose Hunts:

South Dakota hunting is similar to Arkansas, with some staged birds, but the big days are the migrating days. We start hunting in the southern part of the state and then move farther north as the weather and migration allow. Peak hunting is from mid-March through mid-April. Unlike areas farther south, where the snow geese range covers multiple states, South Dakota is a natural bottleneck as they move north. The massive mid-continent snow goose flock passes through a relatively narrow area on the state's east side. The resident's Midwestern hospitality makes South Dakota one of our guide's favorite hunting locations.

• 4-Day Hunt: $650 (Monday-Thursday)

There will be three full days of hunting (legal shooting until sunset), followed by a half-day hunt until noon on Thursday.

• 3-Day Hunt: $650 (Friday-Sunday)

There will be two full days of hunting (from legal shooting to sunset), with a half-day hunt until noon on Sunday.

• 1 or 2 Day Hunts: $225/day

Full-day hunting until sunset (occasionally available).

If you choose not to purchase trip insurance, you are self-insured. If, for some reason, you are unable to make the hunt, then you will lose the money paid for the hunt and possibly the costs for the motel and airfare. On the other hand, if you purchase trip insurance, you can be eligible for a refund of up to 100% of the expenses for covered events such as illness, death, or bad weather.

Our hunters have been buying this trip insurance policy for several years; several have filed claims, and I don't know of any denied claims. It has different levels of coverage, so you decide which is best for your party. The Silver Plan is the best coverage for most of you. You can choose to cover airfare and lodging in addition to the cost of the hunt.

Our insurance agent has collaborated with the trip insurance company to ensure it meets the needs of hunters on guided hunts. We can connect you with our agent if you have any concerns or questions.

We provide all the blinds, decoys, electronic callers, and other equipment needed in the field. While we appreciate offers to bring your equipment, we prefer to use ours because it has proven effective and familiar to us. Our hunters need to bring their personal equipment. A few are listed below.

• Our laydown blinds have padded seats; however, some hunters like to bring extra padding. Popular pads are layout boat seats, yoga mats, garden seat cushions, and foam pads. In Arkansas, they will get likely get wet.
• You need non-toxic shotgun shells for your gun. Most of the guides shoot 3-inch 12 gauge shot size 2's to BB.
• White or Camouflage clothing that is waterproof for warm and cold weather. Dress in layers.
• Rubber boots or breathable waders. In Arkansas, we hunt mainly rice fields, which can sometimes be wet. While not necessary, waders make hunting in wet conditions more enjoyable. In South Dakota, we usually hunt in dry conditions in corn fields, so regular field or rubber boots work best there.
• Food or drink (non-alcoholic) you may need while in the field.
• Cooler to store and ice down your cleaned birds.

Having realistic expectations is important when it comes to hunting. While there are many amazing days each year, there are also times when the hunting is slow. On average, expect a daily harvest ranging from the teens to the twenties for eight hunters. Our success is influenced by various factors, with weather, shooting ability, and time spent in the field being the most significant.

The afternoon before your first day of hunting, you will receive a text with general information, including your guide's name and phone number. Later that evening, before 8 p.m., your guide will call with the meeting time and location after we have picked fields.

The following day, you will meet your guide at the specified location on time and follow them to the field in your vehicle. At the field, we load your gear into our ATV trailers and haul it to the decoy spread. If any member of your group needs a ride to the spread, they can inform the guide, who will provide transportation. Otherwise, hunters walk to the decoys. Bringing your 4-wheeler or UTV is acceptable. At the snow goose spread, the blinds and flyer may need rearranging based on the wind that day. The process goes much faster if the hunters help. After ensuring everything is ready, the guide will review some safety items, and then we will wait for shooting time.

After a day of hunting, we clean the harvested snow geese when we return to the truck.

Our hunting reports keep our hunters informed. You can trust our reports to be honest, accurate, and daily. Because of this, not only do our snow goose hunters follow our reporting, but so do snow goose hunters across the Midwest. They also serve as a great research tool. Hunting reports dating back to 2008 can be viewed.

Follow our season:

1. Hunting Reports:  You can find them by clicking this link: Hunting Reports. 
2. Facebook: Our hunting reports end up on Facebook. Follow our page by clicking the following link: Up North Outdoors, Inc. Facebook Page

The first season we guided snow goose hunters was in 2001. The number of days we hunt has varied, ranging from as few as 23 to as many as 60 days, with most years averaging around 40 days of hunting. Since 2001, we have harvested 84,314 snow geese. Here is the breakdown by year: