Barnesville Record-Review

STREETLIGHT 2015Streetlight 2015 Progress Report Barnesville, Minnesota 56514

3CBeattie Spends Vacations Chasing Snow Geese

Ryan Beattie is a hunting guide during his vacation each spring. He scouts out the most likely spot that flocks of migrating snow geese may land while foraging for food. He sets out 2,000 decoys like these. Some decoys are hard plastic replicas of geese and some are light plastic tubes on small metal spokes made to fool the birds into thinking others of their flock have already landed. Another trick of Beattie’s trade is the GooseGetter Magnum, a goose calling machine equipped with speakers.

Ryan Beattie shows a “blue goose”, which is a color phase of the more often white species of snow goose bagged on a hunt in South Dakota. He stands amid several decoys.

Hunters from one of Ryan Beattie’s guided hunting expeditions pose for a picture with the geese that they shot. Ryan Beattie is a guide for snow goose hunting during the early spring hunts that attempt to keep the snow goose population in check. There are no bag limits or seasons on the birds and their population continues to grow. The birds are destroying their own habitat by their sheer numbers and will eventually cause a catastrophic die-off if the persistent hunting does not lower the population.

By: Karen CarpenterEach snow geese hunting season

Hunting Guide, Ryan Beattie looks back at the previous season for wisdom but moves forward to chase a new crop of birds.

Ryan Beattie’s vocation is that of a Barnesville City police officer. He can often be seen patrolling the streets of this fair city.

During his vacation time, Beattie switches his policeman’s hat the hat of guide for snow geese hunters.

Beattie subcontracts out as a guide with Premium Flight Guide Services out of Rochester, MN.

“I have my own equipment,” says Beattie. “I show up, find where the birds are landing, set decoys, meet clients and go from there.”

Snow geese season is in March in South Dakota where Beattie guides. The birds move north following the receding snow cover.

Finding snow geese in the spring comes down to food and water.

There is a liberal hunting season on the birds as there is an over abundance of population. The final

destination for the migrating birds is much further north.

This goose breeds north of the timberline in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern tip of Siberia. They fly as far south as Texas and Mexico during winter and return to nest on the Arctic tundra each spring.

Some areas of tundra nesting habitat are starting to suffer because of the plethora of birds.

After nesting they leave in their wake barren land. Vegetation on the tundra is slow growing. It takes many, many years to regrow after the snow geese have nested just one season.

As a guide, Beattie must spend a lot of time scouting out fields where it is likely the geese will land. He needs to find the landowner of those fields and ask permission to bring hunters onto the property.

In most cases Beattie says farmers are happy to let hunters come on their land. Over the years farmers have become familiar with the guides and welcome them back

each spring.After the use of the land is secured

Beattie puts out 2,000 decoys that will entic the white geese to land. Beattie gets his supplies from Dakota Decoy whom he represents.

Several guides will be working the same area. While they serve separate hunting clientèle, the guides work together helping each other set out decoys and blinds.

Another way to try to convince the birds to land in the chosen field is with electronic callers.

There is little opportunity for sleep during the two or three weeks that guides are chasing snow geese for hunters.

Usually guides average two or

three hours of sleep each night. The day begins for them before dawn, when hunters are brought to the designated hunting spot.

Hunters and guides remain in the field until early evening depending on hunting conditions.

The hunters go back to the motel for a nice dinner, liquid refreshments and a good night’s sleep.

For the guides on the other hand, another part of the work day has just begun.

They must spend the next several hours moving all of those decoys, blinds, speakers and other hunting paraphernalia to another location. When they finally get back to the motel late at night it is to have a quick bite, which is likely a cold sandwich and hit the sack.

Snow geese fly in flocks of tens of thousands. It would seem that a flock of that size would be easy to track but the birds are so mobile that it can be difficult.

The blinds that hunters use for this type of waterfowl hunting are called layout blinds. A slang term often used for this type of cover is a coffin blind. Hunters lay under the camouflage blinds in sleeping bags for warmth. The blinds have, what looks like doors, on the front. When the geese come down, hunters must shoot from a half sitting position.

Decoys and corn stalks are packed around the blinds to help hide hunters from the bird’s view.

Snow geese are a little tricky to shoot according to Beattie. “Snow geese circle as they land instead of coming in at an angle as ducks might,” said Beattie. “Sometimes they are coming down right overhead of the blind.

“Hunters should pick out one bird instead of shooting randomly. That

is a temptation since there are so many birds coming down at once.”

Prior to the arrival of the first flock of birds, Beattie discusses safety with the group of hunters he is guiding.

“I stress that the priority is that everyone is safe during the hunt, people as well as dogs,” said Beattie. “I don’t sugar coat it, because safety is so important.”

He also goes over hunting form and demonstrates how to shoot while coming up out of the blind.

Blinds, decoys and sound effects are provided by the guides. The hunter needs to have his hunting license, gun, ammunition and warm clothing.

The 12 gauge shotgun is used for hunting snow geese. A tube extension on the gun allows hunters to place more rounds in their gun. It isn’t required to have a plug in place for holding a three-shot limit of shells as for most other waterfowl hunting.

The population of snow geese is estimated at 13 million and Canadian Ministry and Wildlife Management would like to see that number brought down.

Occasionally, there can be heated discussion about who brought what bird down after a hunt, but it does not happen often. There are usually enough geese to go around.

A prized trophy is the band from a goose. When one of the banded geese is brought down, the guide holds a drawing for the banded bird foot.

Shell casings are put into a container or hat. One of a different color and the rest of like color. The one who pulls out the single mismatched shell gets to take home the band.

Beattie cleans birds for those hunters that want to take the meat home at the end of the hunt. He uses a tool called a wing slinger that cleans the bird in a matter of seconds.

What the hunters don’t take, Beattie brings home for his own family. They eat a lot of wild game, purchasing very little meat at the grocery story.

“I have become very creative with cooking,” said Beattie. “I like to think that I can make a meal with wild game and no one would know that’s what we are eating.”

A good weather day to hunt snow geese would be sunny with 70 degree temps and a south wind. When it is sunny the birds can’t pick out blinds or decoys as they can on a cloudy day.

Having the wind and the sun at your back is ideal for hunters.

“There are just so many factors that make for a good hunt,” explained Beattie. “After gaining experience as a guide you just know the best way to set up the field for a successful hunt.”

Beattie has two hunting dogs, both yellow labs. Wally, the 10-year-old lab was best man in Beattie’s wedding. He is getting a little old for hunting now, but still has the desire when he sees the decoys and gun being brought out.

The other dog, Frank, is four years old and a good retriever as well.

Dogs retrieve the birds from the field and bring them back to the blind for the owner. Sometimes hunters want to bring their personal dogs but for the most part Beattie likes to work with his own dogs.

At the end of a two to three week hunting season tempers can begin to flare among the guides. They are all tired and things can get tense. “I try to keep a certain level of patience with people,” stated Beattie. “It would be easy to have friendships ruined over a quarrelsome remark made because of exhaustion.”

One interesting fact is that one might spot a bald eagle or two while hunting snow geese. The eagle is a predator of the smaller fowl.

During college at the University of Minnesota Crookston Beattie earned a degree in natural resources and wildlife management with a minor in law enforcement.

He operated a guide service in partnership with a buddy. They made enough to pay expenses for college and hunting.

Alexandria, MN is Beattie’s hometown. He has two brothers, Patrick in Osakis and Brandon in Rochester.

Beattie grew up hunting with a bow. He shot his first deer when he was 12. He said he only dabbled in waterfowl hunting at the time.

Beattie took the skills program at Alexandria Tech for law enforcement. He worked for the Roseau, MN police department for a year before taking the patrolman position in Barnesville six years ago.

Beattie is on the Barnesville ambulance crew and the fire department. “I’d probably be driving the plow truck if they would let me,” he joked.

Ryan and Kara Beattie have one infant daughter, Emma. Kara works for Midwest Bank.

The young family is part of the diversity of the local population and what moving forward looks like in Barnesville.