Hunters may hunt during the early season and also in one of the regular season zones. Unlimited early-season permits are valid statewide. The bag limit is now five birds per day for the 15-day season, with no season limit. Exterior Zone permits, also unlimited, are valid everywhere but in the Horicon or Collins zones. Horicon and Collins zone permits are available by application and are valid for those zones only.

Biologists now believe that the resident population can buffer MVP geese from overharvest and have agreed to test this theory by setting stable seasons and bag limits for the next five years while monitoring harvests. Managers expect this strategy will increase the overall harvest of resident geese and slow the population growth of this subspecies, with little effect on the MVP geese.

Each state brought to the MFC a proposal for a stabilized five-year season structure, according to waterfowl ecologist Kent Van Horn of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).

"Of all the states in the flyway, we (Wisconsin) have the lowest percentage of MVP geese in our harvest," Van Horn pointed out, "and, yet, we have the highest potential to negatively impact MVP numbers. So, our proposal received a little more scrutiny."

For the Exterior Zone, Van Horn was able to negotiate two proposed season frameworks, which were presented at last spring’s statewide Fish and Wildlife Rules Hearings: an 85-day season with a two-bird-per-day bag limit, or a 92-day season with a two-bird bag limit for 70 days and a one-bird limit for 22 days.

Hunters overwhelmingly preferred the 85-day option. As of this writing, Van Horn said he anticipates the Natural Resources Board would choose this option and a Horicon Zone season framework with six tags per hunter at its July meeting. These regulations were then to be printed and distributed to license vendors and posted online at http://dnr.wi.gov.

Last Fall’s Harvest
In the statewide September season and in the Exterior Zone during the regular season, all Canada goose hunters are required to report their harvest within 48 hours using the 1-800-99-GOOSE telephone call-in system. WDNR law enforcement personnel conduct field checks of hunters to assure compliance with the recording system.

Last year, 68,152 hunters received early-season permits -- down 6,285 (8 percent) from 2005. The decline may not indicate a drop in active hunters, however. The Conservation Patron license includes free early-season and Exterior Zone permits for those who want them. Conservation Patron license sales dropped when the fee rose.

Statewide, Wisconsin waterfowlers killed an estimated 20,034 geese during the September season. This was the highest harvest on record -- 25 percent higher than in any previous year -- for the early season,

"To kill 20,000 birds in two weeks is pretty significant," Van Horn observed. "Especially when you consider that was a quarter of all the geese killed in all seasons last year."

The top 10 early-season counties and their harvest totals last year were: Manitowoc, 1,177; Brown, 1,170; Polk, 1,014; Door, 813; Winnebago, 805; Sheboygan, 782; Marathon, 736; Barron, 528; Waukesha, 522 and Walworth, 506. Combined, these counties accounted for 8,053 geese, or 40 percent of the statewide early-season harvest. Nine of those counties were among the top 10 counties statewide in the previous three years.

Regular-season permits last year numbered 97,059 -- a decline of 9,392, or 9 percent, from 2005. Again, the Conservation Patron license fee increase may have contributed to this drop, which may not indicate a decline in active hunters.