Picking the Best Snow Goose Hunting Location
When you talk to hunters, they will pretty much all agree that NW Missouri is one of the best areas for hunting spring snow geese...and there is good reason for this. The area has plenty of rolling corn fields and watersheds, which the geese absolutely love for feeding and roosting. It also happens to be part of the Mississippi flyway that butts up to the Central Flyway, which sees hundreds of thousands of snow geese during the spring migration. In fact, past years have seen counts of over a two point five million geese settling into this area on a single day! Snow goose hunting does not get much better than that!
Obviously, the weather also plays a large part in the successful hunting in this area. Late February and March typically see little to no snowstorms, perfect weather for the geese. This also happens to be rather ideal weather for the hunters. It allows you to spend more time getting set up as well as extending the actual hunting day if need be because the climate is not too severe.
What to Expect on a Snow Goose Hunt
If you are doing your own scouting, you are going to need to get there days before to see where the birds are feeding and NOT being hunted. You see, geese are extremely intelligent birds and if they feel threatened, they will avoid the grounds. If that field still has plenty of waist grain, you can rest assured the birds will be back the next day to feed again.
The next day, you will be out there early getting set up. You will want to set a LOT of decoys. Ideally, you are looking at a spread of at least 500, preferably over 1,000. You will also want to include some motion decoys, wind socks, or goose flag and vortex style spinning decoys. These simulate the movement of live geese and will make the spread look more realistic from above as the geese enter the area.
When setting up your blinds, be sure that it mimics the terrain and look of the area. Remember, you are going to have thousands of eyes peering down, so anything out of the ordinary will alert them to danger. If your blind is set up above ground level, you will also need to completely brush the blind so nothing is visible to the geese.
At this point, patience is your biggest friend. First time and inexperienced hunters will see the geese approaching and want to start shooting as soon as they are within 50 yards. Experienced hunters, however, will tell you that you need to wait until the geese are inside of at least 25 years, preferably a bit closer, before opening fire. At this distance, you will only need only a small lead on the birds, something even an inexperienced hunter should be able to handle and be able to swing to a second and possibly a third bird before they are out of range.
Now, if you do not have the equipment or do not feel comfortable doing all of this on your own, remember you can always choose a guided snow goose hunt instead. In addition to having all of the equipment supplied, your trip will be conducted on proven hunting grounds with expert hunters and callers. The information and tips you will get throughout the day in NW Missouri from an experienced Missouri snow goose hunting guide will prove to be invaluable on future hunts. Think of it as a day in school where you get to bring home some really cool prizes!
