Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Guided Hunts Are One of the Best Ways of Getting a Good Shot at Spring Snow Geese







Youth Hunter getting shooting instructions on first Snow Goose Hunt


Hunting snow geese isn’t always easy.  Spring time hunting means that every single bird you see is smart enough to have survived all the perils that the winter threw their way and are now headed back north. The birds will be wary and often a little skittish. The earlier in the spring snow goose hunting season, the harder it tends to be at decoying the adult snow geese until younger birds arrive.
 
Since you’ve gone to the trouble and expense of traveling to Missouri for the spring snow goose hunting season, you’ll want to make sure you get your fair share of geese, and preferably more than a few. The best way to make sure that happens will be taking advantage of a professional snow goose hunting guide. The more experienced your guide, the happier you’re going to be with the final results.
 
Some people aren’t fans of the idea of goose hunting with the assistance of a guide, they think it will be too expensive, but others agree that it’s the best way. Many people even gather up a group of their friends, make a longer outing of the hunting trip and help reduce the overall cost.
 
Going with a group of people and hiring a Missouri goose hunting guide will actually save you money and time. Not only will your friends help lower the travel costs, and the price of guide, but the guide service will supply most if not all necessary equipment, including decoys as well as scouting and everyone knows that two of the most important keys to a successful spring snow goose hunting trip is always having enough decoys and scouting. The guide you hire will supply decoys and have a much better idea about how and where the spread should look on water or in the field so the snow geese will think they’re a real feeding flock and decoy readily.
 
Dogs can be another helpful tool.  Missouri has many lakes and ponds some of which are very deep. The spring thaw also means their very cold. As a hunter, you don’t want to have to climb in and out of the water each time you get a goose. By going with a group of people you may have a few of them that have experienced dogs and won’t mind bringing one, you’ll be able to stay warm and dry while the dog does all the retrieving. Most Missouri hunting guides will even have dogs, if your group does not so you can experience the pleasure of working with a truly seasoned hunting animal.
 
No hunting guide will ever promise that you're going to get a lot of birds when you hire their services for your snow goose hunting trip in Missouri, but having a professional guide along does increase you're odds a lot. They study the area and the patterns of the snow geese year in and year out. A good guide will be able to take you to a spot where they think the birds will likely be on that particular day. The guides do a lot of scouting and are seldom wrong but anything can happen while hunting snow geese.
For more details visit http://www.showmesnowgeese.com/
 

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Snow Goose Hunting in Missouri!

 

                   


Spring Snow Geese at Squaw Creek NWR.
               

The current situation with the snow goose is the perfect example of why hunting is so important. In recent years, the snow goose population has sky rocketed. If the numbers went unchecked the goose population would become so dense it would compromise their habitats, food supply, and increase the chances of disease. Hunting provides the perfect way to keep the numbers steady and the snow goose population healthy.

 

Missouri is an excellent place for any sportsperson who wants to try their hand at goose hunting. If you want to be successful in your venture, there are some things you’ll need to keep in mind.

 

Snow geese aren’t stupid. It doesn’t take them very long to learn that it’s hunting season, and once they do, they become very wary. The earlier part of the season will provide you with the most opportunities to bag a bird. Truly successful hunters arrive in Missouri several days before opening day and scout out locations and even put together a team of fellow hunters. They look for places that will appeal to the birds, and which also provide enough natural camouflage that the snow geese won’t spot the humans when they fly over.

 

If you want to be successful during spring goose hunts, you’re going to have to invest in some really good decoys and take your time setting them up so they look like a natural flock. The sight of the decoy flock will lure the live geese into thinking that it’s a safe area to land and feed. You’ll want to set up the decoys well enough in advance of day break so you have time to get to a camouflaged place that the geese won’t spot you.

 

Don’t assume that just because you’ve found a great place for snow geese that you’ll be able to hunt. The farming season starts earlier in Missouri than it does in other parts of the country and some farmers won’t be happy if they find you hunting on their property while they’re preparing their fields without permission. Make sure hunting is allowed in the area you’ve staked out.

 

If you’ve never hunted before, you should seriously consider taking advantage of guided goose hunts. These provide you with the perfect opportunity to learn about the area as well as the use of equipment you might not have. The guides will do their best to put you in a place where you’ll spot birds. The best thing about the guided goose hunts will be the amount of knowledge you can glean from the guide. You will want to take full advantage of their experience. For more details visit http://www.showmesnowgeese.com/

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Tips for Taking your Dog Along on Guided Duck Hunts



                 
 

 
The best part about going out on a duck hunt has got to be watching the dogs work. When you’re using an older dog, watching them fetch and retrieve ducks is a thing of beauty. Younger dogs that don’t have as many miles and might lack the smooth style of their older companions, but they have an enthusiasm that’s contagious.

If you’re going out on guided duck hunts and plan to bring your four legged hunting companion, there’s a few things you need to keep in mind.

 
Talk to the organization handling the guided duck hunts and let them know your bringing your hunting dog. They’re probably not going to care, but giving them a heads up is polite, plus it might make a difference if they’re putting together a group of hunters based on resources. They will also let you know if the area where you’re going to be hunting could pose any health hazards to your animal and if you need to have your vet administer any additional vaccinations.

 
It’s not reasonable to expect a dog who has done nothing but lay in the sun all day to be in any condition to suddenly go to Missouri and start hunting. You have to prepare them for the experience and make sure they’re ready and able to go. In addition to training them, you will also need to spend some time conditioning them which includes regular running and swimming. Getting your dog ready for Missouri’s duck hunting season takes time, don’t put it off until the last minute.

 
Your dog might be great when they’re on a duck, and they might have a great work ethic, but when your on guided duck hunts that include other people and other dogs, there’s no excuse for your dog to behave badly. If you have an animal that’s unruly or who doesn’t get along with other people and dogs, you need to leave them at home and only use them when your hunting by yourself.

 
When your in Missouri duck hunting and you have a partner who doesn’t have a dog, you should at least offer them the use of yours. You don’t have to hand over control of your dog to them, you still get to issue the commands, but your dog can fetch their ducks.

 Keep a careful eye on your dog’s condition. Hunting dogs love their jobs and will happily go all day long, but the duck hunting Missouri can be difficult on your animal. As the human in the relationship if you notice signs of fatigue or cold, you need to call an end to the day, or at least your dog’s part in it. Retrieving a few more ducks shouldn’t be as important as your animals health. For more details visit http://www.showmesnowgeese.com/

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Guided Missouri Duck Hunts are the Best



 




If you’re a fan of duck hunting and haven’t ever gone to check out the waterfowl in Missouri, you have no idea what you’re missing. The deep lakes and thick woodlands aren’t just window dressing. The environmental conditions are perfect for ducks. The birds are plentiful, and the conditions just challenging enough to be interesting. Fans of the sport often spend the entire hunting season in the state.

 
If you’ve never been gone on a Missouri duck hunt, the first time you should plan on getting the assistance of a guide. An experienced guide will do more than simply show you the most likely places to find birds, they’ll also keep you out of trouble.

 
Until you’ve been to Missouri it’s impossible to fully understand just how tricky the hunting conditions can really be. The rivers might appear to be quite and lazy, they might not even appear to be all that deep, but if you have to wade out to retrieve a duck your dog failed to retrieve, you’ll find just how deceptive those calm waters are. More than one hunter has lost their life to the strong undertow. The guide will be quick to warn you when it safe, and when it’s not safe, to remove yourself from the boat.

 
While a large chunk of Missouri remains public land, the areas where you can go duck hunting continue to get smaller and smaller. The Missouri duck hunting fines for shooting water fowl in a restricted area can be steep, and if caught trespassing and hunting on private farmland, you could find yourself in all kinds of legal trouble. A seasoned guide knows where you can and can’t hunt. They might even know some sights that the hunters who regularly come in from other states haven’t yet found.

 
Some guides work for hunting companies that have access to private land that only individuals who work with the guide will be able to use.

 
One of the biggest advantages of making arrangements for a Missouri duck hunting guide to help you, especially when it’s your first time hunting in the state, will be that they will make sure all of your paperwork is in order. When you first contact the hunting company and book a guide, they will tell you what agencies you need to contact, and what hunting permits you should have. If you intend to bring your bird dog along, let the hunting agency know. They will provide you with a list of vaccinations you dog should have before entering the state.

 
A week or two before you’re booked to leave on your Missouri duck hunting adventure, you need to get on the phone and contact the hunting agency handling the guided duck hunts and ensure that nothing has gone wrong with your reservation. For more details visit http://www.showmesnowgeese.com/