Its been a lot of years since I last did the spring snow goose hunt. With the cooler than normal Temps in the Dakota’s my guess is that the birds are still help up well south. Not sure of the recent weather conditions in Kansas and Nebraska but would have to think a fair # of birds are in that area by now. There were years when I hunted them they would have already been in or thru ND by now.
a buddy of mine hunted south dakota last week.. thousands and thousands of birds. they did pretty well.
a buddy of mine hunted south dakota last week.. thousands and thousands of birds. they did pretty well.
That’s interesting. I would have thought with the colder temps recently they would be hung up farther south still. They normally will only go as far north as they can find open water. Its not uncommon for them to backtrack south after moving North and not finding any big open water.
I should add they were hunting around south central SD
We were on I-90 from Worthington going east a couple days ago and there was a lot of water. Every field was a big pond with tons of Canadian geese on them
I suspect I-90 going through SD looked the same only white with Snows.
I called the sportsman cove hotline in Webster and they said no snows in that area yet. Said still lots of snow and Ice. The message said still near 3ft of ice on some local lakes. The message was updated just today.
Probably more open water in south central SD by the Missouri where GG was. The river attracts a lot of the early birds.
Everything would be south of I90. There is some north of the interstate but i would suspect the majority is still South. The snow line is still south of brookings
The snows follow to the snow line which is why a bulk are in SD. They don’t wait for open lakes like they used to. They’ll roost in sheet water in the field. Heck sometimes they don’t even sleep on the water. I’ve booted them out of fields when we were driving out in the pitch dark.
Unfortunately I no longer have time in the spring to chase them.
Chamberlain was stacked with thousands of snow geese this last weekend, I didnt see a single hunter in the area.
Been hunting them the last 4 weeks in SD, juvies are now mixing in. The push north is been strong the last few days.
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Double bands? Never hunted snows is that normal?
Not normal but I got 1 a few years back with 3 bands ,2 tarsal bands and 1 metal leg band.
Not normal but I got 1 a few years back with 3 bands ,2 tarsal bands and 1 metal leg band.
Very cool, nice job! 
I should note 1 of the bands was from Canada and the other from Iowa.
Jensen that is sweet! I have never heard of a double band with two different banding locations. I’ve also never heard of a triple band. Was that different locations too?
You got the band horseshoe!
Iowa is an odd place to band a snow. Most banding is done in breeding grounds or wintering and Iowa is neither.
Typically double banded birds have reward bands.
The snows and blues were pouring through the Worthington area yesterday(Thursday). Even shot one that got pushed a little too close by his buddies. Not hunting with decoys just trying to be in the right place at the right time. Went out this morning and only saw honkers and specks. The light geese had moved on from the area.
The tarsal bands were all same location in Nanauvaut Canada. Last reward band I got was about 20 years ago n a wood duck I think they did away with that though.
Just back from an evening walk with the dog, had a flock of snows go over yipping. Fun to see.
How does Snow Geese meat compared to regular honkers?
Are Snows like trying to eat a diver duck?
My favorite things to do with honkers is Italian Goose or smoked.
What do you do with snows?
What do you do with snows?
We have done a lot of them by making jerky with Fleet Farm’s Mango Habanero jerky seasoning. I marinate them twice as long as recommended and dehydrate them about 6 hours longer than recommended.
They have turned out pretty darn good
How does Snow Geese meat compared to regular honkers?
Are Snows like trying to eat a diver duck?
My favorite things to do with honkers is Italian Goose or smoked.
What do you do with snows?
I’d say they’re quite a bit better than a honker, but I’ve pretty much just made them into sausage or sticks. Guys seem to say they’re better in the spring having eaten grain the last 7 months.
Smoke them, make jerky and pepper sticks, make them into hamburgers on grill, in crockpot like pulled pork. Personally I think they are better than Canada goose to eat.
I’ll have to make some plans for next spring. That jerky sounds tasty.
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