A windy day, a nearby refuge; for snow goose hunters, that's a prescription for success. Otherwise, hunting prospects are sporadic during the late winter/spring season as the overpopulated waterfowl wing their way north to Hudson Bay nesting grounds.
Southwest Iowa has seen just a trickle so far; compared to the clouds of snow geese pushing through the Rain Water Basin of Nebraska. Up to three million, though, clog Nebraska refuges and fields; south of Grand Island and Kearney. Only about 60,000 were reported in the Riverton Wildlife Area early this week. Most of the rest of Iowa has been 'snow free' when it comes to spotting the targeted geese.
Still, there has been some good hunting. "Decoy hunting has been pretty tough, but pass shooting has been a little better," notes John Ross. Hunting in Fremont County, just outside the Riverton refuge, Ross and a hunting partner have taken several geese apiece each of the last few days. "We try to pattern them, so we know where to set up," says Ross. "Wind direction will influence which way they go. They get up into the wind." On their best day--a really windy afternoon--they shot 15 that were heading out to feed.
The special spring hunt is needed to save the bird from itself. "Snow goose populations grew dramatically during the 1990s and early in this century," points out Guy Zenner, Iowa Department of Natural Resources waterfowl biologist. "The season is designed to reduce their numbers so they have less of an impact on their habitat." Huge clouds of northbound snow geese follow the snow line north to Arctic tundras being destroyed because of their huge numbers. Colonies of up to a half million snow geese over-browse their home areas; then grub up the roots in a desperate search for nutrition; ripping up miles of vegetation. The impact is felt on other species, as well.
Because of the sheer numbers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service extends shooting with a 'conservation order,' which also relaxes harvest regulations. The daily bag limit of 20 might seem generous, until you see and hear wave after wave of snow geese pushing across the sky. Electronic calling is allowed, as is removal of shot-restricting magazine plugs in shotguns. A 2005 federal waterfowl stamp is not required under the special conservation order.
In past years, spring and fall snow goose hunters benefited from expansive decoy spreads. Hundreds, sometimes a thousand or more, would be plugged into picked grain fields to lure the high flying snows down to feed. Most of the geese coming through now, though, are decoy-wary adults that are not easily fooled. A poor hatch in 2004 and, perhaps, several years of harvesting younger birds means fewer of them this time around. "It's mostly adult birds were are seeing," says Ross. "The afternoon we took 15, all were adults except for one or two. Overall, I'd say about 75 percent of the snow geese we are harvesting are mature birds."
And with reduction of the population as the bottom line, there have been some encouraging signs. "This special season seems to be working," assesses Zenner. "We do annual counts and they suggest that snow goose numbers are declining now. If we continue on this course, we can get this population to a level that's more in balance with their habitat." Still, even optimistic estimates say it would be decades before the fragile ecosystem can recover when-or if-the snow goose glut wanes.
Hunting pressure on snows has been relatively light this year. Recently, Ross says hunter numbers dipped, though they were about normal earlier. "If we could report 100,000 to 150,000 geese on area counts, there would be more hunters here." Up to now, though, those snow goose numbers have steered clear of much of their Iowa flyway.
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