At a time when deer hunters are quibbling over whether or not Pennsylvania's deer management program is working and whether or not there are enough deer to go around, no one is complaining about the state's great goose hunting.

Keystone State waterfowlers are having a heyday in what has become the top goose-hunting destination in North America. At the writing of this article, harvest figures from the 2008-09 season were not available, but the previous year, Pennsylvania's annual harvest of 276,000 Canadas was tops on the continent! No state or Canadian province accounted for more Canada geese being taken by hunters.

"This is the first time Pennsylvania hunters led the entire continent," said John Dunn, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's chief waterfowl biologist. "It had been Ontario for a while."

Contributing to the steady increase in Pennsylvania's annual goose harvest the past few years are longer seasons, greater bag limits, more geese and more skillful hunters. Pennsylvania's waterfowlers are sharpening their tactics and equipment each year -- a fact that's good for success rates and bad news for the geese. Hunters are deploying bigger and more realistic decoy spreads, becoming better callers and improving their ability to disappear in a field or marsh to avoid detection by the keen eyes of a wary flock of Canadas.

This season, Pennsylvania goose hunters are likely to have made more improvements, much to the chagrin on the Canadas that live here year 'round and the ones that swing through on their annual fall migration.

WHICH GOOSE IS IT?

The Southern James Bay Population nests in Canada in parts of Nunavut and Ontario. When those birds migrate south each fall, they fly through the extreme northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. In recent years, that population has consisted of about 110,000 birds. Pennsylvania's Southern James Bay Population Zone last season encompassed the area west of Interstate Route 79 in Erie, Mercer and Crawford counties.

The Atlantic Population Zone encompasses the southeast corner of the state. Geese in this population breed in Quebec and the Ungava Peninsula and migrate to and through southeastern Pennsylvania each fall. That population climbed back from disastrous lows in the mid 1990s to nearly 900,000 in recent years.

Pennsylvania's Resident Population Zone covers all the land that's not in the Southern James Bay or Atlantic zones. Resident Canadas are found all over Pennsylvania -- not just in the Resident Population Zone. It is so named because it harbors few, if any, of the migratory flocks during the hunting season. Resident Canadas live in Pennsylvania all year. That population has hovered around 250,000 birds the past few years.

All three goose-hunting zones offer hunting opportunities in December and January. Check the waterfowl brochure distributed along with your federal duck stamp for specific season dates and bag limits in each zone.

If you don't already have a hunting spot lined up, the following are a few places you might want to check out:

MARSH CREEK STATE PARK
If you drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, you've buzzed right past the northern tip of Marsh Creek State Park in Chester County near Downingtown. To get to the park, take Route 100 north from the Downingtown interchange of the turnpike and turn left on Little Conestoga Road in the village of Eagle.

The 1,705-acre park includes the 535-acre Marsh Creek Lake, which is in the heart of Pennsylvania's Atlantic Population Zone. It's right on the migration route and harbors thousands of migratory and resident geese each year.