Snow Goose Migration Update – February 14, 2018

Winter has kept it’s grips on much of the country and the leading edge of the snow goose migration has been held in check. Snow and frozen water have them held up and on some days have even forced some back south, but they continue to hug the line and should begin to make more moves north as we move into late week thanks to warming temperatures and rainfall.

All it takes is one look at the snowfall map to know where the leading edge of the snow goose migration is. There are hundreds of thousands along it’s edge. Many of them are making daily trips north just to check for any open food or water only to return back south. Starting today, this snow line will begin to recede and hunters north will begin to see the leading edge mass move in. Any open water in these areas will load up while much of the other water will take a few days to lose it’s ice.

The part of the migration where a few young geese start to mix in is just getting into southern Illinois. They’re mixed in throughout, but larger numbers are now being seen south of I70 in Illinois. We saw a small northward push started yesterday afternoon filming at Willow Creek Waterfowl and if the rain will hold off these next two days, more should follow on their trek north.

Plenty of geese remain across Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. A lot of rain fell last weekend and farmers are far from getting into the fields for Spring work. It seems many years that’s what drives many snow geese north out of these areas. Without those tractors turning over fields, plenty of food will remain and some geese will continue to hang out.

The Week Ahead

Above normal temperatures the next two days should have plenty of geese moving north especially if the rain can hold off. Had these two days been accompanied by clear skies, it could be a mass push north, but clouds and rain will likely hold them down a little bit. A brief cool down Friday into Saturday will give way to another warmup on Sunday that could lead to more birds heading north. Into next week, copious amount of rain look to fall across a large portion south of I70. There will be plenty of open water, fresh food, and mud that Conservation Snow Goose Season is known for!