Minnesota goose hunters will have more opportunities than ever to hunt Canada geese this season. According to waterfowl staff specialist Steve Cordts of the MDNR, Minnesota holds about 280,000 breeding Canada geese, a number that is down from years past but still well above the goal of 250,000. Photo by Tom Migdalski.

With a rich waterfowling tradition, Minnesota waterfowlers have been troubled about the status of the duck population over the last decade. Many ask, "How will we keep waterfowling alive and well when so few ducks are flying?"

The answer to that question is geese, and plenty of them.

"The goose population is in good shape, and we have over 250,000 geese in the state which is above our goal," said Dave Rave, goose specialist and habitat management evaluator with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wetland wildlife population and research group in Bemidji.

Rave said Minnesota has been the No. 1 state in the country for goose harvest numbers for several years now, and that trend should continue throughout the 2007 season. This comes as no surprise to those thousands of hunters who take to the fields and marshes each fall and make the sky rain geese.

Still, many waterfowlers across the state have not taken the opportunity to experience what is considered some of the best goose hunting in the country.

"There's no better way right now to recruit waterfowlers than to take them goose hunting," said Brad Nylin, executive director of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association.

Nylin is an avid goose hunter who travels around the state chasing geese throughout the different seasons, beginning in September and winding his way through the primary waterfowling season before ending his time afield when the season closes in December.

"Goose hunting has exploded in the last few years and is bringing new kids and adults into the sport, which I hope will interest them in duck hunting, as well, down the road," he added.

As the director of a major waterfowling organization in the state, Nylin is working hard to restore the duck population. Bringing the ducks back is a primary goal of his and most every waterfowler. However, Nylin said the sport can be kept alive until those duck numbers are up with goose hunting.

"Maybe what we need to do as hunters is encourage people to go out goose hunting and then move them to that next step and go duck hunting. It's tough to fight the allure of waterfowling once you get it in your system," he said.

Population Outlook
The MDNR conducts two separate surveys of the state's goose population. One is a survey that has been conducted since 1968, while another is only seven years old. Together, these reports provide a fairly accurate outlook of Minnesota's goose population.

Overseeing these counts is Steve Cordts, the MDNR's waterfowl staff specialist. Minnesota holds about 280,000 breeding Canada geese -- a number that is down from years past but still well above the goal of 250,000. "The numbers were down, but they were right in the same range as they've been every year for a while now," Cordts revealed.

He said that goal is actually an increase from years past; so, overall, our state's goose population is strong.

One of the reasons for the drop in goose numbers, Cordts believes, is a goofy weather pattern this past spring.

"It got warm in March, and then cold again in early April when the geese were in the egg-laying stage. It got cold enough, with some single-digit temperatures, that we froze some eggs," he said.

This happens in the spring on a fairly regular basis, and, unlike mallards, which are quick to re-establish a nest, geese do not re-nest as often. When they do, they have a smaller clutch of eggs.