Population control - Early season lowers Canada goose numbers
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. |
