Hunters who concentrate their efforts on one of the counties in the Exterior Zone should look for geese feeding or flying over harvested grain fields. Charlie Thon of Cedarburg shot this goose on a hunt in Waukesha County. Photo by Dan Small.

Canada geese and goose hunters alike love Wisconsin. The Badger State lies smack in the path of a half-million mid-continent geese that migrate to and from Canada each year, as they have for eons. And in the last decade, Wisconsin has become home to a fast-growing flock of resident geese that rarely leave the state, even in the depth of winter.

Add those two factors together, mix in some of the largest wetlands on the continent, flavor with liberal hunting regulations, and you’ve got a recipe for outstanding goose hunting.

Wisconsin sportsmen have always enjoyed goose hunting, but until recently, restrictive regulations have limited the harvest to protect the migrant geese from over-exploitation. That population continues to prosper, and now that nearly every city, village, industrial park and golf course is home to a flock of resident Canada geese, regulations have gradually relaxed to the point where, if you don’t have a freezer full of goose breasts by season’s end, it’s your own darned fault.

A Little History
Most of the migrant geese that visit Wisconsin each year are from the Mississippi Valley Population (MVP) that breeds along the southern Hudson Bay coast in Canada and migrates south each fall through Wisconsin and Michigan, and then Illinois, Indiana and western Ohio. Most birds move no farther south than Kentucky and Tennessee, although some go as far south as Mississippi. A second major population of Canada geese is the resident or "giant" race that breeds in Wisconsin.

The Mississippi Flyway Council (MFC) was established in 1952 to work cooperatively among the states, provinces and federal governments in the management of migratory birds. In 1956, the MFC established a Canada Goose Committee to manage the harvest and distribution of several Canada goose populations in the flyway.

In the 1950s, the MVP carried the primary numbers of Canada geese in Wisconsin, at a time when the giant Canada goose was considered nearly extinct. During this period, the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge began managing specifically to support migrating MVP geese during the fall. During the early 1960s, MVP geese steadily increased at Horicon, with fall numbers exceeding 100,000 birds and harvests of nearly 1,000 per day across a nine- to 11-day season.

As goose numbers grew, so did complaints about agricultural damage, leading to damage payments to farmers and nuisance-goose tags for hunters. In the 1960s, social, political and biological forces resulted in actions such as hazing and a harvest of 30,000 geese in three days of shooting in 1966. In the 1970s, up to 80 percent (250,000-300,000 birds) of the MVP winter population stopped at Horicon and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, a few small remnant flocks of giant Canada geese were discovered in southern Wisconsin and elsewhere in the flyway during the 1950s and 1960s. Restoration efforts that included captive breeding, trap-and-transfer and closed seasons in some areas have been so successful that giant Canadas are the most abundant subspecies in the flyway.

New Management Strategy
State and federal biologists historically have tried to maintain a high abundance of MVP geese. As part of this strategy, the MFC sets annual harvest limits, or quotas, for each state. The increase in resident goose numbers has provided more harvest opportunity but has also led to more conflict with farmers and anyone who uses parks, golf courses and other open areas. Today, across all states in the flyway, more than 80 percent of the annual harvest during the regular season consists of resident geese.

Wisconsin’s goose hunting regulations have evolved in recent years. Today, there are separate permits, season dates and harvest limits for the Horicon, Collins and Exterior zones during the so-called "regular" season, and a statewide 15-day early season in September that targets resident geese.