Waterfowl hunters don’t have to call it quits at the end of January. The Arctic Tundra Habitat Emergency Conservation Act—more commonly known as the Conservation Order light goose season—was passed in 1999. For many, snow goose hunting is at its best during the month of March. We can help save the tundra while enjoying no bag limits, extended shooting times, unplugged guns, and electronic callers. It’s no cakewalk, though. Snow geese are hunted 10 months a year, giving older birds a serious education. To put up big numbers, you’ll need to spend time scouting and set plenty of decoys. This list of extra gear might help you cash in on the springtime action and put a few more geese on the strap, too.
Setting decoys around layout blinds highlights them to geese passing overhead. These rectangles indicate no-fly zones to geese that are pressured nearly year round. To get rid of those telltale boxes, I break up the forms with Blind Door Decoys. White Rock’s second-generation models have a dual-pivoting system that allows you position the decoy at the same height and attitude as those surrounding your hide, letting you disappear into the spread.
I used to hear geese before everyone else in my hunting party. Years of gunshots have changed that, and increased the amount of “huhs” I utter in the course of normal conversation. To prevent that, and keep the e-caller from rattling your brain, wear hearing protection. These from SureFire fit flush so they won’t mess with the cheek weld on your gun, and they’re comfortable enough to wear all day.
Many hunters skip the layout blinds in favor of wearing white Tyvek suits, which allow you to hide right amongst the decoys. In the past, I’ve tried to balance my gun on a shell decoy while doing this—but of course it usually ends up action-down in the mud. This rest keeps your gun shiny side-up and ready to go at your fingertips when the vortex touches down.
Most of the time, I believe that if you’re…
