Spring goose season allows legal cheating to boost harvest

In the late 1990s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the central arctic snow goose population, which was climbing 5% annually, was destroying the food source on their fragile nesting grounds. The 25-fold population increase that occurred since the 1970s was impacting other waterfowl and mammals in the region. After fully studying the issue, a Light Goose Conservation Order (LGCO) was issued in 2007 and was to remain in effect until population limit goals were reached on an individual flyway basis. It was implemented in 2009. The species of waterfowl that are eligible to be taken in the spring include snow geese, including the blue phase and Ross' geese. The stated goal is to reduce Greater and Lesser snow goose populations in the Atlantic Flyway to 500,000, the combined population of the Mississippi and Central Flyways to 1,600,000, and the Pacific Flyway population to below levels that will cause harm to their nesting habitat. Several rules were relaxed during the spring season to allow hunters to use a variety of methods that are not legal during the regular waterfowl hunting seasons.Special Rules in Effect for the Spring Conservation Order: n A Federal Migratory Bird (Duck) Stamp is not required, although most waterfowl hunters will have one to hunt other waterfowl during the fall and winter. n Electronic calls with amplification may be used. n Shotguns capable of holding more than three shells at a time may be used. n Hunting hours end one-half hour past sunset. n There are no federal bag or possession limits, but states may issue more restrictive limits. Hunters must still have a valid hunting license and currently be HIP-certified. HIP refers to a survey (Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program) that documents all migratory birds that hunters harvested the previous season. Hunters must complete the survey annually in each state by telephone (888-634-4798) or online (address varies among states). Non-toxic shot must still be used. When I hunted in South Dakota and Nebraska, the numbers of snow geese that I saw were staggering -- easily in the tens of thousands in several locations. When they landed in some good-sized glacially formed prairie lakes, it looked like they could touch wingtip to wingtip while covering hundreds of acres of water. It was the same story when they landed by the thousands to feed in isolated corn stubble fields. In Missouri, the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge sometimes hosts more than 1 million snow geese at a time during the spring migration, with many guides operating nearby. Some hunters have experienced flocks of as many as 100,000 snow geese locking up as they approach their highly visible, large decoy spread. For anyone looking to experience the spring snow goose hunts, it would be best to start with a guide in a chosen state in the migratory routes. The guides will be following the migration, scouting for fields where geese have been feeding and have hunting permission arranged. Most will provide a pit blind and own the numbers of decoys necessary to lure large flocks of the wary birds into range. This means not hundreds, but thousands of a combination of white windsocks, full body plastic, silhouettes, electronic spinner rigs, floaters and also the electronically recorded calls and powerful speakers to give their clients the best odds at some shooting. Hunting success depends a great deal on how well the previous nesting season went. Flocks comprised of more impulsive young birds are much easier to decoy within range than wiser, older birds, which can live longer than 15 years. As a result of the LGCO, the rate of the goose population increase has slowed. However, reinforcements of more hunters are needed to reach the goals of getting the population below the carrying capacity of the nesting grounds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife harvest figures indicate that Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska and Kansas are the top spring snow goose states to consider hunting. Depending upon location, the spring goose season runs from February into May. Guides can easily be located online.