Wisconsin's Canada goose hunters know they have a good thing going. The Badger State is well located between the Hudson Bay nesting grounds of the Mississippi Valley Population (MVP) of greater Canada geese and their wintering grounds. In fact, during a mild winter, many of these MVP birds spend the entire season in Wisconsin.

Charlie Thon shot this Canada goose on a hunt in Waukesha County. Photo by Dan Small.

To supplement these migrants, there is an abundance of resident geese of the giant race, which make their home here. These giant Canada geese are the primary targets during the early September season, but they also make up about half the bag during the regular season.

Add to the mix lakes and marshes where geese spend the night and spacious agricultural fields where they feed by day, and you have the makings of goose heaven. Most farmers near prime goose areas suffer enough crop depredation that they welcome respectful hunters with open arms, so it's not hard to find a place to hunt the big gray birds.

MANAGING GEESE
The management of Canada geese is a blend of biology and sociology. Federal regulations require that migratory goose populations be maintained at self-sustaining levels through regulated hunting. At the same time, managers must take into account hunter demand for the opportunity to shoot geese and the tolerance level of farmers, park and golf course managers and the general public for the nuisance caused by goose droppings.

Until recently, the annual harvest quota for Wisconsin and the other states of the Mississippi Flyway was determined using the breeding population estimate produced by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as a trigger to determine different harvest levels. Now, however, wildlife managers believe the resident giant population can buffer the MVP geese from overharvest. In order to test this theory, the MVP harvest states in the flyway set stable seasons for five years, beginning in 2007. By creating a stable hunting season framework and monitoring outcomes, the ability of giants to buffer the harvest of migrants will be tested.

2007 FALL HARVEST
Canada goose hunters are required by law to report their harvest within 48 hours using the 1-800-99-GOOSE telephone call-in system for geese taken during the statewide September season and in the Exterior Zone during the regular season. The DNR law enforcement personnel conduct field checks of hunters to adjust harvest records to estimate total early-season and Exterior Zone harvest. Hunters in the Horicon and Collins zones are mailed a questionnaire to obtain harvest information.

Last year, 66,207 hunters were issued early-season permits, a drop of 1,945 from 2006. The number of early-season hunters has declined steadily since 2003, when a high of 76,728 hunters received these permits. A portion of the decline is no doubt due to the drop in Conservation Patron license sales, which included a free early-season goose permit. Some hunters took them but never used them.

Hunters killed an estimated 21,760 geese during the September season, another record harvest. Harvests for each of the past two early seasons have been at least 25 percent higher than in any of the past years, reflecting the high population of resident geese and suggesting that hunters have figured out how to target them.

The top 10 early-season counties and their harvest totals were: Manitowoc, 1,281; Brown, 981; Door, 976; Sheboygan, 839; Dodge, 770; Kewaunee, 727; Polk, 727; Winnebago, 715; Barron, 683; and Outagamie, 641. Together, they accounted for 7,613 geese, or 35 percent of the early-season harvest. Outagamie and Dodge are new counties in the top 10 list.