Resident goose season gets even longer

Far western counties chip in for statewide harvest of 15,000-plus

Michael A. Sawyers

If you are a hunter, but not a fisherman, and have wanted something to fill in your time between the end of deer season and the beginning of spring gobbler season, look no further than the Maryland hunt for resident Canada geese.

The length of the season has expanded and continues this year until March 4 in Allegany and Garrett as well as some other counties.

For a number of years now, the hunt ended in the middle of February, but has picked up about three extra weeks because, frankly, the Maryland Wildlife Service would like to see more of these birds end up in ovens rather than defecate on golf courses or swimming beaches.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used to require that the season end Feb. 15,” said Bill Harvey, waterfowl biologist for the Maryland Wildlife Service. “Then they expanded the season from 70 to 80 days, but we couldn’t fit an 80-day season in by Feb. 15.”

Eventually, at the request of a number of states, according to Harvey, the FWS allowed hunts to continue as late as March 10.

“Hunters had been pretty successful during the February portion of the hunt and had been asking for more days,” Harvey said. “We investigated other states where there were late hunts and couldn’t find any evidence that the hunts were a risk to the migratory geese.”

Traditionally, regulations have been more restrictive for migratory versions of the geese than for resident versions. For example, the current season in the eastern part of the state ends Jan. 24 and the daily bag limit is two geese.

The daily bag limit for the hunt in Western Maryland is five. Legal shooting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset.

There must be somebody out there during the winter banging at honkers in Almost Maryland.

Harvey said that 8 percent of the Canada geese killed during the late season in the western part of Maryland come from Garrett and Allegany counties.

“Over the last two years, the average harvest in Allegany and Garrett was 1,234 geese,” Harvey said. “The total harvest in that season averaged 15,690, so the portion taken in Allegany and Garrett was about 8 percent of that total.” The geographical area for that hunt extends eastward to Carroll and Montgomery counties.

The typical nuisance complaint generated by Canada geese are droppings on golf course, park grounds or athletic fields, said Harvey. Other complaints include grazing on a farmer’s winter wheat or rye. There have been times in the past when the swimming beach at Rocky Gap State Park has been shut down because of goose poo making the fecal coliform bacteria count rise to unacceptable levels.

It takes an effort to goose hunt successfully. The primary need, of course, is for land upon which to hunt. That can take a fair amount of door knocking and polite questioning.

Then there are the licenses: hunting license, federal stamp and state stamp.

Then there is the gear that can include not only the shotgun, but also nontoxic shot, decoys, calls, watercraft and/or layout blind.

Don’t forget warm, waterproof clothing.

Frankly, I don’t find geese to be the best tasting wild meat I bring home, but there are appetizing ways to fix it. In recent years, I have been slicing the vests and making jerky.

I personally know, though, of a few hunters who stopped whacking geese because nobody in the family wanted to eat them.

Harvey said extremely bad weather that hit recently in New England and New York pushed some resident geese from that area to the south, including Maryland. He said birds are currently providing some good hunting in the Free State.

It is a thrill when a flock of 15 honkers hears your calling and turns and comes toward your decoy spread. As they get closer they lock their wings and begin to feather down toward your blind.

Be careful, nine to 12 pounds of slain goose falling from the sky can carry a jolt.

Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.