light goose harvest begins

[Lee Borgersen]

Spring light goose harvest begins


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Enormous flocks of snow geese fill the skies each spring in the central United States, including in far western Minnesota, as they migrate toward the Arctic.

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The flocks weren't always so large. More intensive agriculture in decades past gave the birds easier access to food, and eventually an overpopulation of the geese caused considerable damage to fragile ecosystems in Arctic coastal areas and around Hudson Bay.



Hunters have an opportunity to help reduce the population of light geese through a federally authorized spring conservation harvest. This year, light geese harvest runs from Thursday, Feb. 15, through Monday, April 30. Light geese are snow geese, blue-phased snow geese and the smaller Rosss goose.


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Minnesota participates in the action, but in our region the majority of the light geese take happens west of the state, said Steve Cordts, waterfowl specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The harvest in Minnesota has varied from a few hundred to several thousand.


 
The conservation action is authorized by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which allows harvest of specific bird species during times when other waterfowl seasons are closed. Minnesota has participated in this spring conservation harvest each year since 2000.



To participate, a spring light goose permit is required and may be obtained wherever Minnesota hunting licenses are sold, via telephone at 888-665-4236 or online at mndnr.gov/buyalicense. There is a $2.50 application fee to cover the cost of issuing the permit. No other license, stamp or permit is required.



A summary of regulations is available at mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl/lightgoose, from license vendors, DNR wildlife offices or by calling the DNR Information Center at 888-646-6367 or 651-296-6157.

[snow1]

Ya know all the years I've hunted,my entire life thinking back,hell I bow hunted small game since grade school and that includes hunting with a wrist rocket but snow goose hunting in Mn is ,well a waste of time,Oh sure a guy might happen on a flock along the western borders and jump it but pickins are really slim and often none,pretty sure I can count on one hand all the snow geese I killed in Minn.

travel just 50miles west and beyond is a different story,time it right and you'll have days with snow geese filling the sky as far as you can see in the spring plus all the other migrating birds,its a specktacular sight.

Its worth a road trip when the migration is on just to witness this event and bring your shotgun as you might come across several 1000 snows on just one feed,I've seen entire sections all white from road ditch to road ditch,and got a bunch as well,its legal to hunt road and section lines in sodak (pass shooting)





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[mike89]

dog looks happy too!!

[snow1]

Yup.we're smiling while in the field pup just lives to hunt,in my old age I look for pass shooting opprotunities when ever possible,sure you'll get bigger #'s over dekes but also alot more work and scouting but as a young man it was all fun with great rewards most often once you found the x ....gotta take the good days with the bad.

New comer's should consider a guide,it pays to do your homework and weed out the wanna be guides,its also best to hunt for at least 3 days to better your chances of a successful hunt meaning one day can make a difference for #'s,one day ya might scratch out a dozen birds or less,then over night a huge mass moves in from the south and you might bag 50,60 or even 100 snows,multipal days are a plus.

[Bobberineyes]

We hunted the first six years when this started, any land in sodak we had no problem setting dekes.  But as time went on getting a field got tougher with more people doing tge same. what we found for decoy hunting was Big winds were your friend, it really dispersed and broke up the big flocks. Jumping birds off the roost was golden ( If you could get close to the waters edge). Field jumping was good the first few years but it seemed to get tougher with more people driving around chasing flocks. Good times for sure, i don't think i would ever do a guided hunt..good luck.

[snow1]

1sr report rollin in from a missouri guide service,"habitate flats" don't know the outfit but checked out they're operation on facebook,they racked up 502 snows,didn't say how many days they hunted but thats a pile.

Bobber,I here ya on the guide's,felt the same way for many years,we had (2) 16' trailers,and over 50doz BF dekes for starters,after a few years we dumped our FB and loaded up on siio'socks and deadly's and never looked back,today sold all but a few doz honker dekes and jump in with a buddy that has a great service when its on from MO to sodak,just show up with gun n ammo in hand and the rest is taken care of.Spring is uaually a tough muddy operation suited for the younger guyz.

[snow1]

Well it's on folks,infact smaller groups of adult birds are already in south dakota,snowline has them stopped for now but man-oh-man is it  on.



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[Dotch]

Ah, brings back fond memories of my days fresh out of college living in north central ND. There was no spring season yet and we were still hunting with lead shot. Spent many, many days afield during the waterfowl season. Kept my gun loaded & ready when I was working. Always something to shoot at. I lived on a building site on the far north end of Armourdale Reservoir. Lots of Finnlanders; great people.

Not that this is what you're up to snow1 but a young lad and I were discussing the the spring season the other day. He wanted to go with some buddies but thought it was kinda crappy that they basically just shot the geese & dumped them. I'd tend to agree. Not real sporting. At least make jerky or something out of them as opposed to dumping them for the crows, magpies and coyotes. I actually liked eating snows and blues. Marinated and grilled, the breasts were good sized and better tasting than the darks & ducks we shot. It's on my bucket list to get back to see that area again someday. 

[Bobberineyes]

Have fun in the mud snow, good luck!! I gotta get my kid on a spring hunt, good times for sure.

[Rebel SS]

Wow!!! Lookit all dem!!   

[glenn57]

Have fun in the mud snow, good luck!! I gotta get my kid on a spring hunt, good times for sure.

so DAD when we goin??????????

[snow1]

Here is another shot,keeps me up at night after days afield like this....something magical to the waterfowler when the birds lock up like this coming into the spread.




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