I Love the Smell of Gunpowder in the Morning

The weather broke into really nice days for snow geese.  Southerly winds, warm early spring temperatures, and clear skies prevailed.  The lake was totally open and additional floater decoys were in the water.  This would make the difference when the flight resumed.

                          

Amazed was the word when I arrived to the hunting spot.   No one was there, and I was going to have it all to myself.  Now this was good and bad.  It is always nice to have company, but it is safer to hunt with someone.   

By 9:30 the snow geese migration resumed with enormous high- flying flocks heading north riding on the strong south wind.  The high fliers were not going to decoy and I did not turn on the speakers.  The lower flocks that were less than 100 birds were susceptible.  More than one began to sail and break up from the V they were in.  By 11 AM, still no luck.

Around 11:30 a lone single dropped out of a flock.  With no hesitation it locked up and floated into the decoys on the water.  The bird just did not hesitate.  I have seen this with ducks, but this was the first time I have seen a snow goose do this.  Needless to say, the bird was toast before it hit the water. 

Wading out into the lake I could see large flocks of migrating snow geese heading north in all quadrants.  What was more amazing was the number of specks heading north.  I have seen speckled- belly geese in the thousands migrating north, but in the fall we rarely see any.  Either they go through at night or take a different southerly path in the fall. The stream was endless.  

Picking up the bird, I could see it was a very young. It was probably from a late hatch.  I had to quit staring around as there were more geese coming.  I won't shoot anything standing around in the water.

This process began to repeat itself about every fifteen to thirty minutes.  Large flocks at a relatively low altitude would fly over. Then they would begin to sail and the V would break up.  They would re-form again.  One to five birds would want to stop over at the spread for a drink. I was ready and "Old Betsy" was ready to bark.

I had been told by a friend to turn on the speakers to a call that had a sound like a low growl.  I was told this was a copy of snow geese in a field feeding.  It worked and I began to be able to pick off a bird periodically. 

By 3 PM I was done and the migration seemed to slow.  I picked up a nice mess of geese and went home.

I had mentioned earlier the massive flocks of speckled- belly geese that were seen.  The flocks of Canada geese were phenominal.  We have club members that put out nests for Canada geese, and there are thousands of local Canada geese.  Everywhere you drive year round you will see Canada geese.  In the fall they will come to the blind on opening day.  They learn quickly. Once their bottoms have been burned, they stay clear.  But these were migrators and they were in massive numbers.




In the fall the club's count of harvested Canada geese keeps climbing.  Maybe there will be spring season for Canadas in the future.

Great sales are taking place at all of the four outdoor companies listed on the website.  Cabela's has $5.00 shipping on orders over $150.00.  This ends Tuesday the 29th.  Orvis has it's annual hunting sale going on.  Click on the website and go to hunting clothing for some great deals.  Gander Mountain has new Apparel from North Face. Bass Pro has a Fishing Classic Online Sale. 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank
http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/
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The snow geese have come, the snow geese are here

Wow, what a day!  I got to the blind around 9:30 on Friday morning.  The snow geese were flying north in enormous flocks riding on a strong south wind.  Our spread looked good, but we had a major problem with the setup.  The lake was still frozen over and the pump was not operating.  The repair order had been placed, but it was not yet pumping water.  There was only one other hunter, so the two of us stood most of the morning and watched as thousands upon thousands of snow geese headed north.  In addition, I had never seen so many specks.  We've never seen this many of this breed of goose in the fall, and the feeling is they go through at night. 

                                   
                                                                 

      

To the west of our set up is a series of wetlands with shallow water and weed.  The geese started into those wetlands and they formed what looked like a tornado spiraling down to the ground.  With binoculars we could see the density of this mass of birds.  It was hard to estimate the quantity, but it had to be in the many thousands.

 The two pictures are of the spread.  Notice the water.  It is pure ice that went to the bottom of the lake and it is pure white.  The snow geese came toward the blind and then veered off.  This was the result of the frozen water.  The lakes to the west of us were open and the snows just piled in there.

The weather changed again.  I only hunted one day because of the ice on the pond and the well being inoperative.  Monday the weather stayed cold, but the well was put back in service.  As the weather started to warm up and stayed warm at night, the lake melted.  It had some help from the pump. 

Wednesday morning the lake was 100% ice free, and we had a strong south wind with warming temperatures.  The snow geese continued to fly north, but they couldn't go too far as the snow line started just south of Sioux Falls with two feet of snow plus on the ground.

I have been looking forward to hunting with my good friend John as he usually brings his dog Junior.  Junior is a chocolate lab and he is really strong.  Hunting with a good dog just adds to the enjoyment of the hunt.  I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning.  We will see what the next two days produce.

                          


Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank.
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The Snow Geese are Coming, The Snow Geese are Coming

We hope the snow geese are coming.  Checking the counts at Squaw Creek, they are still showing 777,000+ birds, and so we wait for the next count.  The commercial blind to the south of our club has reported getting into a couple of bunches, but there is no noticeable movement of geese leaving Squaw Creek.  My wife and I live along the Missouri River bottoms, and we have not seen any flocks of snows in the air heading north.  We have seen a lot of Canadas migrating. My fear is the majority of the snows may follow the Platte River west and then turn north through central Nebraska. 

                



As I checked the weather today  (March 6th), we have three days of north winds and light snow Monday through Thursday.  Friday may be worth heading out to the blind as the wind will be out of the south and it is forecasted to be a really nice day. 

Snow goose hunting is the opposite of fall hunting.  We hunt the really nice days with southerly flow. Showing up early is not an issue. You do not have to be in the blind until about 9-10 AM.  These are bankers' hours and the weather is nicer.  You are not limited to the number of shells you can put in your gun.  We have several members put extensions on their weapons that give them extra shells.  I have found that shooting big shells (3 1/2")  gives you some more boost.

Monday March 7th, No new report from Squaw Creek.  Right now the weather looks like rain and snow for the next three days.  Thursday and Friday look good with southerly flow, sunshine and warm temperatures.  Those could be the days.  We are ready.

Wednesday March 9th. My good friend John called me and said there were 2 million snow geese at Squaw Creek.  I could not verify that as their website has not been updated.  I am sure John called the refuge.  Our snow did not materialize, but we did have a strong north wind all day.  This should be letting up and moving to the south.  Fornes Lake just south of Council Bluffs has a few geese, but no big flocks.  We are ready.

 Thursday March 10th. The posted report for Squaw Creek is 1.297 million snow geese.  Weather in southwest Iowa is cool but clear.  Tomorrow projected highs are to be in the upper 50s with southerly flow.  We are ready.



Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank
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Snow Geese, Turkey, and Elk

Two out of three in the next 45 days and that is not bad.  Three quarter of a million snow geese are now at Squaw Creek National Refuge in Missouri.  Our club now has 650 decoys out.  It takes a lot of decoys to get them to come to the blind.  There is 2 feet of snow on the ground just to the north of us in South Dakota, and our snow is gone.  It should warm up this week, and the ice will go off the lakes.  That should keep them around a week or two.  Our club is ready. 

                       

Everyone is talking about all the turkeys they see out in the fields and along the roads.  This should be a banner season for spring harvest.  I have two spots.  One north of Fort Calhoun and the farm down by the Missouri River.  Visiting with the landowner north of Fort Calhoun, he told me he had never seen so many birds.  The winter has not been all that bad, and the survival rate is quite high. 

My plan was to go Elk hunting in 2012, but plans have a way of changing.  Casey Schroeder gave me the name of an outfitter south of Jackson Hole, and recommended I give him a call.  I did.  I liked what I heard, and we had several conversations. With just a couple of days before the deadline, I decided to go to Wyoming and hunt Elk in the fall.  Wyoming has a draw for an Elk license, and I came right down to the last day to get the application into the state.  Lo and behold, I drew, and I made a reservation with Bob Barlow of Barlow Outfitting for opening day to hunt Elk south of the Yellowstone.   (http://www.barlowoutfitting.com/)

Bob is a third generation Wyoming native, and grew up hunting the mountains and prairies of the state.  Besides hunting in the fall, he provides a full range of outdoor activities all year round consisting of fishing expeditions on horseback, float trips, and snowmobile trips into the Yellowstone. 

The area Bob hunts is the Jedidiah Smith wilderness and south of Jackson Hole in the Snake River, Hoback and Gros Ventre Mountain ranges.  The area is famous for its excellent year round resident elk.  The hunts take place close to the base camp near Alpine and Bondurant Wyoming. 

It will soon be time to start training again, and take off the holiday pounds.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.   Hank
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