Snow Goose Hunting Concealment

Snow goose hunting can be some of the funnest waterfowl hunting of the year. It can also be the most frustrating. No matter how many dozens of decoys you set, if you are not hidden, then you can kiss your success good bye. Trying to fool flocks of hundreds if not thousands of geese offers an incredible challenge. As if all of the eyes weren’t enough, you could also be dealing with geese that have been around for 10 years or better. In order to have any kind of success at all, staying hidden should be priority number 1.

Layout Blind Strategies

Layout blinds are a great tool for waterfowl hunters. They offer the comfort of a head and back rest and will also help keep you out of the elements. Unfortunately, they can be a snow goose hunter’s worst enemy. Snow geese have a knack for picking out those rectangular coffins even when immersed in 1000+ decoys. If you’re going to use layout blinds while snow goose hunting, stubble your blinds until you think it’s good enough, then stubble it for 30 more minutes. Even then, it might not be concealed enough! When we use layout blinds for snow goose hunting concealment, we typically offset them away from the landing zone. Instead of arranging them along the leading edge of birds, we’ll set it to the side. This takes the focus off us. Snow geese feed agressively and like to land on the upwind side of other geese. Rather than having our blinds be in that area, we’ll hide off to the side of it. If you’re using windsock style decoys, being off to the side will mean the decoys will be pointed across you rather than in line with you. Decoys lined in this manner will offer more concealment across your blinds rather than in line with them. It’s far from fool proof, but it can definitely increase your odds for getting snow geese into the decoys.

White Suits

Another tactic we’ve utilized is white suits. Tyvek painters suits are readily available at Lowe’s, Home Depot, and even Walmart. They’re cheap and offer snow goose hunters the ability to lay among the spread while blending in. There are also snow suits for purchase out of regular material, but when dealing with the muddy conditions often associated with Spring, cheap throwaway tyvek suits are a better alternative. This option for concealment while snow goose hunting doesn’t offer protection from the elements, but gives hunters an un-obstructed view of all that’s going on. It is definitely a different perspective then looking through the mesh of a layout blind. Hard Core Brands is coming out with a great tool for snow goose hunters who like to lay in the decoys. Their Snow Goose Blind/Decoy Bag is basically a wedge that will offer back support and double as a decoy bag. This will help keep your upper body out of the mud and offer more comfort than simply laying on the ground. Be sure to wear a face mask and gloves if utilizing the method for snow goose hunting concealment.

Successful snow goose hunting is a lot of about numbers of decoys, but if anything rivals being #1, it is concealment. You’re dealing with a large number of geese and many of them had many numerous trips up and down the flyway and have seen countless numbers of spreads. Making it appear as though you are not there is a huge part in winning the battle.