I often wonder if I’m trying to decoy the same snow goose I tried to decoy 14 years ago. It’s definitely possible, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. When I was young I rarely heard of groups putting out over 1000 decoys. Now some feel it’s the only way to decoy wary birds. There’s almost every type of decoy imaginable to bring realism to the spread. Some work in my opinion, while others are collecting dust. It’s the spring season that’s still new to everyone. The veterans of the group are large in number, and only include a few seasons under their belt. We’ve seen all types of weather and migrations over the last three seasons, and as I write this, this season doesn’t appear to be anywhere in the norm.
This winter was very mild for the majority of the season. The birds seemed to take forever to migrate, and many didn’t make it as far south as normal years. When the birds start moving north, and they don’t find snow, how far will they go? I know we’ll be set up by the time the birds break the border. We won’t have much sheetwater in the fields to provide a roost, so we’re creating our own. With open water the birds might stay in the area for a short time. And to do this, we’re pulling out chainsaws. We intend to cut out small sections of ice and push them under the rest of the ice. A cut open slough in an area void of open water could be a goldmine for decoying. And with the opportunity for cover and neighboring food in the fields, it gives a decoyer many options for a set up. This is something we’ve never tried before, but a similar set up worked under the same situation the last few years in North Dakota. It also worked very well in Nebraska last year. It’s hard to believe the trouble we go through to better our chances at reducing the mid-continent flocks.
Our setups will be ready by March 1st, as is the launching of the Nodak Outdoors site and the Spring Season opener. I would like to get to know a lot of the members, so we’ll be offering member hunts at some of our sloughs and fields this spring. This will be a great chance to make friends, pick up tricks from others, and have a great time. Sign up for the fun today!
