Pennsylvania’s goose-hunting seasons and bag limits are finalized late in the year. Check the Game Commission’s Web site for current season dates and bag limit information. Proposed season dates for the months of January and February were:
• Pymatuning Zone, Jan. 1-20, with a two-bird-per-day limit,
• Southern James Bay Zone, Jan. 16 through Feb. 15, with a daily limit of five geese,
• Atlantic Zone, Jan. 1-21, with a daily limit of three geese, and
• Resident Zone, Jan. 1 through Feb. 15, with a daily limit of five geese.

PLENTY OF BIRDS
Pennsylvania’s goose hunters enjoyed a successful late season in 2005. According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Keystone State waterfowlers bagged 31,300 Canadas in the late season in 2005. That’s up from the 21,400 birds they took in 2004.

Traditionally, late-season goose hunters account for about 20 percent of the total goose take in Pennsylvania each year. During all seasons for 2005-06, goose hunters here bagged 180,900 Canadas, up from the 167,600 they took the year before.

How are things looking for this season? According to John Dunn and Kevin Jacobs, Pennsylvania Game Commission waterfowl biologists, the migratory geese that wing through the state each year had a great nesting season. That means overall numbers are up, and a good number of young-of-the-year birds should be flying through this year as well -- and those young birds decoy the best!

Our own resident goose population is holding steady, Jacobs reported. The total population estimated in the spring of 2006 was 229,321. That’s statistically similar to the long-term average. And remember, these resident birds have been taking a pounding from hunters over the past several years, when seasons were lengthened and bag limits were liberalized -- to up to eight geese per day in some areas during some seasons.

Resident geese have been causing problems at state parks in Pennsylvania, especially those that have beach and/or swimming areas. The birds have fouled more than one park with their droppings, and so the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) encourages goose hunting at its parks that have lakes.

Some of those parks highlight our list of goose-hunting hotspots this winter:

MAURICE K. GODDARD STATE PARK
Situated in the Southern James Bay Zone, Maurice K. Goddard State Park encompasses 2,856 acres, including the 1,860-acre Lake Wilhelm in Mercer County. The park offers 1,155 acres of huntable property, which includes most of the lake. The marshlands, fields and, of course, the focal lake provide excellent habitat for migrating and resident Canada geese.

The park sits on the south side of Georgetown Road near the town of New Vernon. Attached to the western end of the park is the 2,027-acre State Game Lands (SGL) No. 270, which is managed by the PGC.

SGL 270 encompasses 420 acres of Lake Wilhelm on the west side of Route 79, which crosses the north end of the lake.

Goose hunters who use boats need to pay attention to varying regulations on Lake Wilhelm. Boats with gas-powered motors up to 20 horsepower may be used east of Interstate 79. On the SGL 270 side of the highway, however, only non-powered boats may be used. And the Game Commission has posted a section of the SGL 270 portion of the lake that’s just a bit south of Cemetery Road bridge as a “Propagation Area.” This means all entry is prohibited, not just hunting. Waterfowlers may hunt on either side of this area, but not in the area itself.