The small field was littered with fresh goose droppings and tracks. Overhead flocks large and small of Canada geese were on the move and raising a loud ruckus of honks and cackles as they did. All the signs pointed to this spot being good for hunting late season geese.
But it wasn’t. While my host, Bob Taylor of Vancouver, had had some success in this spot just the day before the flocks of geese were totally ignoring the field today.
While we waited for the reluctant birds we did what hunters usually do when the hunting is poor: We told each other stories of past hunts and bragged of our hunting dogs while relating tales of their exploits.
We were taking part in Washington’s only late goose season. The hunt takes place between Feb. 10 and March 10 in Goose Management Area 2, which includes Clark County as well as Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, and Grays Harbor counties in Southwest Washington.
The target of the hunt is the flocks of Canada geese that spend the winter and spring along the coast and the lower Columbia River. These flocks swarm into agricultural fields during the spring months to take advantage of the rich green grasses and forbs available there.
The geese fatten up in these feed fields before they make the arduous journey back north to their nesting grounds.
According to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Eric Holman, the hunt has its followers.
“There are fewer hunters than hunt the regular season,” said Holman. “But it’s still popular with the serious hunters.”
This late season hunt is a little different from the winter seasons. Hunting is not allowed on the state-run wildlife areas such as the Shillapoo Wildlife Area, and it is also not allowed on the federal refuges such as the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
“You can’t hunt them on public lands,” said Holman. “We want to keep the geese using those (refuges) areas.”
He adds that keeping them on the public lands reduces the damage the flocks can do to the private farms and agricultural fields.
Goose Management Area 2 is within the dark goose permit zone, which has been set up to protect the threatened dusky Canada goose.
Once the most prevalent dark goose in Southwest Washington, the dusky Canada goose has fallen on hard times since the Alaska earthquake of 1964, which lifted the Copper River Delta by 2 to 10 feet.
The delta is the primary breeding ground for the dusky’s, and was transformed by the event from a boggy wetland to a thickly wooded plain that is poorly suited for nesting geese.
However, shifts in the migratory patterns of other dark geese mean that there are more geese wintering in Southwest Washington then ever before. Canada goose subspecies such as the smallish cacklers once wintered in southern Oregon and California, but they now winter mostly in the lower Columbia and Willamette Valleys.
That means wildlife managers have had to find a balance in allowing hunting for the other subspecies that are abundant, while protecting the fragile population of dusky geese.
Two years ago the rules in the permit zone were changed. Hunters no longer need to take harvested geese to a check station and the hunting hours were extended. Hunters must still take and pass a test on identifying the seven subspecies of Canada goose.
If hunters have already passed the test they may acquire a permit by paying $2. They must carry the permit while hunting.
Also, quotas for the incidental take of dusky geese have been eliminated, and the taking of any dusky is now a wildlife violation.
Since the geese are focused on the greens available in the agricultural fields, that is where the best hunting will take place. If hunters want to get in on the action, they will have to knock on landowner’s doors and get permission to hunt private lands.
There are some other options, including the Columbia River and other navigable rivers. Hunters targeting the Columbia will need a boat and will also need to pay attention to the tides.
It should be noted that white goose hunting is also open during this late season. Once again the best action will be in the feed fields. In any given day hunters may take 4four Canada geese, six white geese, and 10 white-fronted geese.
White fronts are a rare bird in this area, but snows and Ross’ geese have begun to establish a wintering population in Southwest Washington.
Legal hunting hours for geese are 30 minutes after the start of the official waterfowl hunting hours to 30 minutes before the end of official waterfowl hunting hours. See the inside back cover of the Washington regulations for hunting hours. Hunting is only allowed on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday.
Back in the field, Taylor and myself eventually realized that this was not our day for success. We packed up and prepared to move out, even as the reluctant swarms of geese continued to fly into the fields we could not hunt.
Taylor entertained his bored gun dog by throwing a dummy into a nearby lake before heading out. However, for geese the dog would have to wait for another day.
