Hi Marc-if you are in Cape May then you are just a few miles from some excellent snow goose hunting. From Dennisville over the Delaware Memorial Bridge you have mostly public marsh and plenty of access and snow geese all along there. That is probably around 40-50 miles of shoreline with plenty of access. You will find a large (2-10k birds) roosting flocks at least every mile or two. The best way I have found to do it out there is to find a couple of roosting flocks on the bay front and try and get in between them. Set out 20-30 decoys, get your call, and work them as they move. You would be surprised that it is not really difficult and you don't need hundreds of decoys. But you do need to call the birds. I was taught by a guy that lives in Millville. The secret is a Big River flute type call and just blow the high note at a steady, but unhurried, cadence. You will find that in that area you can decoy and call birds pretty well. If you get into field hunting you are going to need way more decoys, and a lot of luck to be where the birds want to be on a particular day. Along the bayfront they are in pretty much the same places all of the time and year to year. After a while you start to learn where they fly to and from. The big thing is you don't want to mess with the roosting flock, that will just throw you off. If you can get within a half mile of it you can generally do pretty good. I'm not saying you will go and shoot your limit every time, but you will get some action, bag a few geese, and not spend and hour or two on each side of your outing setting up and taking down. The Delaware bay shore is a pretty unique place to hunt snow geese. I have never heard anyone in other areas of the country talk about hunting them this way. The geese are really staging here to get ready for the flight north, and the best numbers are there in January and February, and into March. I also prefer to hunt through low tide. I like to put a dozen floaters in the water and maybe 2 dozen shells out on the mud. This is a really fun and challenging way to hunt, and when you get the hang of it, you almost always get something. Plus you get to watch thousands of fowl. I was out for a boat ride with a friend yesterday and there are plenty of geese around, and lots of ducks to watch while you are waiting for the geese. One other thing-contrary to what you may have heard, greater snows are excellent table fare and a breast is great on the grill. Good luck and good hunting.
