BOB@BBT
09-04-2006, 12:22 PM
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060903/SPORTS10/609030646/1058
Population control
Early season lowers Canada goose numbers
September 3, 2006
FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER
If deer hunters think the state has been overzealous in reducing Michigan's whitetail population, they should look at what has happened to Canada geese.
In the past six years, the number of resident Canada geese in Michigan has been sliced almost in half, from a peak of 325,000 in 2000 to about 170,000 today, in large part because Michigan hunters have taken eagerly to the annual special early goose season that opened Friday and continues through Sept. 10 in the Upper Peninsula and Sept. 15 in most of the Lower Peninsula.
Because goose numbers are down to the point where the Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants them, the bag limit for the 2006 early season has been reduced to three from five the year before.
But goose hunters may find even that reduced limit tough to fill in many areas, because the geese are not only fewer in number, they're a lot smarter than they used to be.
"Used to be, you could go out Sept. 1 to just about any field where grain had been cut and you'd have geese coming in sometime that day," said Tom Hartman, a Saginaw waterfowler who was scouting potential goose hunting sites in Bay County. "It was like back when deer were at their peak in the northern lower -- there were so many they had to use all of the available habitat to survive. Now, there aren't anywhere as many geese, but there are just as many places for them to feed, so it's harder to be sure you'll intercept them.
"And five, six years ago, there were a lot more young geese that had been hatched in the spring. They'd never seen a hunter or heard a gun before, and they were pretty dumb and easy to shoot."
Dan Donarski, who hunts around his home in Sault Ste. Marie, said: "It's not like it was a few years ago, when you had geese flying everywhere. Now, you better be able to call a bit, and you better know when to shut up."
The early hunt is designed to stabilize the population of Canada geese that live year-round in Michigan. The geese create a lot of nuisance complaints from people whose lawns and golf courses get covered with goose droppings and from farmers who see winter wheat and other crops pulled up by the roots.
The early season is closed in time to minimize the kill of diminished numbers of migratory Southern James Bay geese from northern Canada that begin to move through the state about mid-September.
The regular Canada goose season will reopen Sept. 18-Nov. 16 in the UP, Sept. 30-Oct. 29 and Nov. 23-Dec. 12 in most of the Lower Peninsula, and Oct. 7-16 and Nov. 23-Dec. 12 in areas where James Bay birds are common. The goose regulations contain so many geographic exceptions that hunters must consult the Michigan Waterfowl Hunting Guide.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com.
Population control
Early season lowers Canada goose numbers
September 3, 2006
FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER
If deer hunters think the state has been overzealous in reducing Michigan's whitetail population, they should look at what has happened to Canada geese.
In the past six years, the number of resident Canada geese in Michigan has been sliced almost in half, from a peak of 325,000 in 2000 to about 170,000 today, in large part because Michigan hunters have taken eagerly to the annual special early goose season that opened Friday and continues through Sept. 10 in the Upper Peninsula and Sept. 15 in most of the Lower Peninsula.
Because goose numbers are down to the point where the Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants them, the bag limit for the 2006 early season has been reduced to three from five the year before.
But goose hunters may find even that reduced limit tough to fill in many areas, because the geese are not only fewer in number, they're a lot smarter than they used to be.
"Used to be, you could go out Sept. 1 to just about any field where grain had been cut and you'd have geese coming in sometime that day," said Tom Hartman, a Saginaw waterfowler who was scouting potential goose hunting sites in Bay County. "It was like back when deer were at their peak in the northern lower -- there were so many they had to use all of the available habitat to survive. Now, there aren't anywhere as many geese, but there are just as many places for them to feed, so it's harder to be sure you'll intercept them.
"And five, six years ago, there were a lot more young geese that had been hatched in the spring. They'd never seen a hunter or heard a gun before, and they were pretty dumb and easy to shoot."
Dan Donarski, who hunts around his home in Sault Ste. Marie, said: "It's not like it was a few years ago, when you had geese flying everywhere. Now, you better be able to call a bit, and you better know when to shut up."
The early hunt is designed to stabilize the population of Canada geese that live year-round in Michigan. The geese create a lot of nuisance complaints from people whose lawns and golf courses get covered with goose droppings and from farmers who see winter wheat and other crops pulled up by the roots.
The early season is closed in time to minimize the kill of diminished numbers of migratory Southern James Bay geese from northern Canada that begin to move through the state about mid-September.
The regular Canada goose season will reopen Sept. 18-Nov. 16 in the UP, Sept. 30-Oct. 29 and Nov. 23-Dec. 12 in most of the Lower Peninsula, and Oct. 7-16 and Nov. 23-Dec. 12 in areas where James Bay birds are common. The goose regulations contain so many geographic exceptions that hunters must consult the Michigan Waterfowl Hunting Guide.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com.