It’s around 15 degrees, and my watch says 8 am on a late October morning in 1993. I have my head tucked under a staked-up snow goose shell, as I watch a flock of 8 snows coming at us 200 yards away. Luckily, there’s just enough wind this morning to keep the birds on an approach within shooting range. My hands are starting to lock up a bit as I stuff them through a hole in my white, 1-piece painter’s outfit, and into my parka coat pockets. I started to ponder whether or not I should have been wearing my thick gloves, despite handicapping my shooting ability. My lanyard is laying on the ground, with my snow goose call just inches in front of my face. I didn’t feel the need to sacrifice my numb hands for a couple of barks to an already committed flock of snow geese. The birds are still coming as they do a slight swing off to my side of the decoys. Just as soon as I thought they were going to fly around me and flare, they cup their wings and slice the middle of the decoys. With the flock coming over me, I rolled from under the decoy and grabbed for my gun. In a slow and desperate attempt, I swung my gun up to my shoulder, and pushed it through my 3 or more inches of clothing insulation. With the birds already over me and flying away, I forced a quick couple of shots in a weak swing in front of a bird. An obvious flock of 8 geese fly away, laughing at the white-suited idiot rolling around on the ground. As I sit and recap the entire situation, my confidence in my shooting for the rest of the morning dropped like a rock. How the heck am I going to swing on these birds wearing all this? Sadly, I pondered this a lot throughout the years.

Thinner, warmer clothing will improve your shooting

I think one of the biggest reasons why hunters miss on cold mornings, is their lack of a proper swing due to their thick clothing. All the schools of thought about proper gun mount and swing goes out the window when you’re pressing on 3 inches of cotton or other material over your shoulder. And to make things worse, wearing bulky clothing slows your gun mount down. Even a second delay can make a big difference between shooting at a breast instead of a tail. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you probably don’t live far enough north of the equator. No matter how much time you spend shooting all summer in leagues, you just don’t practice a “handicapped swing”. And when you start consistently missing your target, you start thinking. And that’s when it gets even worse in my experience. Either you spend a lot of time swinging in thick clothing or you better get yourself some new gear.

At that time, I can recall my usual gear for a cold weather hunt. I would start with my pair of Long Johns, followed by the addition of 2 sweatshirts. Over that I put on my thick, non-waterproof bibs. I then put on my COAT, and when I emphasis coat I mean this coat was thick. It was one of the nicest parkas at the time, and it was warm. But when I put it on I felt like I added 50 pounds around me. And at that time, blinds weren’t common, so I was laying on the ground. This was my gear, this was a typical day of waterfowling. My buddies used to poke at me calling me the “Hobo Hunter.” I had the same response every time, “…hunting isn’t a fashion show.”

Fast forward to today and obviously, camouflage has really changed. Not only has the camo changed from the good old brown, the components have changed as well. There are so many brands and styles to choose from, I can’t imagine where a retailer would start in selecting a lineup for a big box store. But if you know what you’re looking for, like me, you’ll be very pleased with what is available today.

I made what I felt was an obvious decision to outfit with newer “super fleece” clothing. The clothing today is getting thinner, more comfortable, and is 100% windproof and waterproof. You can feel it from the moment you first put it on, this is nothing like my old gear.

Here is my layers of clothing I use now in mornings as cold as 10 degrees:

White T-shirt
Fleece Underwear
Hooded Sweatshirt
Venture Heated Jacket (thin)
Insulated Bibs

When the weather gets real tough, I’ll turn up the heat on my heated jacket. I’ve really grown found of this coat, and it’s rechargeable after every hunt. It’s now part of my cold weather routine. Check them out at Extreme Smart Products.

The end result is confidence. I can mount my shotgun in my blind without any resistance, while staying warm and comfortable. Throughout the course of a long hunting season, I find myself shooting better than ever. And the result is fewer cripples, fewer shells, and fewer jokes from my hunting buddies. If you spend a lot of time in the cold, messing with the same situation I described earlier, I highly advise you to look into a wardrobe upgrade. No matter what you choose, going thinner on your clothing will help your shooting. The comfort and flexibility is worth the price, and you will notice the end result.

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Field blinds can be deadly when used right

 In my neck of the prairie, the month of November officially changes our waterfowl season to the late season. While this means changes in rules and regulations such as a season close for canvasbacks and pintails; it also means the rest of the waterfowl world will be tougher to decoy. Try decoying a large flock of lesser Canada geese on a sunny day in the middle of November and you’ll see what I mean. The birds are getting weary, they’ve been there SEEN that. In order to stay successful at bringing waterfowl into close range in the field, you’ll have to pay close attention to fine details. And it’s these small details that will set your field decoy spread apart from everyone else; and most importantly, the small details surrounding your field blind.

I’m really starting to become a bit skeptical to field blinds. Yes, that’s right. I’m starting to lose faith in their ability to conceal hunters consistently. Have you driven by a decoy spread with field blinds lately? Whether they were ¼ mile, ½ mile or maybe even at the other side of the section; I bet you can pick them out. And everyone uses them these days so waterfowl of all species are getting pretty darn good at picking them out.

Field blinds can produce some nasty shadows

The past 8 or so years have brought some unusually warm fall weather and more often then not, we’re hunting with sunny skies. This absolutely cripples a field blinds ability to do what they’re supposed to, hide your position from the birds. The sun means shadows, and no matter how hard we try, they remain visible. I don’t care what camo pattern the blind has, a dark shadow in a bright stubble field pretty much seals the deal with the advantage going to our winged adversaries. I honestly don’t think many hunters pay attention to this and I’m seeing more people shelling out thousands of dollars for the most realistic decoys available on the market (okay, so I’m guilty of it too…boys and their toys I guess). I don’t care how many real moving, fully-flocked decoys you have, the birds will have a hard time noticing them with 2-8 large shadows sticking out among them. And to make things worse, guys will be quick to grab a hand flag during the bird’s approach to help the birds pick out their position even more. So what’s a guy to do to help this situation?

Pole extensions keep the movement away from your blind

Don’t feel you ALWAYS need to use your blind. If the weather is nice and the sun will be shining, leave the blind in the trailer and get back on the ground. Put decoys around you and try to lay under any you have that are off the ground.

Get an extension on your hand flag. Keep that movement AWAY from your position and your blind, don’t let them know where you are. If you must use a hand flag, don’t use it when they’re within 150 yards.

If you are using your blind on sunny days, try stacking the blinds right next to each other. And make sure you take the time to put stubble over the cracks between the blinds. The purpose is to create a level plane with the blinds and reduce or even eliminate the shadows. As we’ve started experimenting with this, it works. But keep in mind, if you have no wind this will really hinder your ability to shoot to the sides. Not only is it a bit unsafe, you’ll be blowing your hunting partners ears out. Keep this in mind when calling the shots.

Keep your head down whenever possible

Don’t stick your head out of the blind, keep it hidden inside as much as possible. After I went over all of our hunting video footage last year, I noticed time and time again that hunters failed to do this. And do yourself a big favor, fork out 10 bucks for a face mask. I carry one at all times and I’m so used to mine that I rarely take it off during the hunt. There is nothing that shines more than an oily face. I’m convinced that a head sticking out of the blind on a sunny day without a face mask is only giving the birds the upper hand.

Put decoys around the blinds and on top of blinds as much as possible. Strap decoy shells to the blind doors, put flying decoys like the Goose Magnet over your blind, or even use longer stake extensions on your Sillosock decoys to have them hang over the blind. Doing this will help break up the shadow and appearance of the blind.

More often then not, hunters will put their blind location on the downwind side of the spread, right behind the landing zone. It does make sense of course, especially on windy days. But what this does is put your blinds as the first thing they see on their final approach. I’m also noticing more and more that geese, especially snow geese and lesser Canada geese will approach a spread from the side, instead of downwind and they will swing over the back half of the spread. I can’t begin to count how many times this has happened to us this year already where your only shot is to pop out of the blind and shoot behind you. Not only is this unsafe, but it’s a great way to cripple birds. Try putting your blinds in the middle or even the back part of the spread, in the middle of the biggest clumps of decoys. Keep their eyes around the landing zone, not you.

We layed in the decoys without blinds on this sunny day and it paid off with close working birds

Pay close attention to the field the geese are using or the field you plan to hunt. Is there any natural cover in the field? And are the geese flying over or feeding near this natural cover? That’s what you should look for in the morning, use it to your advantage.

And last but not least, allow yourself plenty of time to properly conceal your blind. The camo pattern on your blind is usually not enough, and many of the materials used in blinds are shiny when new…don’t forget to mud them up. For more information on camouflage see the article on Field Blind Concealment.

Field blinds are one of the greatest tools to come to the waterfowl world in the past decade, but to get too over-confident in their ability can produce some sloppy habits. If you’re noticing your hunting is getting tougher and tougher, take a step back and take a closer look at your concealment. I’ll bet there’s room for improvement.

Good luck and happy experimenting for the rest of the season.

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Twenty years ago, there were plenty of snow geese in North Dakota by the mid-October. Kenmare, Westhope, Bowbells, Bottineau, Rolla, Rock Lake, Cando, and Devils Lake were the hotspots. There were even a few on the river north of Jamestown in those days. But, those were the good old days. Now, those seeking snow geese in October have to go north of the border.

That’s where we were headed. Our Waveytrain (white Avalanche and white snow goose trailer) breezed along U.S. Hwy. 52 on the edge of the Missouri Choteau on its way to Portal, North Dakota, gateway to Saskatchewan. It was cold that October 16, 2004 Saturday morning. There was skim ice already on the small potholes along the highway west of Harvey, North Dakota, despite a sunny sky. The other two hunters aboard the Waveytrain with me included brother-in-law Ken Carlson and old friend from work, Jerry Vandelac.

The beautiful Saturday morning weather gave no hint of the sagging low-pressure system dropping out northern Canada. But, the chatter on the local country music radio stations flooding the airwaves north of Minot contained weather forecasts that called for light snow later that Saturday night with continued cold temperatures hovering around the freezing mark during the week.

We rolled across the flat, brown northern North Dakota prairie heading for snow goose country. We arrived at our destination without seeing any snow geese or any sign of snow either. We enjoyed a nice dinner and watched World Series action on the big screen TV. But, our thoughts were not about the Red Sox breaking “The Curse”. Our thoughts were about the weather and finding snow geese the next morning. I wondered if we would have trouble pushing our decoys stakes into the ground if it remained cold and snow put a skim of ice on the fields. Two years before, the fields were frozen so solidly that there was no chance of penetrating the icy crust when we hunted the Devils Lake area on Halloween.

I went to bed still thinking about what the weather would bring us. I peaked out of the motel window about 2 A.M. after getting up to pee. It still looked pretty peaceful outside. No snow, yet. Back to sleep. Upon awakening at 6:30 A.M., the view out the window had changed considerably. The Avalanche (the truck) was covered with snow. “Ohh, this could be interesting,” I thought.

Though we could not hunt that Sunday morning, we grabbed some quick breakfast egg sandwiches and headed for where we hoped the geese would be. Scouting early would give us an edge on any other hunters. Or, so we thought. It was snowing and the visibility on the highway was pretty poor. The roads were partially snow covered and a little slippery.

We didn’t have our GPS unit running yet and only guessed where to turn off the main highway onto the gravel road that we thought would lead us toward the roost. Bingo! We hit the birds a half-mile down the snow covered gravel road. Snow geese were floating through the snowflakes gliding toward a small feed on a quarter section of wheat stubble. Our eyes were then drawn to distant flocks of snow geese flying toward other fields to the south. We drove their way. Soon, we were on the edge of the tornado of descending geese. It appeared that we had found a major feed right away. We circled the section and saw that two other vehicles were also looking at the birds. Then we discovered that Chris Hustad, Nickel Ditch, Maddy, and Deltaboy occupied one of those trucks.

 It had been a year since seeing Chris and Maddy. They stopped behind us on the edge of the road. I opened the passenger door of the Avalanche and made one step back toward Chris and the crew when my foot slipped on the snow and I slid to the bottom of the ditch. There was more than an inch of snow on the ground already. “What was this going to be like?” I thought.

Seven of us watched a blizzard of snow geese descend into a section of pea stubble. The birds were standing shoulder to shoulder. We got a closer look through the binoculars. We were shocked! There were a surprising number of juvenile birds considering the reports that had been received in late summer saying that the hatch was very poor on the tundra.

Our focus then turned to getting permission to hunt. Each Sunday of scouting in Canada can be very aggravating. It is the day when the freelancers first arrive. However, the local rogue guides are also out competing with the visiting freelancers for field locations. They recite their standard line, “Well, we got permission to hunt all of the land along this road back in September.” That could be true or it could be B.S. By law, they can’t pay the landowner for exclusive access, but they try to intimidate the freelancers. It’s a little game. We stood our ground and Chris called them out for being the same jerks that downwinded us last year. Eventually, “Nickle Ditch” got in contact by phone with the landowner of the field we wanted to hunt earlier that week, received permission to hunt there, and hoped there would be no morning fisticuffs in the middle of a Canadian pea field.

There weren’t. Although, it was interesting that we pulled into our chosen field at exactly the same time as a group of hunters coming from the opposite direction pulled into the same field about a half mile north of us.

Now the fun began. It had continued to lightly snow all Sunday night and into that early Monday morning. We carefully probed our chosen field until we found the right spot to set the decoys. The Waveytrain was pointed into the wind with snow blowing across the white glow of the headlights.

We got out of the vehicle to begin our morning chores. Canadian hostility greeted us as we opened the doors. The snowflakes, propelled by a 20 mile per hour wind, cut into our exposed cheeks. There was about 3 inches of snow on the field. I wondered, “Are the geese going to still be here this morning? Are they going to really fly out here and try to find some little peas under all this snow?” I had never hunted geese in this kind of situation.

After a tough hour or more of sticking Last Look metal stakes into the ground and actually drilling holes for plastic Northwind stakes, we were about ready to find out the answer to the question of what effect the snow would have on the geese. It continued to snow and blow.

We were just about ready. The drivers crawled into the temporary comfort of the trucks and drove them out of the field to a spot where they would not flare incoming birds. The low profile blinds were covered with weeds found in the field. Chris’ 2 homemade e-callers surged with rock band power and the recorded squawking of snow geese filled the air with something besides snow. Before we could even get into our blinds and before the drivers returned to the spread, the first scouts of the morning began to cry in the sky. Fire poured out of the barrels of the standing hunters’ guns. Birds hit the ground with a poof of snow. We jumped into the refuge of our blinds and waited for more birds that were seriously overmatched that morning. The 2 four-speaker CD e-callers provided a non-stop chorus of snow goose murmurs, squawks, and squeaks.

They wouldn’t have a chance!

The first of about 25,000 snow geese left the chilly grey water of the roost and headed east for breakfast in the pea fields that they hadn’t quite devoured the day before. The 20-mile per hour wind and snow made it very difficult for them. The cold temperatures had forced the birds to consume calories from what little fat they had in order to keep warm overnight. They needed food and they needed it soon.

Small flocks of dark and white snow geese began to emerge from the snowstorm in front of the hunters. The faint outlines of the dark birds were the first to be seen by the hunters. Then, some of the black wingtips of the white birds could be seen. Those black wingtips eventually morphed into white wings and bodies. Some of the geese bore right in on the e-caller. Some flew across the front of the spread until they were in the direct projection of the caller. They banked hard to the left or right to home in on the noisy squawking in the field ahead. The blinding snow seriously impaired their sharp eyesight. They trusted their hearing instead. Bad choice!

The seven hunters poured the steel to those cagey white birds. Birds fell from the sky at a furious pace that morning. Singles, doubles, triples, and more fell from the small flocks. Several boxes of shells were consumed. Red, grey, and brown hulls were ejected onto the white snow. Within minutes, new snowflakes buried the ejected shells.

Snow blew into the crevices of the low profile blinds. Polarfleece mittens eventually became too wet to protect the hunter’s fingers. The hunters scrunched lower in their blinds as the snow and wind increased. Occasionally, in a rare lull in the action, they would break from their shelters and spread out in a 360-degree circle to retrieve the birds that littered the field. The hunters were stiff from the cold as they emerged from their blinds. The blowing snow gnawed at the exposed parts of their flesh. Even while out of their blinds, more birds came for the e-caller.

By, 9:00 A.M., the windsocks had lost their waddle, even in a 20 mph wind. They had filled with blowing snow. The hunters wondered if they even needed decoys. The e-callers might have been all they needed in the snowstorm.

Nickel Ditch’s gun jammed on him. He vacated his blind and headed for his truck carrying the barrel in one hand and the stock in another bare hand. He looked cold as he staggered through the snow toward the truck.

Shortly thereafter, the hunters huddled and decided that there were enough birds to clean for that day. It was not going to be much fun standing in the open in 30-degree temperatures back at the motel cleaning the birds.

During the process of picking up the decoys, the game wardens made their obligatory visit to the spread. It was too damned cold for them to look at everybody’s license. They just counted birds to see how many Ross’ Geese there were. Then, they hopped back in the truck and headed off across the field to check those other guys a half-mile away.

Shortly later, I and the rest of the hunters laid out the birds and gathered for the group pictures.

We then left the field and headed for the main highway to town and some hot food! Just before we got back to the highway, we found the destination of most of the birds leaving the roost that morning. They were in an unbelievable concentration of birds in a pea field. Juveniles with mom and dad stood ten yards off the road and looked at us. They didn’t move. This wasn’t spring hunting!

It continued to snow on Tuesday. That morning’s hunt was also good but not like Monday. Wednesday was totally different. Chris Hustad’s crew headed out from our traditional area for his backup area to the west. That day, Kenny, Jerry, and I had to hunt without the e-caller. We only got three birds in a quarter section that was shoulder to shoulder with birds the night before.

We got up early on Thursday hoping for a little break in the weather. It had not looked good for us the night before. By Thursday morning, Monday’s wind had turned to nothing. Monday’s snow had turned to light rain and mist. We had no e-caller and knew that our Northwinds would be useless that day. In the end, it was not the snow and wind that defeated us, it was rain and a lack of wind. We decided to just head home rather than lay out and get wet without much chance of getting more birds. Besides, we had a cooler full from Monday and Tuesday.

The U.S. border patrol came out in the rain to check our birds. But, they did not really want to be there and get wet either. They gave us just a cursory check and waived us through after we filled out the necessary paper work.

Beware; it’s not always that easy! Always leave one wing on your birds!

After our border crossing, we drove across a soggy N.D. Hwy. 5 headed for a brief visit with our old friend in Cando. During that drive Kenny and I leaned on Jerry. Jerry, our electronics tech, vowed to assemble an e-caller during the off-season if we helped him out with the cost. That was a no-brainer. We would never go to Canada again without our own e-caller.

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There are a lot of new and existing products on the market today that are becoming popular “must have” items for spring goose decoyers in the flyways. Keep your eye on the following products to help make your hunt more efficient and successful.

Field Shuttle

Decoying spring snow geese is not a sport for the weak or the lazy, as it’s often very difficult to do. As winter changes to spring, and the snow and frost line diminish, it leaves a sloppy ground in the process. This makes walking in and out of fields extremely challenging and very tiring. I can honestly admit I’ve spent as much as 5 hours in the setup process, because of walking our decoys in one load at a time.

The key to making this process efficient is of course to make as few trips as possible into the field, and up until now that involved some ingenius ideas. That’s where the field shuttle comes in. The field shuttle is a big sled equipped with a canvas top that can be enclosed to keep decoys and gear in. This sled can hold around 1000 windsocks, and can handle most snow goose hunter’s gear in just one load. It comes in a variety of camo patterns, and can also be used to lay on to keep a hunter out of the muddy elements of the spring. This product has been around for a couple years, but only recently has it become the buzz of spring snow goose hunters up and down the flyways.

I don’t think anyone can argue that to date, there is no decoy more effective for snow goose hunting than the windsock. The reasons are simple: portability, ease of setup, movement, and low cost in comparison to other decoys on the market. And with some minor changes to the body and stake, the decoy hasn’t changed much since their inception. Well the biggest change in windsocks is happening this spring with the introduction of the new sillosocks. The sillosock is essentially a silhouette decoy combined with a windsock. What makes this windsock different from any other is on the basic design. The stake is mounted in the head, it’s constructed of a more durable tyvek that keeps it’s shape in no wind situations, and has the custom painted look that’s been lacking in every manufactured windsock to date (the blues look awesome). And it’s coupled with a price tag that’s attractive in comparison to other custom painted windsocks that are available. Snow goose hunting is a numbers game, and you don’t want to acquire numbers while sacraficing quality. The sillosock should have it’s place in snow goose hunting for years to come.

Now Available in the Store:

Snow Goose Decoys

Blue Goose Decoys

Finally, there is an excellent snow goose sounding CD on the market. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up some some tapes or CDs that’ll collect dust. I know, I’ve got a drawer full of just that. But I’m now confident in the new snow goose tape or CD that has the realism that’s needed. “Snow Talker” by Performance Calls has high quality recordings of feeding and flying geese up close. These aren’t the sounds of a distant flock or of goose calls, but of individual and multiple geese making feeding grunts, wheezes and barks that no other recording has. Realism counts in a snow goose CD, make the right decision the first time and look into this CD.

One of my personal favorite decoy accessories are the windlife decoy heads. They turn your motionless full body decoys and make them “come alive”. While the flocked Canada goose heads are becoming common, few have taken advantage of their snow and blue goose head styles. You can transform your Canada goose decoys into blues with the addition of these heads. Not only will this add more decoys to your spread, but the white moving motion draws attention and the realism will help comfort pressured birds. Making the transition takes seconds and are easy to store.

Okay, so this product was a hot product last fall, but it’s worth mentioning again this spring. The Xterminator backpack blind by GooseView is the ultimate spring snow goose hunting blind. The reasons are simple: portability, fast setup, low profile, and extremely affordable with a price tag at $200. If you need to get in and out easily, a blind that fits on your back is a life saver.

Snow goose hunting is a numbers game, and goose gloves make it easier to turn your other goose decoys into snow/blue geese. They save you money and space and is a simple way for the diehard full body decoyers to hunt snow geese without starting from scratch. The Goose Glove isn’t new, but some recent changes are worth mentioning. They have a stronger design and have new detailing on the blues. Cleaning them is as easy as a load in the washing machine.

Before you know it, the snows will be in our backyards again.

Eye’s to the sky…

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Erik "dblkluk" Myre calling to some late season geese

My first goose call was a Knight & Hale Double Cluck. I don’t believe that I ever got that call to make a single honk. Now that I am older I realized it was not the call, it was me that had the problem. My father bought me a Big River flute shortly after he found out how terrible I sounded. I think anyone who’s ever owned a goose call has owned a Big River flute at some point in their life. I wish I could find that old Double Cluck today, now that I know how to blow a short reed, pick it up and let it rip.

I started blowing a short-reed goose call about three years ago. At that time, I was just one of a few goose hunters I knew that actually blew one. It took me almost a full year until I felt really comfortable on a short-reed. When I finally mastered the “Fat Boy” goose call, it was the biggest accomplishment of my short life. Recently, my world has been crashing down around me as I have realized everyone and their mother can now blow a short-reed.

One of my college roommates used to buy goose calls on E-bay like a day trader with stocks. He had several lanyards full of calls before he realized goose calls were not the most liquid investment. He still managed to buy low and sell high and personally owns more calls then anybody else I hunt with.

I am always in the market for a new goose call. Either it is my human urge to never be satisfied, or the weakness rubbed off on myself. Whenever I am at a sporting goods store I have to sample the goose calls. I am always looking for a deal and have found some great goose calls through the Pro Shop here at Nodak Outdoors.

Matt Jones calling tuning his goose call before the hunt

One question that often comes up in the world of short reed goose calling is acrylic vs. wood. Personally I try to have an acrylic and a wood call on my lanyard when I take to the field. Typically, I use the acrylic to get the attention of the geese at vast distances, and then use the wood call for softer clucks and moans when the geese are close. There are many different types of wood short-reed goose calls and if you pay close attention, you will notice the different sounds each type of wood produces.

Some short-reed goose calls have wood barrel and acrylic inserts; like the Feather Duster goose call available through the Nodak Outdoors Pro Shop. These goose calls combine the soft tones of the wood with the volume of the acrylic. Short-reed goose calls are versatile by nature, allowing hunters to mimic the many different sounds of the Canada goose.

I have been encouraging my dad to switch from a flute to the short-reed, but he does not have the time to change. Many older hunters are stuck in their ways or do not have efficient time to learn how to blow a short-reed. Although it is not the rule, goose hunting seems to be a passion of the younger generations nowadays. I believe this correlation comes from local goose populations exploding within the last decade.

The last couple years Minnesota has been establishing a Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls type dynasty; leading the nation in goose harvest the last decade. In 2004 hunters harvested more geese than Mallards, shooting roughly 234,000 geese in Minnesota. I bet if you asked an old waterfowler twenty years ago if that was possible , he’d tell you that you’re nuts.

And here we are, it’s now 2005 and a hunter has literally hundreds of calls to choose from. If you’re not sure where to start, there are almost as many opinions as geese in the sky available in the goose hunting forum. But I’ll tell you what, from Western North Dakota to Southern Illinois, there are some goose hunters who can blow short-reed goose calls nowadays. And as the season roars on and the birds become more educated, good goose calling can make the difference from flaring and feet in your face. Good luck to everyone for the rest of the season!

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Getting snow geese feet down into your decoy spread is easier said then done

I think snow goose hunters spend the most money out of all species of waterfowl hunters (excluding what some duck hunters pay for their boat/accessories). It seems that no matter how many decoys one owns, it’s never enough. Ask anyone who hunts with me and I’m sure they’ll agree that I kind of have a problem with this. I quit fighting it years ago, I’m a decoy addict so I just roll with it.

Decoying snow geese is typically a numbers game, not always, but more often then not. I know some people who consistently hunt over small decoy spreads under 100 decoys, and they claim to do quite well. But over a long period of time and a lot of snow goose hunting, there are just too many situations that call for a larger decoy spread. I would have to say the magic number for most snow goose hunters is 1,000 decoys. Yes that’s right, 1,000 decoys. While that might seem overkill to some, when you’re hunting snow goose feeds in the thousands, an ultra-small spread just isn’t realistic. But also keep in mind that I feel that there is a ceiling where it doesn’t matter if you put out more. For example, I’ve hunted in spreads far exceeding 3,000 decoys and I don’t think we would’ve done any different if we had 500 out. Judging by how the birds reacted, it didn’t matter.

Here’s a scenario for you to ponder. A couple springs ago, we were setup in a flooded cornfield in South Dakota with about 500-600 decoys. The following weekend, there was 10,000 decoys setup in the exact same spot with about an equal number of birds using the area, and we ended up shooting more with 500 decoys than the other group with 10,000 decoys and far more shooters. Sure a lot of other variables come into play besides just the decoys themselves, but when you think of a spread that large you would assume they would all just barrel right in. That just isn’t the case.

Often there are restrictions on decoys - in Saskatchewan, you cannot use any non-snow goose decoys in your spread while using an E-caller (changed in 2009).

One of the most common questions that has come up in the snow goose forum over the years is, which decoys should I buy? The answer just isn’t the same for everyone. Here are the questions I like to ask when this question comes up.

How often do you hunt snows, or how serious do you take snow goose hunting? What is your budget?

I combined the 2 questions together because I feel they are related. Obviously the more serious you take your snow goose hunting and the bigger the budget, the more options you will have. For those on a limited budget you have to consider buying used decoys, buying cheaper decoys, or building your own. I also feel one of the most important things you have to keep in mind is as follows. Are you trying to build up your spread for the short term or are you buying decoys that you hope to be using 10 years from now? I am one of those who’d prefer to spend extra up front to ensure I’m doing it right the first time. I have owned pretty much every snow goose decoy on the market for the past 15 or so years, and many of those are broke and disposed, sold, or given away. I rebuilt my spread from scratch 2 years ago and I feel confident in my decision.

Do you hunt snow geese in the spring, fall, or both? Do you have an ATV or will you always have access to one when you hunt snows?

I ask this because you typically have different conditions to work with in both seasons. In the fall, we almost always can drive into the field to setup our decoys. In the spring, I assume it to be the opposite. Those where I can drive in I consider a bonus. I combined the question on ATV’s for those who hunt the spring a lot or all the time. I spent most of my spring hunting years without an ATV, therefore I always had to be efficient in how I transported my decoys. I have spent as much as 7 hours setting up a decoy spread. With that experience in mind, I do not recommend doing it, nor do I want to go through that again. As a result of trial and error, we can get my entire spread out in 1-2 hours.

Do you have a trailer?

With large flocks and feeds come the need for large decoy spreads

This is a key question because you are limited in how many decoys you can actually take with you on each hunt. In my trailer, I have almost all of my snow goose decoys hanging on the wall and tucked away in the front. The amount of space you can save with some of the modern decoys is amazing compared to the older days. On the other hand, I know some people who fill their 20-foot trailers with full bodies. If you plan on purchasing a trailer, you need to parallel that decision with the decoy spread you are pursuing.

Do you have room to store your decoys in your garage, storage shed, etc.?

This question is kind of related to the previous question about owning a trailer. How much room will you have to store them all? Are they going in an attic, staying in a trailer, or are they just piled up somewhere? You also have to consider how many dirty looks you can take from your spouse, because if you stack up half of the garage you will get many (I know from experience).

How comfortable are you spending time doing maintenance on your decoys?

This can be huge when it comes to decoys. Let’s face it, in the manufacturing market of today, most everything is made as cheap as possible. They have to make a buck, it’s the American way. So with that being said, there are a lot of weak decoys in the market. Anything that is plastic is really just begging to break. Even when you think you know exactly how NOT to break the decoy, you end up spending a weekend hunting with 5 guys who seem to be really good at it. It happens so don’t lie to yourself when you want to drop money on a decoy you know is flimsy. Do as much research on the Internet as possible, there are A LOT of opinions available. If you’re patient, I recommend purchasing a dozen or two of various decoys and test them all throughout a season to judge for yourself. I did this with the decoys I use now and I’m glad I did.

Is the time it takes you to setup important? I guess the question related to this is, how much do you value your sleep before hunting?

There has been quite a decoy craze for snow geese the past 5 or so years. There has been quite the bandwagon on stacking up as many full body decoys as possible. I don’t blame someone for making that plunge, there are some really nice looking decoys on the market today. I’m also hearing that many of these full body hunters are spending between 3-5 hours to setup on average spread, often more. Now I’m not going to hate on anyone for doing it, my hat’s off to you. I could do that easily when I was in high school and college, nowadays I just don’t have that kind of time. I know a snow goose hunter who used a large full-body spread for an entire year and then sold them all. For the work, he claimed he just wasn’t seeing any difference in how the birds decoyed. Opinions will vary, and so will decoy choices every year. But I often feel setup time is overlooked when buying decoys which I feel is a big mistake.

Here are 3 scenarios I find for a snow goose hunter:

1)Snow goose hunter who doesn’t actively decoy much, or wants to give it a try. The budget is generally pretty low so the cheapest he/she can get into a decent spread the better. Space is fairly limited and should usually fit in a truck bed.

2)Snow goose hunter who does pursue snow geese often. This hunter likes to be mobile and is without an ATV, and space is limited for both storing and transport. The budget is low to medium.

3)Snow goose hunter who does pursue snow geese often. This hunter has plenty of space, has access to an ATV, and the budget is the highest of the 3.

Keep in mind these are 3 common scenarios, and there are many. I also included the ATV part for those who hunt snow geese in the spring.

For the guy in option 1, you’re looking at windsock or collapsible type decoys. Forget the shells or the full bodies, unless you foresee yourself getting richer down the road. My first suggestion is to go to the classifieds, and seek out various windsock style decoys. There are a lot of windsocks that sell on the net from classifieds such as ours. Of course there are also big sites like Ebay. Also DO NOT overlook your local garage sales or classifieds, I found some of my best deals there over the years. And if you want to buy new on a budget, there are a lot of manufacturers that offer a cheaper or “economy” version where you can paint and construct yourself. These are usually good deals if you have the time. Texas rags are the cheapest of all snow goose decoys, and require quite a bit of assembly. Personally, I did the rag thing for years and I ended up throwing them all away. See what happens to your spread in high winds in a cornfield, it’ll get torn to shreds. But in some areas this is still a heavily used decoy for various reasons, to each their own.

For the guy in option 2, you need to look long term with your buying decisions. I would put myself in this category. I’ve often heard the phrase, “your decoy spread is only as good as your worst decoy.” I would have to agree. With this being said, buy what you’re the most confident with. I was just in this situation when I rebuilt my decoy spread from scratch a couple years ago. I had what I called a “mutt spread” that was full of various styles and brands. My most common decoy was a windsock, and they were loaded in large plastic tubs. They worked, but there was often drawbacks such as weight (steel stakes get heavy in large numbers), mud/blood/rust getting on the decoys, and transport. So when I purchased my new spread I went for the most realism, movement, and portability. I went that entire route with my spread and it’s proved to be a good decision based on how I hunt. Since many ask, I mostly use Sillosock feeder decoys on carriers and Deadly Decoys for my sentries. If I want, I can move the blinds and around 900 decoys all in the back of my truck if needed (although usually in the trailer). To be honest, they are both sponsors of the site, but regardless, if I did it all over again I still would have bought the same spread. It’s always easier to support products you are confident using by choice.

For the guy in option 3, the sky is the limit. It appears that these are usually the hunters who run the larger full body spreads. If that is you, here is what I recommend. First and foremost, get a system to your transport and setup of your decoys. If you can afford it, the slotted decoy bags are awesome to store/transport/set out. I use these for all my Canada full body decoys. Second, I would have plenty of friends to help you set them out. If you’re running hundreds of full bodies, it will take a long time to setup no matter how you slice it. I know some groups where everyone pitches in on the spread and they all hunt together. Great, just make sure that you’re not moving in the near future otherwise you’re stuck with a small full body spread yourself.

Let’s face it, the old days of sticking out paper plates, old homemades, or even diapers (one of my favorites) are gone. Nowadays we have decoys that move and look exactly like geese, with real flying decoys circling overhead. While in the background is a 4-system, 16-speaker surround sound e-caller system, boasting enough snow goose sounding volume that would make a rock star jealous. And while the effectiveness has come and gone, like a black jack table at the casino, the house will always win in the long run. As the old saying goes, “We will never win the war on snow geese, God just won’t allow it.” But it sure is fun to try……

Keep your eyes to the sky.

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2006 Snow Goose Decoys Review – Approaching Spring Snow Goose Spreads

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Hunting snows in the spring is a gamble, scouting is more important than ever

As the season implies, hunting snow geese in spring is about 180 degrees different than traditional fall hunts.

Much of spring snow goose hunting is time and weather dependent. The same is generally true in the fall, except then it’s cold weather systems that drive birds south. In spring, warm weather systems melt snow and ice and allow birds to advance north.

In the fall, however, birds seem content to hang around their North Dakota and southern Canada staging grounds as long as weather will allow. In spring, snow geese are anxious to get through North Dakota as quickly as possible. They don’t usually hang in one place too long. If there is open water and open fields to the north, they’ll be moving.

Let me explain at little more thoroughly. First, a spring light goose season, more properly called a “conservation order,” has been ongoing since 1999 as a way to reduce the midcontinent light goose population. Biologists have documented considerable deterioration of arctic nesting grounds, and they believe that a significant population reduction is needed before this fragile habitat can start to recover.

Since the spring migration into North Dakota can start anywhere from late February to early April, wildlife managers want to ensure that the season is open when birds start to arrive. In North Dakota, the opening date is in mid-February, but in most years there’s no sense of urgency among hunters. Just because the season is open doesn’t mean birds will be present.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. The amount of snow cover, and not necessarily the month or week, is a great indicator of spring snow goose migration trends. Check out http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/SNOW/DATA/cursnow_usa.gif and locate the snow line as a great starting point as to the northernmost advancement of birds.

If you're hunting snows over decoys, always keep an open mind and imitate spring patterns

The snow line is important because birds will not move much, if at all, into areas that have heavy snow cover and frozen water and ground. Snow geese need open water and open fields before they’ll migrate north.

Combine what you’ve learned from the snow line, along with available public reports from state snow goose hotline at 701-328-3697, or at the Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov, shift the odds in your favor for a successful hunt.

If you’ve never hunted the spring season, put your fall tactics on the back burner. Spring requires a somewhat different approach. Unlike most fall hunting, the roads and fields may be muddy. In fact, with all the snow the eastern half of the state received in late February and early March, I’d say it’s a certainty that things will be very sloppy when the first snow geese start moving into the state.

As with any hunt, scouting is imperative for a successful outing. Keep in mind winter is never completely over and a spring snow storm could stall the migration or even shift it into reverse for a few days as birds scurry back south to evade dire conditions.

Typically, snow geese first arrive in the southeastern corner of the state, with flocks moving north from Dickey, LaMoure and Sargent counties, toward the Devils Lake and Minot areas.

It’s important to realize these birds are survivors that have hunted literally since last September throughout their entire migration. They are educated birds that have been around a decoy set or two.

With huge concentrations of birds during spring migration, finding them tends to be the easy part. But wary birds, muddy fields and overnight pull-outs prove frustrating to even the most veteran spring season hunters.

Be careful for whitefronts while hunting snows, when in doubt aim for white!

At a minimum, prepare yourself to meet the expectations of the hunt. If you’re planning on spotting birds and working to intercept a migrating flock, you’ll want to arm yourself with 12 or 10 gauges with BB or BBB loads the standard.

Other hunters may prefer decoys. While this method can mean shorter shots, it can also mean few or no shots at all as suspicious flocks may avoid decoy sets all together. Muddy field conditions can hamper the use of expansive spreads.

Regardless of method, hunters should be aware that Canada geese, white-fronted geese and ducks are often mixed in with flocks of snow geese in spring. Identify your target and refrain from shooting into groups of birds.

One last word. While the main migration is a spectacle of hundreds of thousands of birds moving through, there are stragglers. If you keep your eyes and ears open, a late flock can put the finishing touches on a successful spring.

And don’t forget to bring the family. The spring snow goose migration is a spectacle at which even nonhunters will marvel. Like every outdoor activity, the key is to get out and enjoy.

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For the snow goose hunter, the spring offers a wide variety of options and setups

There’s just something about the spring season that gets me fired up. It gives me the chance to extend my hunting season, and gives me an excuse for my wife when I explain why I spend so much on snow goose decoys. And I’m not alone in this obsession. Each spring brings more hunters and more elaborate decoy spreads. Spring snow goose hunting is not like the fall, and traditional snow goose spreads don’t always make the difference on the weary snow goose. With spring snows means fast migration, and hunters are being more creative in their ways to attract snow geese into close range. From snow goose spreads on land to large floater spreads and everything in-between, snow goose hunting is becoming an art form. Here’s some examples.

The Water Spread

As you can see this snow goose spread is targeting the water and not any food source

A Nodak Outdoors member by the username “goose” prefers to target spring snows over the water. Their snow goose spread consists of around 1100 winsocks and 90 floaters. They target a pasture ponds that geese aren’t using, but when they expect geese to be in the area. They’ve had great success in these types of setups.

When asked specifically, Reid stated, “The spread was basically just a blob spread that worked down to the shore where the floaters were. The grass was VERY short so we hid right in the drop off between the pasture and the water. This spread was set up up on the south east side of the pond so we could use southerly winds at our advantage for shooting migrating snow geese.”

As snow goose hunters have learned over the years in the spring, snow geese tend to come down faster as they tend to have less fear coming into water. Snow geese are hunted most of the fall over land and rely on refuges and big roost ponds when staging. Since they tend to have less pressure over water, snow goose hunters have gotten more creative at fooling snows into imitation roosting spreads.

Traditional Land Spreads

Spreading out your decoys gives snow geese a larger area to look at for danger. Tighter spreads allow snow geese to easily pick out the flaws from above.

Another Nodak Outdoors member, Daniel Liane, likes to target geese in the fields. When I asked why he sets up the decoys the way he does, he stated “I figure they’ve been getting used to seeing the decoys right on the water in the classic sheet water spread, so we’ve been kinda getting away from that. We generally don’t go as big as some guys. Usually only two of us are hunting so we stay right around 350-400 decoys, and a lot of times we’ll use less. The decoys we use are a majority of custom NW’s with maybe 40% Deadly Decoys.”

Field spreads are the most traditional snow goose spreads, and for obvious reasons…to decoy hungry snow geese. When you’re in an area where there’s a lot of geese holding and the weather isn’t cooperating for a migration, these types of spreads are the best option. And at times, migrating snows will decoy just as well or better when you’re in the right feed field. It just depends on the time of year, and the area that you’re in.

Land / Water Decoy Spreads

Land and water can be a deadly combination for a decoy spread

If I could build the perfect location for hunting spring snow geese, it would involve a good food source like corn and water with some good cover where they meet. I remember hunting snows for 12 days the first spring season over land and it wasn’t until I attempted a hunt over flooded corn did the light bulb go on. By combining both a potential roosting area and a food source, you’re offering something for snow geese no matter what time of day.

We’ve hunted some combination spreads of land and water with spreads amassing over 2,000 decoys. Some days I feel the large spreads are crucial in attracting snow geese from far distances during a migration. Snow geese travel in large numbers, therefore will come in more confidently into large spreads. But this isn’t always the case. I’ve stated before that on one occasion, I worked snow geese close into the decoys with just 14 decoys. I was just on a spot of corn and water that a large number of birds wanted to use and they came in with reckless abandon.

Some hunters like Nodak Outdoors member, Jim Mertz, likes to hunt land and water together without a large spread. On a successful day last spring, Jim set out 24 shells, a dozen floaters, around 150 windsocks, and four fliers on 3 to 5 foot poles for motion. According to Jim, “What I tried to do with my spread was put out a group of floaters that would represent a flock that recently landed, then shells and windsocks walking out of the water into the corn to feed. This was my most successful spring hunt with the most exciting moment, decoying 1200 snow geese right over the water around 20 yards away.”

Jim's decoy spread using the KISS method with the decoys but being where the geese want to be

Scouting is the most important key to these types of setups. I’ve taken a day weeks before the snow geese will arrive to glass the traditional snow goose flyways looking for prime real estate. One key thing to think about is accessibility to your hunting spot. If your spread takes a lot of work to put out and the fields are too muddy to drive-in, you may have to move on. I’ve spent as much as 6 hours to put out one decoy spread, and it can kill you when you think about taking it out.

These are really the 3 most standard types of decoy spreads. The location and how you approach the spread is the concept, how the spread comes together can vary. Windsock decoys of all shapes and forms has been the staple of spring hunting since it’s inception. With the possibility of wet and muddy conditions and the possibility of walk-in setups, windsocks give the hunter more options. In this spring of 2007, I’m expecting to see more full body decoy spreads then any other spring. Hunters are trading in the portability for realism in an effort to get the geese closer. I expect some hunters to come up with some pretty creative methods for transporting gear and decoys. And it’s the creativity in itself, and the hunters taking chances at untraditional hunting methods, that has shaped spring snow goose hunting and the decoy spreads hunter’s use. This should be another great spring season, no matter what method you use.

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It's going to be wet and muddy this spring, make sure you plan ahead on how you're going to get your decoys into the field

I love this time of year. The snow geese are pulling out of their wintering grounds in route up north, pushing as far as Mother Nature will allow them. Today there might not be a goose in the state, tomorrow there could be hundreds of thousands. I’ve setup a decoy spread in North Dakota when there wasn’t a snow goose in the state. But I knew where the geese were staging the day before and the weather forecast looked nice with south winds; this is a simple recipe for a migration. If you plan to hunt in the spring, especially over decoys, there’s a lot of work involved compared to the fall. The following is a list of tips and tactics we use to make the experience easier, and hopefully brings more snow geese into the landing zone.

• Be where the birds are. Sounds simple, but if you’re limited on your time to hunt it shouldn’t be spent waiting for the birds to show up. Before the snow geese arrive, use the Internet to your advantage. Most of the state’s have either an updated webpage with reports, a hotline to call, or both. These are typically your most reliable reports. Also take some time to read the snow goose hunting Internet forums as thousands of snow goose hunter’s are reporting every day.
• You don’t need a fat wallet to amass a nice decoy spread in the spring. Keep an eye on classifieds in the paper and online as people are always buying and selling decoys. You can also buy affordable decoy kits nowadays that are more durable then ever.
• In the fall, typically you’re targeting a field to hunt where the birds were feeding the night before. This isn’t always your best option in the spring, especially when birds are on the move. Find a location where the birds are constantly migrating overhead, regardless if the birds are there or not.
• Corn is one of their favorite foods in the spring. They rely on it to keep up their energy and fat reserves when migrating, and they’ll seek it out. For land spreads, we’ll use a corn field the vast majority of the time. If the cornfield is flooded, than you’re looking at an excellent location, with roosting possibilities. Geese don’t rely on the traditional fall refuges for roosting, they use any sheetwater they can find at times. For water spreads, you’re seeking out a quality roosting location. Considering water spots come in all shapes in sizes, here’s a few things to keep in mind. Snow geese rarely leave themselves open to getting sneaked, they choose where they roost wisely. The simple rule I use when picking a water spot is, could I sneak my decoys if they were real geese??? With that being said, avoid sloughs with high vegetation, treelines, ditches running up to it and of course, far from roads. If the slough has quality feed around it such as corn, even better.
• Driving in the fields in the spring sometimes isn’t an option, and a lot of farmers don’t want guys driving in the fields this time of year anyways. The past 5 years or so hasn’t been as much of an issue with bone dry winters, but it’s bound to change sooner or later. If you’re looking at a wet spring, seek locations near pasture. Pasture land dries out very fast, when everything else is under water. When I’m looking for flooded corn, I’ll look for any fields that are connected to pasture land in the flyway. I’ve been able to drive right next to our setup during these situations. A little extra scouting could save you a lot of trips hauling out decoys.
• If you plan on dragging out decoys, the sled off your portable ice house work great. Fill it to the brim and strap it down and you’d be surprised how easy this is to bring out your decoys and gear.
  

  Be respectful of snow geese, don't skybust them but be patient to allow them to work your decoys

  Electronic callers are a great tool in the spring. When we used to use single speaker ecallers, we liked to use more than one, and use different CDs. Although don’t just use any CD or tape, make sure it has distinct snow goose sounds, not drawn out flocks in the background. The options available nowadays are much better than the first couple spring seasons. If you use a single speaker ecaller, always aim it at the flock. They can’t hear it when the speaker is pointed in the other direction. Test it out and you’ll see what I mean. I’ve since customized my own ecaller, with an MP3 player (with remote), amp, and 4 30-watt speakers. The 4 speakers will allow me to aim in 4 different directions, and with the remote I can position the speakers where I want to, not just where our blinds are located. This will also help save my ears and I suggest wearing ear plugs if you have an ecaller close by. I also turn down the volume as they come down towards the decoys. And you should always make sure your ecaller will be working during the whole hunt. There’s nothing worse than having a battery die on your ecaller when you’re in the middle of a hunt. I recommend carrying an extra battery.

• Don’t leave your waders at home. Some retrieves will require waders due to the amount of water. Some guys in our group wear their waders in the field to keep dry as well.
• Bring your snow goose call. We’ve found some good calling will help widen the vocabulary of the ecaller. It’s also a good time to practice your call. If you make mistakes,the ecaller will help drown out missed pitches.
• Be comfortable. Whether you’re using blinds, chairs or lying on the ground, get in a comfortable position. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to bring a flock into shooting range from the time they first lock up their wings while migrating. If you aren’t comfortable, you’ll find yourself shifting around which will probably spook the birds.
• Do not short your concealment. Snow geese are the best at picking out hunters, and picking out blinds. We typically use field blinds, but just because you’re in one doesn’t mean you’re hidden. This requires a group effort as one blind not properly dressed with stubble or mud can spook the geese and ruin it for everyone.
• Don’t get discouraged if the birds aren’t responding to your decoys. Depending if you’re in a field or water decoy spread, the birds will target both at different times of the day and at different times during the migration. Some mornings we can’t get a goose under 100 yards and then the afternoon comes and it’s like the geese flipped a switched and decoy with reckless abandon.

These are some simple solutions to minor problems while hunting snow geese in the spring. If you haven’t experienced a day in the decoys in the spring, you’re really missing out on a great experience. It’s not unusual in a day to see tens of thousands of geese and ducks, and they will most often decoy closer than the fall. Be prepared for a little work, but it’s one of the most rewarding seasons for a waterfowler. Keep your eyes to the sky.

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Most snow goose decoy spreads are always evolving

The month of August marked the beginning of decoy making season when I was growing up. We would meet in the backyard one of our hunting partners where we would put our ideas to the test in our always evolving snow goose spread. We made our own shell decoys from life-size to the equivalent of super mag decoys. We also made our own flying snow goose decoys which aren’t too far from what’s out there today. And I remember our first purchases. We bought 10 dozen Northwind windsock decoys, and a couple snow goose kites. I thought our spread of 300 all-white snow goose spread killer. And it was, well, for a little while anyways.

Fast forward to today and it’s amazing how things have changed. I can tell you first hand I’ve got a garage full of THE decoys of yesteryear; it’s like a blue and snow goose decoy museum. I’m a pack rat and I have a hard time letting go. I can barely keep up with all the snow goose decoys on the market today, and every year breeds new ideas and new versions of what was out last year. Some of them work, and some of them look good on the box. Here are the snow goose decoys out today that you need to watch.

Uvision Decoy Paint

A group of hunters from Fargo, ND with degrees in Chemical Engineering and a Masters degree in Polymers and Coatings Science, got together with an idea. They studied the concept on how humans can see color in 3 primary colors: red, green, and blue. While birds can see a combination of 4 primary colors: red, green, blue, and UV. It is this UV that they felt has been missing in decoy paint through today. Many types of bird feathers will naturally reflect UV and that is what contributes to the natural “color” of the bird–though the human eye cannot see it. Most waterfowl species have several areas with moderate to bright UV reflection and that can clearly make a distinction between the colors of a bird and the paint of a decoy.  With extreme testing the UV imaging equipment shows the UV reflection just as bird feathers do.

UVision paint may change how snow goose decoys are painted.

And that brings us to where they are today with their newly formed company, Twilight Labs, LLC. Their product, Uvision, has a long line of water fowl decoys paints. And in particular, their first tested species was snow geese with their snow goose decoy paint. For those hunters who painted their decoys with this snow goose decoy paint, most claimed their success increased. While this product is still in it’s testing infancy, it is one of the most closely watched products along with their results this year. This could change the way we approach not only decoys, but colors surrounding all forms of camouflage.

Avery Greenhead Gear Life-Size Series Snow and Blue Goose Decoys

If you have the room, full bodies are tough to beat for realism

With the evolution of the full body decoys for Canada geese, you knew it wouldn’t be long before full bodies became standard for snow geese. While many manufacturers jumped to the scene, it’s hard to argue that Avery has came out with the most realistic and affordable full body blue or snow goose decoy today. They have a wide variety of decoy looks and poses as well as paint schemes for both adults and juveniles. Coupled with their RealMotion™ bases the spread comes alive. To combat the problem with storing and transporting full body decoys, Avery gives the option of their slotted decoy bags which allow you to stack your decoys to maximize your storage space. This reason alone has changed the way many snow goose hunters have approached the design of their decoy trailers.

To test this decoy this spring some of the Avery Pro-Staffers took the field with one of the largest snow goose full body decoy spreads ever put together. Over the course of the season they faired very well on decoying geese on average. While the spread they used may not be affordable to most hunters, it proved that full body decoys have a place in the snow goose decoy game. And I don’t see Avery slowing down any time soon.

Deadly Decoys

One of the more well known snow goose guides in the spring migration is Tracy Northup. Tracy along with some help runs Up North Outdoors Inc. out of Mound City, MO near the famous Squaw Creek Refuge. For years their decoy spreads consisted of homemade snow goose windsock decoys which constantly required maintenance and were at the mercy of the lack of wind. While he tested different products out there, he felt there wasn’t a quality snow or blue goose windsock decoy so he went to work on his own. And just this year he launched Deadly Decoys.

The screen printed blue goose decoys are one of the best we've seen

Windsocks have huge advantages over other types of decoys. They are light weight, compact, affordable, and add unrivaled movement to your spread. Most snow goose hunters will agree that snow goose hunting is a numbers game, and there’s no more affordable way to amass a lot of quality decoys than with windsocks. The biggest downfall of windsock decoys has been the lack of realism and their limp look on no wind days. Deadly Decoys has designed a blue and snow goose decoy that addresses both of these problems. They have a highly detailed screen printed body, realistic molded head, and a backbone support system that will hold the decoys shape without any wind. And the best part of this windsock decoy is it’s durability. The only stakes available are stainless steel so there will never be a need to replace what breaks. I personally have added a large number to my decoy spread this fall for my snow goose hunting in Saskatchewan and North Dakota. I’m looking forward to the look of the spread when Mother Nature leaves us windless.

SilloSocks

From the state of Nebraska a few years ago came the appearance of a new form of snow goose decoy, the SilloSocks. SilloSocks basically came to be by taking the pros of the silhouette and windsock decoys and bringing them together. SilloSocks were the first snow goose windsock decoy to come out that would hold their shape in no-wind situations. The SilloSocks head and body are permanently attached eliminating lost heads which was a headache for windsock hunters for years. They also have a unique stake system with spring steel that provides realistic movement. In low wind situations, you can stake the decoy up in the air to pick up the slightest breeze. In high wind situations, you can push the stake closer to the ground, allowing it to “hug” the surface rather than whip back and forth like regular windsocks. And the best part of the decoy is they barely weigh anything at all, let alone 100 in your arms.

SilloSocks are the most company snow goose decoys available

SilloSock snow and blue goose decoys have a screen printed body which look very realistic compared to traditional windsocks. And they have a realistic feeding head which was lacking for many years. SilloSock decoys can set up and take down fast and travel well with their decoy carriers. I personally use these carriers to store almost 500 decoys on the roof of my trailer. This gives me an excellent option for storage and for when I need to backpack a spread when the fields are wet.

Purchase SilloSocks here at Nodak Outdoors.

Rotary Wing Decoys

Realistic movement is the best thing to add to a motionless snow goose decoy spread

There’s no doubt that spinning wing decoys have made a difference in the duck hunting community. So much so that their use is banned in many US states. Lately, the concept is being tested for snow geese. SilloSocks Inc. has brought the patent from overseas and is launching this new snow goose decoy system.

With their Rotary Wing System (not yet available, coming soon) coupled with their Flapping Goose Decoy, this will simulate circling snow geese moving around a decoy spread. This snow goose decoy system will be invaluable on no wind days where your decoy spread is otherwise lifeless. I’m taking this system to Saskatchewan this fall and will see for myself how effective this can be with weary adult snows and blues.

Wind Wavers

Motion snow goose decoys that require zero maintenance are a big plus for large decoy spreads

The innovators of Wing Waver Decoys have brought out a newly designed flying snow goose decoy for the fall of 2006. Throughout the past decade there have been many stationary flying snow goose decoys released on the market. The biggest drawback to these decoys is their wings don’t look real. Only with the right wind will they fly right, otherwise their too spastic or too motionless. The Wind Waver can flap with wind to activate the bungee cord mechanism attaching the fabric wing to a 32” silhouette body. Depending on the wind, there are two different weights of cord that come with the decoy that allow you to adjust to varying wind speeds. The wind makes the wing snap back to simulate a realistic flapping snow goose.

This product is so new that testing has been minimal. But we’ll be putting this decoy to the test this fall and see if the snow geese find it as attractive as we do.

Purchase the Snow Goose Wind Waver here at Nodak Outdoors

These are some of the products that I think will shape the snow goose decoy evolution into the future. Snow goose hunting will always revolve around quantity and quality and these are some options that can help you balance your decoy spread and your wallet. Can you still use those old homemade snow goose decoys and kill geese? Sure they will in certain situations, but if there’s one thing I know it’s that snow geese aren’t getting any dumber. Their ability to spot decoys is as amazing as the decoys coming unto the market themselves.

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