Spring Snows

snowkiller

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Well it wont be long until they arrive.Last year shot my 1st geese on march 10th, seems like its going to be like last spring,no snow,warm temps.Sounds like they are on the move down south already.Whos going this year?
 


Migrator Man

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I hope they stick around a little longer this year. I hope to break the 100 bird mark this year
 

fnznfwl

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I used to really enjoy it and spent countless days chasing them from SD to the Canadian border. Now its seems like its almost as big of a gong show as the regular waterfowl season, only muddier.

I really enjoy spring fishing now instead.
 

jdinny

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ND is a gong show in general for any type of waterfowl season....spring is no doubt getting worse. smart man on the spring fishing....heres another little secret. fall fishing. im getting just old enough to not wanna compete for fields anymore but can fish essentially any given lake with 5 boats or less.....relaxing
 


snowkiller

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Yup the blue plates will be in full force in the spring.Just a tip go way north, stay away for SE ND for its always a gong show.
 

snowkiller

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Almost 400,000 on squaw creek NWR as of today.The migration is starting:;:rockit
 

dean nelson

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Birds should be crossing into SD probably by wed. The real question is will they hold at Yankton and wait for the ice to melt to the north or start slipping north west up the river? I used to spend two to three months chasing them from KS and MO up to the line but like others have said its getting to be to much work or maybe I just no longer feel like putting in the work required so I tend to spend my time on the river fishing these days. This spring is going to suck bad for decoying anyway so big oahe pike are probably what I will be after. Although I am tempted if we can see a big migration day coming of setting up a few hundred full bodies and floaters on a sandbar up north and see if we can get them to play. Nothing else a guy could pitch jigs and cranks if the snows won't play. The snows we see over the river tend to be from a different group then the ones out to the east and they had much better success in breading so it might be worth a try but we will have to see what our ambition level is come that day.
 


Trip McNeely

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Dean, how do you know decoying will suck this spring. You sure do know it all.
sak u hunt snows much? last year was one of the worst hatches ever. less young birds in the flock means a higher percentage of old birds. do i need to explain it anymore than that. some of these old breeders are pushing 20 plus years old. decoying will not be easy this spring. my advice is if the weather looks good for fishing do that instead.
 

dean nelson

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Dean, how do you know decoying will suck this spring. You sure do know it all.
Like trip said they had a bad hatch. Hunting success rates eb and flow with the hatch. You ever try decoying the first push of birds in the spring? If you have you should realize the success rate on that group of birds is normally extremely low due to almost no young birds. With a bad hatch its works the same way but just with little change as you slide back in the migration instead of a increase in good decoying of a good year. This is something that most all people who hunts snows should be well aware of unless they don't bother to educate themselves in the slightest on the bird they are after. Like I said I followed the birds for a few years well guiding spring hunts and have seen in person just how bad a bad year can be vs how good a good hatch year can be.
 

Sakangler

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Yeah I hunted snows like I do every yr. Hunted the last day of the deer season over 600 rags and a doz flyers last fall and buddy and I killed 90 in an hour and a half. I also decoyed 4 times last spring with our same group killing 320 birds over 4 hunts. I like to think of myself as a do er, not a know it all preacher. I could care less what the hatch was and how many 20 yr. Old bird there are in the population.
 

dean nelson

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Last spring had one of the best flights of Juvies ever. A person can always get a good hunt if things all work out in your favor but bad hatch years things going right because considerably more difficult. You be a go getter but not caring about the hatch tells me all I need to know.
 


Trip McNeely

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no one said birds wont be killed. just saying your not going to see as many koolaid drinker pile pics like in
years with big hatches. it may take more than a few hundred rags and a do er" attitude this year. guys who put in there time will still have success it just may be smaller shoots than he last few years. guys who think out of the box this year will be more successful
 

svnmag

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Yeah I hunted snows like I do every yr. Hunted the last day of the deer season over 600 rags and a doz flyers last fall and buddy and I killed 90 in an hour and a half. I also decoyed 4 times last spring with our same group killing 320 birds over 4 hunts. I like to think of myself as a do er, not a know it all preacher. I could care less what the hatch was and how many 20 yr. Old bird there are in the population.

YEAH!!!

th
 

wildeyes

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Chased snow geese for 20 years shot a lot of geese. I knew when a guy out of Kramer asked me to guide, that game was over. Deans a guy that gives his two cents on stuff that he knows about or doesn't why should it matter if he offers info. I've taken some of it and some not. Keep on give your two cents Dean, I can always learn more or not.:cool:
 
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Trip McNeely

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Chased snow geese for 20 years shot a lot of geese. I knew when a guy out of Kramer asked me to guide, that game was over. Deans a guy that gives his two cents on stuff that he knows about or doesn't why should it matter if he offers info. I've taken some of it and some not. Keep on give your two cents Dean, I can always learn more or not.:cool:


his 2 cents are spot on this time. going to be a lot of spreads up for sale at the end of this spring.
 


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