For hunters, winter can be a drag. With most big game seasons long gone and spring hunting seasons a few months away, winter is not a great time of the year for most hunters. However, to the open minded outdoorsman there is always something to do. During winter, I like to go after predators and geese.
Predators
Honestly, predator hunting is easy. All you have to do is know where pockets of predators live and you can find quick success by while learning how to call with electronic or hand calls. Coyotes are smart animals but when there is a healthy population of them, younger or lone animals react to game calls in manner that is beneficial to a hunter. By cutting your teeth on these easier to kill specimens, a hunter can advance in skill level and start going after wiser targets. The same goes for foxes and bobcats.
Much like predator hunting, trapping can give a hunter valuable knowledge on animal behavior and it can provide some extra income to help cover hunting expenses. Most animal fur is prime in the winter and this gives them more value when skinned and sold. A lot of hunters these days are selling individual animal skins on eBay or on taxidermy websites where they earn more money than selling at common fur auctions. Trapping can also create opportunities to gain access and permission to previously unavailable hunting land.
Waterfowl
More and more waterfowl seasons are being extended all across the country, but none are more generous than current snow goose seasons. The Atlantic, Mississippi and the Central flyways all have super late seasons for light geese. Snows are easy to scout and most of the land they feed on is wide open space that might be easy to get permission to hunt on considering that open land is not very desirable to big game hunters. By the winter time, most geese have been called to all up and down their flyways and they can be weary, so a lot of decoys and electronic calls will help.
One of my favorite tactics for hunting late season geese is to use a life-sized cow decoy to stalk feeding geese in open fields. A lot of hunters who use this tactic like to find birds with neck collars to target as they always have matching leg bands as well. Stalking geese in the open can be very rewarding as they generally aren’t alarmed by an approaching cow.
Predators and fowl and keep a guy busy during the winter so don’t overlook this potential winter fun.
