Matt Kostka reported that they have been hunting the Huron region and over the last 10 days they have seen the highest concentrations of snow geese in that area than he has ever seen in one area before. Matt said due to that, the hunting has been extremely tough this past week, trying to compete with the massive flocks in the area. Matt noted that as of yesterday the geese finally started to move north out of the immediate area that they are hunting and their hunting success has picked up considerably. Matt also stated that about 60 miles north of Huron they are still in full winter conditions so the geese are not able to move to far north quite yet and they have been roosting in the field sheet water which has been making it tough to pattern the birds up until this point. Matt is expecting a good hunt this weekend with the changing migration conditions.
WEEKEND WEATHER OUTLOOK:
Highs: In east central South Dakota expect a high of 38 degrees on Friday and then temps will jump up to 43 degrees on Saturday before dropping back down to 34 degrees on Sunday.
Lows: Expect a low temp around 25 degrees on Friday night and then lows will climb up to 32 on Saturday night before dropping back down to 27 degrees on Sunday night.
Precipitation: Skies will be partly cloudy through Saturday and then there is a 40% chance of snow flurries expected on Sunday.
SAND LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - ABERDEEN, SD
Reported that as of March 31, 2011, they have still only seen a couple hundred light geese on the refuge and surrounding areas. They stated that at this point they also still have about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground but the refuge lake is starting to open up now. They feel that there should be more light geese moving into the area by this weekend. They also reported that the northern edge of the snow goose migration is located in northern Spink County. Last weekend, large flocks of snow geese were seen throughout that area.
LAKE ANDES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - LAKE ANDES, SD
Reported that as of March 31, 2011 that they have not seen hardly any snow geese in the area this past week. They stated that about 2 weeks ago they saw a major migration push through the area but since then they have not seen any huntable numbers around the refuge area.
MADISON COUNTRY WETLAND DISTRICT - SOUTH EAST, SD
Reported that as of March 31, 2011 although there are still huntable numbers of light geese in the area, that the main migration has now pushed north from Lake Thompson up to around the Aberdeen area. They also noted that northern Spink County is about where the main reports of the big concentrations of light geese are currently congregated. They also noted that they currently do not have much for snow cover on the ground at this point and they have rain expected for the weekend which is going to make for very muddy conditions. They recommend hunters move north along the snow line where the main migration is located and the fields are still frozen for better accessibility.
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