There were a number of weather challenges this year causing us to postpone more days than in any year in the past. Much of the season was unseasonably cold with many days 20-30 degrees colder than normal. Mother Nature gave us a couple crippling ice and snow storms that froze our equipment into the ground. We were left with no option other than to wait for a warm up. You can’t fight Mother Nature.
With all of this said you may be thinking how was this past season? It doesn’t sound good. Hunting success depended on when you hunted with us. There was some very good hunting as well as slow hunting at times. If you were hunting when there was not weather issues than you likely did average or better. If you were with us around some of the weather events then hunting was likely a little slower. Overall we feel the 2014 season was a fair season. Not our best season and not our worst but somewhere in the middle. We had a lot of fields harvest in the teens and low twenties which is average hunting. There certainly was not nearly as many of the 40+ bird days that we see on the better years. With the weather conditions we had we were satisfied with the results.
The total harvest was 3707 snows with four leg bands. Two of the four bands were shot out of one flock. The pair of juvy blue geese band were separated by only seven numbers. On the surface the 3707 snows harvest might seem low however the lower harvest was more a result of fewer days in the field rather than from poor hunting. When we only get to hunt 30 some days this year and most years we hunt 40-50 days it stands to reason that we are going to harvest fewer snow geese…that is what happened in 2014.
Mid-March Missouri snow goose hunt
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An above average day in Missouri.
This is one of those days you don’t expect. A day after the ice storm hit Arkansas with everything frozen the snow geese bombed into this spread.
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March Missouri Snow goose hunt.
Our hunts are run where there are large number of snow geese.
Get ready boys.
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Here is two of the four bands snow this year. Both were shot out of the same flock and only 7 numbers apart. Both were juvy blue geese. Guide Tryg Koch must have a knack for this… several years back his hunters shot 2 snows out of a flock in South Dakota that had consecutive band numbers.
Pretty tough conditions today.
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One of the best days during the 2014 spring snow goose season. This was in Missouri.
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Here is what average snow goose hunt looks like.
Pictures of the spread after the ice storm in Arkansas. It crippled us as there was no way practical way to get the ice off the decoys or get them out of the ground. We just had to wait for it to warm up.
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Average Snow Goose Hunt
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Another average day snow goose hunting.
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Big days like this are very possible but should not be expected. Most hunters will have average hunting with is a harvest in the teen’s or twenties per day.
Big spread, good friends, good times during this snow goose hunt.
Snow Goose hunting in the corn fields of Missouri.
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Spring Snow Goose Hunting
Refuge in the area we run our snow goose hunts.
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Guides Adam and BJ take their boys out for an afternoon hunt.
Banded Snow Goose… one of only 4 which is a very poor band year. On an average year we shoot about 10-20 banded birds and a good year we have shot over 25 banded snow geese. There are good and bad year but they average out over time.
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Hold on boys… those are swans! Just because we are hunting snow geese, in a snow goose spread, with recordings of snow geese playing on the callers doesn’t mean everything that comes into the decoys will be a snow goose.
We use large snow goose decoy spreads.
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One of only 4 bands shot this year. We shot very few bands this year compared to a normal year.
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This is a picture form Missouri. It takes us 3 days to get all of the gear in the fields ready to hunt. This is what happened while driving to the last field to set. This was ice ball that covered the road in a couple minutes.
Arkansas rice field snow goose hunt
I see them boss!
Another Picture this one of the blinds from the ice storm in Arkansas. Although it looks like snow it is just a bunch of ice pellets frozen together.
Picture from the big ice storm in Arkansas during the 2014 spring snow goose season.
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Youth Snow Goose Hunter proudly showing his geese.
When we had good weather we had good hunting. This was in Missouri.
Above average day in Arkansas.
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We consider an average snow goose hunt to range from 10-30 snow geese in a days hunt.
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Great Arkansas snow goose hunt. Although this field looks wet the mud in Arkansas is nothing compared to the Missouri gumbo.
