Snow Goose Hunting on a Budget
Snow Goose Hunting on a Budget
By Nick Johnson
At first glance you might scoff at the title and think, “that’s not possible”. Those who have dabbled or jumped head first into the snow goose game know that things can get expensive in a hurry so I will forgive you for scoffing. Snow goose hunting can, and does take a bit of an investment but it’s really up to the hunter to determine what level of seriousness they can afford and wish to take on. Is it all worth the effort? Well, if unloading an unplugged shotgun into a seemingly endless flock of geese barking in your face doesn’t get the blood pumping, you may want to check your pulse.
There are many ways a hunter can go about diving into snow goose hunting. Having quality gear helps but most hunters cannot afford to build a 600+ decoy spread of full bodies unless they take out a second mortgage. Think with the end goal in mind and go from there. Here are a few tips for the budget minded snow goose hunter if you are new to the sport or have tried it and want to get more serious.
Book a Guide
I’ve been asked a handful of times by folks interested in snow goose hunting what the best way to get started is. My first response is to save a little money and book a guided trip for a couple days and get a feel for how things work, and if it’s something you think you want to get into. This accomplishes a couple things. First, it cuts most if not all of the work out of scouting, setting a spread, electronic callers, grassing blinds and other hunting chores. Second, and most importantly, it cuts out investing in all of that equipment itself. Guide fees range quite a bit and run anywhere from $150-$600 a day. The latter being a more premium hunt with inclusive lodging, drinks and meals provided.
Many guides run premium decoys and stay under the migration as best as they can to keep clients on geese. There are many guides around the Midwest and quite a few of them operate out of multiple states throughout the spring season. Do some homework in this case and be prepared to book well in advance. Call the guide and ask questions around hot dates that typically provide good shooting for that part of the state on a “normal” year.
Hitting the tip of the migration when the geese are heading back north isn’t always a good thing. You can and will have some good shooting but these geese are often older adult birds that are seasoned and wary. Hunting the mid to later points in the migration can offer some of the better number shoots because you are dealing with more subadult and juvenile snows with lots of Ross geese mixed in. Google and YouTube are great tools for searching out guides and getting a chance to see some of their hunts on film if they do that. Don’t forget to leave them a nice tip as this sort of thing is a ton of work!
Socks and Rags
If you decide that snow goose hunting is something you want to get into on your own or with a group of friends then the cheapest and easiest way to build a working spread is to start with sock or rag style decoys. There are quite a few manufacturers out there now who produce these and they range in price but as a whole they are a lot cheaper than full body style snow decoys. A thousand bucks can get you well on your way to a decent size spread.
I’ve hunted snows over a full sock spread before and killed geese, the key here is motion and wind. These decoys work best with a bit of wind as it puffs them up and makes them sway back and forth giving life to the setup. Add in a rotary machine or two and maybe some fliers and you are set. If you don’t know what a rotary or flier is, just Google search these and you will have all the info you need. If you don’t have any wind, better sleep in and save the work for a better day. Decoy motion is almost always your friend when hunting snows.
Electronics
Aside from a spread with motion, I will say that a critical piece of equipment is a good electronic caller and proper sounds of snow geese feeding and milling about. There just isn’t a set of human lungs on the planet that can replicate this with a mouth call as effectively and it really matters. Passing geese key in on this and it can make or break a hunt at times. You will often go to bed still hearing the playback of snow goose chatter in your head but the misery is worth the minimal investment. Get a quality caller with multiple speakers. You can even build your own if you are savvy with electronics.
Buddy System
For those of you fortunate enough to have a few hunting buddies also bitten by the snow goose bug and willing to invest, this can make things a lot more affordable when building a sizeable spread. If someone has an available trailer to store and haul everything, all the better. Keep in mind though, you don’t necessarily need a trailer full of high end stuff to accomplish the goal, unless you have the financial means. A 1200+ decoy spread of full bodies is absolutely impressive and effective but in many parts of the flyways, not necessary, especially with juvenile snows and Rossies. Put your heads together and get what you can afford. Maybe its ten dozen full bodies and a couple hundred socks. Maybe its just a couple hundred socks. Great! Start here and work from there and spread it out over a couple years if need be. Just don’t let that hard work and money go to waste.
Use the decoys and keep learning as you go. Put in the hard work and effort scouting, planning and keeping tabs on the migration. Make this group effort a seasonal ritual and have fun doing so. This to me is the most enjoyable part of the whole process. Getting together with hunting buddies and sharing the camaraderie and work with hopes for success.
Don’t Discount Iowa
Many states in the central Midwest offer exceptional snow goose hunting opportunities, Iowa included. I would even go as far to say as Iowa is often overlooked when it comes to this. Sure it’s not the massive numbers like they see in Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas but definitely huntable numbers with far less pressure and a marginally less requirement for gear. I know a few guys that do it, even in central portions of the state and when they hit the migration right they are hunting geese that nobody else is paying attention to.
Whether you are new to snow goose hunting and want to give it a shot or maybe you have done it before and you are looking to start a spread of your own, keep these simple tips in mind. Start with what you can afford and spread the expense out over a couple years if you have to. It does take time and money to snow goose hunt, that’s a given. Bigger spreads are at your advantage but you don’t necessarily have to go overboard. Have a safe spring snow season if you are venturing out!