All the pictures posted are taken by John Hakola. John is a Kopecky Hunting Club member and takes great photos. Enjoy!
All the snow geese are gone and the Spring 2010 season is in the books. It was an average season if that, lack of sun and south winds played a major role in this year’s season. Our best days came on warm sunny days. The second week of March is when we started to see our first waves of geese, some call these geese “Ice Eaters.” Ice Eater Geese are the adults that push the snow line and are near impossible to decoy. Last year’s season was different due to the lack of water, when the geese first started to show up we decoyed them no matter how old they were. However, this year water was everywhere and the geese had their pick of liter when it came to water holes. Towards the end of the second week most of the adults started to move north and new geese started to move in. Soon as the juvenile geese and Ross geese started to show up the hunting really picked up. Last year we had multiple double digit days and for those who know us, we do not have 10-15 guys hunting on a regular basis. Last year the best day was a 55 birds with 5 guys, imagine if we had 10 guys, or even 3, it probably would have been a 100 bird day. This year the best day was a 44 birds with 4 guys, unfortunately it fell in the middle of the week so most of us had to work. There were a few other double digit days, but nothing to write home about.
This year is probably the most geese that I have been associated with harvesting. However, this is the first year that I have hunted from Southern Nebraska to Northern South Dakota. Hunting for me started the first weekend of March in the Rainwater Basin and ended the last weekend of March in middle to Northern South Dakota. After this experience I do not envy the guides who chase these geese from Missouri to Canada, especially if it’s a muddy year like this one. I should rephrase that statement, “I envy how many geese they shoot and respect how much hard work goes into it.”
All in all it wasn’t a bad year, but it did have some challenges. Below I have listed some of the highlights from the 2010 spring season.
- One banded Ross Goose.
- One Electrical Fire.
- Three days of nice weather (i.e. sunny, warm, south wind)
- 65 degrees and 44 geese one day, 35 degrees and 4” of snow the next day.
- One ultimate Slick Willy.
Thanks to all the members for the 2009/2010 hunting season memories, we look forward to seeing you all again next Fall and Spring.
This year is probably the most geese that I have been associated with harvesting. However, this is the first year that I have hunted from Southern Nebraska to Northern South Dakota. Hunting for me started the first weekend of March in the Rainwater Basin and ended the last weekend of March in middle to Northern South Dakota. After this experience I do not envy the guides who chase these geese from Missouri to Canada, especially if it’s a muddy year like this one. I should rephrase that statement, “I envy how many geese they shoot and respect how much hard work goes into it.”
All in all it wasn’t a bad year, but it did have some challenges. Below I have listed some of the highlights from the 2010 spring season.
- One banded Ross Goose.
- One Electrical Fire.
- Three days of nice weather (i.e. sunny, warm, south wind)
- 65 degrees and 44 geese one day, 35 degrees and 4” of snow the next day.
- One ultimate Slick Willy.
Thanks to all the members for the 2009/2010 hunting season memories, we look forward to seeing you all again next Fall and Spring.
South Dakota Hunt
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