The spring snow goose migration continues at a furious pace. The bulk of the population has been passing through North Dakota over the past week. While some birds still remain in South Dakota, the numbers have been decreasing rapidly since the 24th of the month.
Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
The light-goose migration of 2010 will go down in the books as one of the fastest moving migrations since the Conservation Order was enacted to allow spring hunting. A number of factors can be attributed to the fast pace, with Mother Nature orchestrating the event in her own, unpredictable manner.
The extended cold and snow pack that held geese in the deep south through most of February, confined staging birds on wintering grounds much later than normal. It is likely the extended stay that held geese south until well after their internal and biological clocks said, “go north, it’s time to start nesting.”
The warm Gulf winds and rapid reduction of snow in the Central Flyway resulted in pushing north in Blitzkrieg fashion. In Missouri, the numbers rose to peak populations and then dwindled within nearly a week’s time. As geese barreled north through Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, hunter success varied greatly as sportsman chased these determined, speedy flocks.
While the birds settled in South Dakota for nearly a two-week period (the longest stop on the migration thus far), the continued onset of spring has kept scouting flocks busy with nearly constant recon runs during these short, resting and refueling periods.
For the hard working guides that have chased these birds north, the pace of the spring migration is nothing short of sheer chaos. In a normal year, juggling a mobile business is difficult at best. Considering that these birds have covered nearly two-thirds of the flyway in a single month, only those who have been the most mobile and diligent have consistently had good harvests.
As of the latest reports. the birds have not yet arrived in Saskatchewan in huge numbers but heavy flights were passing through North Dakota since the first of March.
Waterfowler.com encourages our members who are traveling for a spring snow goose hunt in April to check our report pages for the most recent updates on the spring migration.
Until our next report, we hope to see you in WFC’s virtual Online Lodge in Second Life – where the duck season is always open.
