If you’re interested in knowing how to call snow geese, these tips will help you refine your calling techniques and bag more snows on your next hunt.
Snow geese are tough birds to hunt, and decoying them takes a good snow goose call and the ability to know how to use it. Whether you use a standard mouth call or your actual voice, having confidence in what you’re doing goes a long way in developing a calling routine that works.
In this review, we will discuss some basic snow goose calling tips that work really well in order to fool weary snow geese. If you’re looking for snow goose e-caller tracks or MP3 downloads, check out our top picks here.
Snow Goose Calling Tips
Below are 6 snow goose calling tips that I’ve found to work after years of practicing them on snow geese in the field. With snow goose calling, less is usually more, and knowing when to call can mean the difference between decoying birds in close and groups that flare from your spread at 100 yards like they’ve seen a ghost.
1) Limit your calling to high barks and low barks only
Having the best snow goose ammo means nothing if you can’t get the birds in close. Learning what sounds they make and producing good quality tones are the keys to decoying snow geese.
Snow geese bark, they don’t honk. The high bark and low bark are the foundation of the basic snow goose call. These two notes are the only notes you need to learn to be successful calling snow geese.
The high bark is followed by the low bark and they are both approximately 1 second in length. These two notes can be repeated as many times as needed depending on how the birds are responding.
Do you really need the feeding gabble? No!! I see a lot of snow goose hunter’s trying to incorporate the feeding gabble into their routine and while it does sound nice, snow geese hate it. It doesn’t build their confidence and it just gives them something to key in on that they might not like.
Master the high and low bark before you try anything else. The Primos shaved reed snow goose call is a good call to try.
- Tremendous volume with little air required
- Missile-shaped Reed Shaved from 9/1000to 14/1000thick
- Easily reproduces multiple sounds of snow geese to sound like a whole flock
- Tremendous volume with little air required
- Missile-shaped reed shaved from 9/1000-Inch to 14/1000-Inch thick
Last update on 2022-07-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
2) A slow calling routine works best
Most snow goose calling tutorials recommend fast paced calling and that’s really the worst thing you can do for hunting small groups of snows or traffic birds. It may work for a group of 1000+ birds where you can’t really hear anything anyways, but rapid calling should be avoided.
The best calling routine for snow geese is a slow paced series of high and low barks that repeat as necessary. Varying the pace from slow to even slower, and mixing up high and low barks seems to work the best for me.
This tactic gives snow geese just enough sound to be enticed, but not enough to give them an opportunity to realize you’re not a real goose.
Slow your calling down and work on producing rich tones, you’ll bag more snow geese.
3) Answer snow geese that are responding well
Another trick for calling snow geese is to mimic their calls. If they bark once and then stop, bark back and then wait for them to respond. Calling too much when they are being quiet is usually a recipe for disaster.
Juvy snow geese are the most vocal of all and you really can’t call too much when they are around. They love to respond to a call, so don’t hesitate to be really vocal with them. On good hatch years, juvenile birds will respond to calling even when hunting snow geese without decoys.
If you are unsure of how you should be calling, mimicking the birds coming your way is always a good fall back routine. Just remember to focus on the high and low bark, and slow your calling down to a minimum.
4) When in doubt, don’t call
Believe it or not, you don’t have to call at snow geese every second of the hunt. In fact, over calling flares decoying snow geese more than just about any other factor. When in doubt, let the birds work and don’t call.
Decoying snow geese don’t need to be coaxed into range every inch of the way like Canada Geese do. They are extremely smart birds that are looking for any reason to not trust your setup. One bad note could send them flaring to never be seen again.
If snow geese are locked up on my spread, many times I won’t call. If I do, it’s just one or two confidence barks at a low volume to keep their attention and reduce the chance they skirt the outside of the spread.
If you have snow geese locked up and coming in, a few quiet confidence barks is all you really need.
5) Increase the length of your barks for long range snow goose calling
Next time you’re in the field, walk away from the spread and have a friend start calling toward you. It’s amazing how far sound travels with different length calling techniques.
You’ll notice that the long barks travel a lot further than short barks. I like to increase the length of individual high and low barks for snow geese that are up to a mile away. These long notes travel better and help geese pinpoint the sound easier.
The high bark is especially good for long range calling.
6) Group Calling Works
The last tactic for calling snow geese is to use a group calling strategy to sound more realistic. I’m not talking about handing everyone in the spread a call and having them make noise though. For this to work, it requires taking the routines I’ve already mentioned and using it on a larger scale.
Two snow goose callers alternating between high and low barks can respond to each other’s calls and sound extremely realistic doing so. This tactic takes practice, and calling over each other should be avoided, but it can be perfected with people you hunt a lot with if you can develop a routine.
Use group calling techniques on your next hunt. Vary rarely do snow geese hear it. This method combined with proven snow goose decoys strategies is the recipe for success.
What is the best snow goose call?
Whether you’re an expert caller or just practicing the snow goose calling basics, choosing the best snow goose call is the foundation for developing a good calling routine.
The best snow goose call is the Primos Hunting 828 Goose Call, Shaved Reed Snow. The shaved reed snow is an affordable field grade snow goose call that produces a tone that snow goose just can’t seem to get enough of.
I’ve tried many different snow goose calls, from Sure Shot all the way to Haydels, and none have performed as well out of the box as the shaved reed snow or the Whiteout Express. The high and low barks are rich in tone and sound just like a snow goose.
Another thing I like about the shaved reed snow is that it works well at all volume ranges. I can put a lot of air though it for long distance calling, or get real quiet for birds locked up close. Whatever the situation, the geese love it and it’s any easy call to blow for any experience level.
The best thing about the shaved reed snow is that it’s affordable. For around $50, it’s all you really need to sound like a snow goose and get them just a little bit closer for a shot.
Loading ...Bottom Line
Snow geese are some of the smartest birds you can hunt, and having a good snow goose call is the first step to building their confidence to get them to decoy in close.
The basics of snow goose calling are centered on the high and low bark. Mastering these two notes is the key to making snow geese feel confident in your decoy spread.
Snow geese respond best to slow calling routines, and when in doubt, less calling gives them fewer chances to pick you out. When in doubt, don’t call.
Answering snow geese or mimicking their sounds is a tactic that works well if you’re unsure about the right notes to use. Juvy snows are especially susceptible to back and forth calling.
Group calling techniques can help you sound more realistic and give snow geese a routine they haven’t heard much. One of the best snow goose calls is the Sean Mann Whiteout Express. If you’re in need of a snow goose call, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Looking for more snow goose hunting tips? Check them out here!
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