The majority of these birds are young, naïve birds that haven't seen a decoy or heard a goose flute yet. The September season offers great weather, although sometimes it's downright hot. To be successful the early season doesn't require a whole bunch of decoys and the places where the birds concentrate are very localized. Find a newly harvested wheat field, pasture, hay field or water roost and you're almost guaranteed a good shoot or two. The geese wise up quickly, though, and find sanctuaries where they know they can't be hunted. Scouting becomes doubly important then to find a place where the geese are feeding once they leave their havens.

The Late Season
Michigan's late goose season is an entirely different ballgame. Young-of-the-year geese have now had an entire year of on-the-job training and are wise to the ways of hunters by the time January rolls around. The migratory birds that remain have been gunned from the time they left their Canadian breeding grounds, and there are no pushovers left. Hunters need to put out ultra-realistic spreads with plenty of quality decoys to be successful. In addition, good calling increases the chance for success, along with being in the right location.

Weather is another factor. Cold weather and snow can force birds out of the state before the season ends. Last year, that wasn't a problem. Mild weather and a lack of snow during January kept plenty of birds in Michigan. However, the mild weather also had the birds widely scattered, which made for some inconsistent hunting. Michigan hunters usually harvest between 20,000 and 35,000 geese during the late season.

Managing Michigan's goose populations is difficult because it is made up of several distinct populations. Besides the resident giants, Michigan sees migratory influxes of geese from the Mississippi Valley and Southern James Bay populations. Migratory geese make up 25 to 30 percent of the annual harvest. The MVP makes up about 21 percent of that harvest; the SJBP contributes another 3 percent to the harvest; and the Tall Grass Prairie Population (TGPP) provides between 1 and 3 percent of the harvest.

Resident Geese
As a general rule, the MVP flock is a large population of birds prone to dramatic population fluctuations. In recent years, the MVP population has been increasing and has provided excellent opportunities for hunters across the western U.P. and the west side of the L.P.

The SJBP flock consists of a smaller, stable population of geese that migrates down the east side of the state. Resource managers use different zones and season dates to maximize the harvest of these migratory geese, while staying within the harvest quotas.

One concern resource managers and members of the Citizens Waterfowl Advisory Committee (CWAC) have sought to address in recent years is the desire by hunters to be able to hunt both ducks and geese at the same time. Most waterfowlers would like the opportunity to harvest geese while they are hunting ducks. Some years, resource managers' hands are tied because of season-length restraints imposed by the federal framework for hunting migratory birds.

Last year, the regular goose season ran from Sept. 18 to Oct. 29 in the Upper Peninsula; from Sept. 30 to Oct. 29 and again from Nov. 23 to Dec. 12 in the Lower Peninsula MVP Zone; and from Oct. 7 to Oct. 16 and again Nov. 23 to Dec. 12 in the Lower Peninsula SJBP Zone.

Migratory Geese
Because the population of MVP geese is near record highs and enjoyed a record reproduction year in 2005, Michigan was allotted a 50-day season in 2006 for the MVP flock that made waterfowlers happy. The prospect this year for flights of migratory geese that pass through Michigan looks bright.