The 2013 spring season was our best total harvest with 5835 snow geese harvested. Among these birds there were 8 leg bands, 1 yellow neck collar, and one double banded bird with a $100 reward. There were also three blue phase Ross geese but only one was a prized mature adult.
Arkansas: It was our first year so I don’t have anything to judge this year against. Most of the hunting was above average and a lot of it was well above average. It is a migration corridor but there are staged birds in the area that use flooded rice fields, fish ponds, and duck lakes. If you are looking for a low hunting pressure area with good success Arkansas might be the place for you. Our best day in Arkansas was 119 snows with 5 shooters in the field. We are looking forward to returning in 2014.
Missouri: We started out the first week with above average hunting. Then winter came back to the Midwest. It snowed and then four days later it snowed again turning the temps cold for a few days. Hunting during this time was below normal. When the weather heated back up so did the hunting and groups hunting with the remainder of the season had pretty good success. Best day in Missouri was 115 snow geese.
South Dakota: Since there was so much cold weather in South Dakota I tried to move those hunters up a week to have them hunt in Missouri rather than hunt the tundra of South Dakota. A couple groups did move and they were rewarded for their flexibility. Most of the groups couldn’t or wouldn’t move so with a lot of work and calling in favors we were able to get two of our spreads set using cordless drill to punch stake holes in the ground. My guide friend allowed us to hunt two of his spreads. It started out slow but most fields ended up shooting 10-35 snows. High field was 35 geese. Due to the inconsistency of the weather in recent years we have decided to take a break from South Dakota to focus on building up our hunts in Arkansas where the hunting was outstanding and the weather is more stable. We may revisit them in the future but not in 2014.
