2009 wisconsin canada goose harvest report

2009 WISCONSIN CANADA GOOSE HARVEST REPORT Volume 19, Issue 3

Kent Van Horn Bureau of Wildlife Management James Christopoulos Bureau of Wildlife Management Brian Dhuey Bureau of Science Services

Season/ Zone Early Collins Horicon Exterior

2009 Estimated Canada Goose Harvest 15,342 328 9,326 31,570

TOTAL

56,566

Table of Contents Introduction

1

Changing Canada Goose Harvest Management in the Mississippi Flyway

2

Breeding populations

3

Methods

3

Horicon/Collins mail survey Results and Discussion

4 4

Early September Canada goose season hunter participation and harvest

4

Regular season hunter participation and characteristics

7

Exterior Zone

7

Horicon Zone

7

Collins Zone

9

Regular season harvest Statewide

9 9

Exterior Zone

10

Horicon Zone

12

Collins Zone

13

Management implications

13

Citations

15

Harvest and participation data

16

Canada Goose management zone map

33

WISCONSIN 2009 CANADA GOOSE HARVEST REPORT INTRODUCTION The management of Canada goose populations and hunting recreation has been a social and biological challenge for the state of Wisconsin since the 1950’s (Miller 1998). Continental Canada goose management is based on several different breeding populations. The fall harvest of Canada geese in Wisconsin consists primarily of 2 populations. One population is the Mississippi Valley Population (MVP) that breeds along the southern Hudson Bay Coast in Ontario and migrates south primarily through Wisconsin and Michigan, and then Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio. Traditionally, many MVP geese wintered in Kentucky and Tennessee, and sometimes as far south as Mississippi (MVP plan 1998, Leafloor et al. 2003). However, in recent years many are wintering as far north as northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. A second major population of geese contributing to Wisconsin’s harvest is the resident or giant race which breeds in WI. Based on banding data, a small percentage of Wisconsin’s goose harvest (~3%) also comes from the Eastern Prairie, Tall Grass Prairie and Southern James Bay Populations. The Mississippi Flyway Council (MFC) was established in 1952 to work cooperatively among the states, provinces, and federal governments in the management of migratory birds and in 1956 the MFC established a Canada Goose Committee to manage the harvest and distribution of several Canada goose populations in the Flyway. In the 1950’s the MVP was the primary population of Canada geese in Wisconsin while the giant race was considered nearly extinct in the Flyway. During this period, the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in WI began managing specifically to support migrating MVP during the fall. Landscape changes, Horicon refuge management and an expanded refuge system in Illinois all contributed to an increase in fall/winter Canada goose populations and harvest levels in both states. In 1960 Wisconsin and Illinois agreed to establish a harvest quota system to cooperatively manage goose harvest and despite a number of changes, a quota system remained through 2006. During the early 1960’s MVP geese steadily increased in numbers at Horicon with fall numbers exceeding 100,000 geese and harvest near 1,000 geese per day for only a 9 to 11 day season. This growing fall goose population began to cause significant agricultural crop depredation in WI and complaints by hunters in states to the south that WI was short stopping geese (Miller 1998). In 1965 agricultural damage payments began as a result of goose depredation in east central WI. Over a period of several years in the 1960’s social, political, and biological forces surrounded goose management and resulted in actions such as hazing and a harvest of 30,000 geese in 3 days of shooting in 1966. In 1965 the MFC agreed to a winter Flyway population objective of 200,000 and in 1969 this was increased to 300,000. Several states in the Flyway wished to see an increase in the MVP goose population and a greater distribution of these birds to the south of WI while WI managers continued to express concern over increased goose concentrations in east central WI. In the 1970’s up to 80% (250,000-300,000 birds) of the MVP winter population stopped at the Horicon and surrounding areas (Miller 1998). Agricultural and biological concerns over this concentration of birds led to the 1976 management strategy to reduce the peak fall population and encourage birds to move south. Altering land management in the Horicon NWR, and 1

increased harvest and disturbance helped to move geese out of the refuge but not necessarily to locations outside of WI. However, many hunters and goose watchers in Wisconsin opposed these efforts to redistribute goose concentrations. A number of biological and political concerns complicated management efforts. In 1979 the MFC prepared the first Flyway-wide management plan for the MVP in an attempt to create a more scientifically based management strategy. Revisions of this plan continue to guide the management of the MVP population with the most recent revision in 2010 (Brook and Luukkonen 2010). Meanwhile, a few small remnants of the giant race of Canada geese were discovered in southern WI and elsewhere in the Flyway during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Restoration efforts to increase this population began in the 1960’s and involved the releasing of birds from captive reared populations, translocation of birds within and among states and provinces, and closure of Canada goose hunting in some areas (MF Giant Canada goose management plan 1996). Now giant Canada geese are the most abundant subspecies in the Flyway (Leafloor et al. 2003). The increase in the giant population began in urban and rural areas of southeast WI and this area remains an area of increasing resident goose densities. Giant Canada geese have adapted well to the urban, suburban and agricultural landscapes in Wisconsin resulting in an increasing population and expanding distribution across the state. With this increasing population and distribution come both problems with agricultural damage and urban nuisance geese as well as increased hunting and viewing opportunities. Harvest derivations indicate that giants are currently about 40% of the WI regular season Canada goose harvest and nearly all of the early September season harvest. The Wisconsin breeding population of giants steadily increased during the 1980’s and 1990’s but since 2005 survey data suggest the population has stabilized. The MVP management plan provides the basis for evaluation and management of the MVP population and harvest. The annual harvest quota of the past years has been determined using the breeding population estimate (breeding adults) produced by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as a trigger to determine different harvest levels. Based on the total MVP harvest level, the harvest quota in 2006 was distributed among the major and minor harvest states as follows; WI –35%, IL –33%, MI 20%, KY 12% and the minor harvest states a collective harvest of 80,500 geese. Annual harvest derivations for each state indicated the percentage of the annual Canada goose harvest for each state that comes from MVP, resident giants or other populations. The total harvest quota for the state of Wisconsin was determined by applying more recent derivations to the MVP harvest limit. This was the system that continued to guide the Canada goose season framework for Wisconsin up until 2006. Changing Canada Goose Harvest Management in the Mississippi Flyway Historically, there has been an emphasis on maintaining a high abundance of MVP geese via population objectives and harvest restraint. The simultaneous growth of giant Canada goose populations has provided more harvest opportunities, but has also expanded management challenges (e.g., human-goose conflict). There is some evidence that the annual regular hunting season changes intended to reduce harvest on MVP geese in low population years had also reduced harvest on resident giants, allowing greater growth of that population. In addition, at the Mississippi Flyway level nearly 80% of the total Canada goose harvest consists of resident giant 2

Canada geese. Therefore, it is believed that the resident giant population can “buffer” the MVP and other interior Canada goose populations from harvest impacts in most locations. In order to test this theory, in 2007 the MVP harvest states in the flyway set stable seasons for five years. By creating a stable hunting season framework and monitoring outcomes, the ability of giants to “buffer” the harvest of migrants will be tested. On a flyway-wide level, the effects of this new strategy are predicted to increase overall harvest and harvest rate of giant Canada geese and also to slow or stabilize giant Canada goose population growth. Predicted effects on migrant goose populations include either an insignificant increase in harvest rate or an initial larger increase in harvest rate followed by declining abundance and declining harvest rate. Preliminary data indicate that from 2003-2006 the rate of harvest on adult MVP geese ranged from 9-11% with a mean of 9.7% while in the first 2 years (2007,2008) of the stable regulations the harvest rate was 8% and 10%. In comparison, the 2003-2006 rate of harvest on adult giant Canada geese in Wisconsin ranged from 14-15% with a mean of 14.5% but more recent calculations are not yet available. These preliminary data suggest that the desired results of these regulations are being achieved. Harvest quantity, distribution and hunter participation are all important pieces of information for the evaluation of this harvest strategy and management of Canada geese. This report is a summary of the 2009 management of harvest. This series of reports has been and continues to be instrumental in making decisions for the management of Canada geese in Wisconsin. BREEDING POPULATIONS In 2009, the breeding surveys for MVP geese in northern Ontario again indicated a poor production year. Late winter conditions likely caused the observed decrease in nest initiation (Brook and Hughes, July 2009). The breeding population was estimated at 239,631 breeding adults, which was 35 percent below the 1989-2008 average. In Wisconsin, the 2009 breeding population estimate for giant Canada geese was up at 148,293 though the previous trend over the past 6 years seemed to indicate the population was leveling off at around 120,000. METHODS The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources collects Canada goose harvest data via 2 different methods in the 3 Canada goose management zones. In the statewide Early September season and in the Exterior zone during the regular season, all Canada goose hunters are required to report their harvest using the 1-800-99-GOOSE telephone call-in system within 48 hours. With this system hunters report the following information: DNR customer number, date of harvest, number of geese harvested, and county of harvest. This information is electronically recorded and summarized in a harvest database that is reviewed at least weekly during the season to track harvest levels. Department law enforcement personnel around the state conduct field checks of Canada goose hunters to assure compliance with the reporting system. Results of these field checks provide a compliance rate that is used to adjust the harvest records to estimate total Canada goose harvest. 3

Horicon/Collins Mail Survey Canada goose hunters in the Horicon and Collins zones were mailed a hunter questionnaire to obtain harvest information. The questionnaire was sent to 97% of permit holders for the Collins Zone and about 75% of the Horicon Zone permit holders. The questionnaire was mailed to hunters at the end of each time period. The Horicon hunters were selected randomly in proportion to the number in each time period. Response rates for questionnaires (Table 1) for the Collins Zone increased slightly in 2009 when compared to 2008 (49% and 47%, respectively), although there was a decrease in the total number of surveys returned and the total number of hunters in this zone. The 2009 response rates for the Horicon Zone also increased slightly from the 2008 (52% and 51%, respectively). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Early September Canada Goose Season Hunter Participation and Harvest The Early September season is an important part of Wisconsin’s Canada goose management program. This season offers hunters an additional recreational experience outside of the regular season and helps to target harvest on our resident giant Canada geese. The breeding population for our resident geese has had a fairly consistent increasing trend, but with the exception of 2009, recent years’ data may suggest that the population is leveling off. In some areas these higher goose numbers have resulted in nuisance problems. In 2009 the season was open from September 1-15 which was unchanged from last year. However, in 2009 there were only 4 weekend days versus 5 weekend days in 2007 and the opener fell on a Tuesday instead of the Labor Day holiday as it did in 2008. The number of applicants for the Early September Canada Goose permit was again down slightly from the last few years (Table 21). This is most likely a result of a decline in Conservation Patron permit holders (due to cost increases of this license twice in the past several years) rather than a reflection of a decrease in the number of hunters with the intent to hunt the Early season. We have no data to assess the percent of the total applicants that actively hunt during this period. Conservation Patron license customers are offered an Early September Canada goose permit as part of the combined license package so some of these permit holders may have had little intent to hunt during this season even though they had a permit. The harvest figures for 2009 suggest that hunters who received a permit were considerably less successful this year than in 2008. This idea is supported by the numbers of hunters who shot one or more geese in the Early season in 2009 vs. 2008 (3,775 vs. 4,999). At an estimated 15,342 geese, the 2009 Early Canada goose harvest was the lowest since 2005 and a significant drop from 2008 which had a record harvest of 24,276. Still, the 2009 harvest ranks as the 5th highest since the season began 20 years ago. Based on reports from staff and hunters around the state, this significant decline in harvest after several years of an increasing harvest trend appears to have been caused by unusually warm weather. The second week of the 4

September season experienced above normal temperatures which ranged from 75-81 degrees. These warm temperatures altered Canada goose behavior and decreased hunter effort. All of the counties with the highest early season harvest were among the top 10 in the previous year, except for the addition of Walworth and loss of Dodge, which is surprising since it is typically one of the top ranking counties. This list indicates that the opportunity and need for the Early season is distributed across the state. It also suggests that we are successfully targeting different geese and different hunter interest than in the regular season. Counties like Polk, Door and Barron are in the top 10 Early season harvest counties but rank lower during the regular season.

30,000

Early September Season Canada Goose Harvest, 1990-2009 (derived from 1-800 system)

20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000

Year

5

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

0 1990

#geese harvested

25,000

Top 10 counties - Early season harvest - 2009 Estimated Percent of County Rank Kill Early Total Brown 1 747 4.87% Polk 2 719 4.69% Manitowoc 3 715 4.66% Door 4 594 3.87% Waukesha 5 535 3.49% Walworth 6 519 3.38% Sheboygan 7 504 3.29% Barron 8 495 3.23% Kewaunee 9 490 3.20% Winnebago 10 457 2.98%

6

Regular Season Hunter Participation and Characteristics In 2009, 88,643 individuals received a Wisconsin Canada goose regular season hunting permit (Exterior, Horicon, or Collins). This was a decline of 3,540 or -3.8% from 2008. An increase in cost of the Conservation Patron license in recent years may have been the primary cause of this decline, which would suggest that this is not a direct decline in active Canada goose hunters. As part of the combined license package, a Conservation Patron holder is offered an Exterior Zone Canada goose permit, which means a hunter may opt to receive the permit even if there is only a slim chance they will actually hunt geese. In 2009, the number of Exterior Zone permit holders declined by 1,763 from 2008. In order to hunt Canada geese in the Horicon and Collins Zones a hunter must apply for a permit and the number of Horicon permit holders decreased by 1,711 while Collins permits decreased by 66 from 2008. Exterior Zone Exterior Zone permits totaled 74,709 in 2009. This represents 84% of the total regular season permits which is similar to recent years. However, we have no estimate of how many were actively hunting geese. Estimates of the number of active Wisconsin goose hunters derived from USFWS HIP estimates for 2009 will not be available until July, 2010. However, previous comparisons of state and federal hunter estimates suggest that about 60% of the Exterior zone permit holders are active goose hunters. This would indicate about 45,000 of the Exterior zone permit holders were actively hunting geese. The 5 counties with the highest total Exterior Zone goose permits were similar when compared to recent years (Table 3), and remained unchanged from 2008. In order, the counties with the highest number of permits issued were Dane, Waukesha, Outagamie, Brown, and Winnebago. Three of these counties also have some of the highest totals for overall human population in the state; however, Outagamie and Winnebago counties seem to have a higher proportion of goose hunters in relation to population size. Horicon Zone The Horicon Zone is a large area that includes all of Green Lake and parts of Dodge, Columbia, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Washington, and Winnebago counties. Horicon zone permit holders received 6 tags in 2009; this tag number is part of the stable season trial. There has been a gradual decline in the number of Horicon Zone permits over the last 15 years. The total number of Horicon permits issued in 2009 was 13,380. Also, the percentage of total regular season hunters represented by the Horicon permits decreased slightly from 16% in 2008 to 15% in 2009 (Table 2). The percentage of active Horicon zone hunters (those who actually hunted) from all time periods combined increased from 60% in 2008 to 64% in 2009. In 2009, the mean number of trips taken by active hunters in period 1 was unchanged from 2008 at 4.5 and in period 2, trips increased from 3.6 in 2008 to 4.2 in 2009 (Table 7). Although hunter effort remained stable or increased, this did not equate to an increase in harvest.

7

Horicon and Exterior Permits Issued 100,000 90,000 80,000 70,000 60,000 Exterior permits

50,000 40,000

Horicon permits

30,000 20,000 10,000 0 1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

Horicon zone hunters are primarily hunters that have previous experience in this zone. In 2009, 94.5% of the Horicon zone hunters had hunted the Horicon zone in previous years (Table 4). This high proportion of repeat hunters is consistent with other years. The Horicon time periods serve to distribute hunter harvest pressure across the fall season. As in 2008, there were only 2 periods this year, roughly splitting the 92 days season in half, with no overlap. In 2007 four time periods were listed on the permits but when the season was implemented periods 1 and 2 were the same and periods 3 and 4 were the same. In 2007 the combined permits for Horicon time periods 1 and 2 was 7,688 while in 2008 the equivalent time frame of period 1 had only 6,627 permitted hunters. In contrast the combined periods 3 and 4 in 2007 had 6,924 permits but in 2008 the similar time frame of period 2 had 8,464 permitted hunters. We suspected that this was due to some confusion over the change in the time periods rather than a preference for the later hunting period, and in 2009 this seemed to be confirmed by a strong preference for time Period 1 (9,773) compared with only 3,607 applicants for Period 2. (Table 2). Nearly half of the Horicon zone hunters are spending the majority of the time hunting on private lands (Table 16) and many are specifically goose hunters who did not hunt both ducks and geese (Table 6). These characteristics are both similar to previous years.

8

Collins Zone The Collins Zone is a very small zone surrounding the Collins Wildlife Management Area. The number of applicants for the Collins zone remains very small compared to the statewide number of Canada goose hunters (Table 2). A total of 554 Collins zone permits were issued in 2009. As with the Horicon Zone hunters, these hunters are mostly returning to this zone from previous years (91.7%, Table 4) and most hunted geese the previous year (82.3%, Table 5). Though 2008 showed a spike in the number of permits awarded, there has been a decreasing trend over the last 20 years. The percentage of those actively hunting in 2009 was 51% (Table 2), a decrease from 55% in 2008. Hunters continued the pattern of preferring time period 2, though permits for periods 1 and 3 increased this year despite an overall decline. In 2009, the number of Collins hunters that hunted ducks the previous year was 56.2% which was up from prior years (Table 6). Regular Season Harvest Statewide

Permit Issuance Collins Zone 2009 = 554 2008 = 620 2007 = 343 2006 = 357 2005 = 455 2004 = 457 2003 = 494 2002 = 475 2001 = 615 2000 = 583 1999 = 662 1998 = 699 1997 = 845 1996 = 839 1995 = 950 1994 = 887 1993 = 724 1992 = 781 1991 = 969 1990 = 1,197 1989 = 1,303 1988 = 975

The statewide regular season Canada goose harvest in 2009 was 41,224 (Table 8). Production of MVP geese in 2009 was again poor, but resident production remained high. Statewide harvest figures suggest that our season structure continues to effectively manage harvest despite annual changes in production. For the third year of a 5 year stable season trial structure, statewide harvest was down- from 54,150 in 2008 and 60,092 in 2007, but similar to 2004. Poor conditions on the Canadian breeding grounds of the MVP geese may have affected the number of young of the year birds which are more susceptible to harvest, but the major factor throughout the state was the delayed timing of crop harvest. Standing corn and soybeans had a significant impact on what areas were being utilized, and for most of the season the progression of harvest was only at ¼ to ½ of what it would be during a normal year.

9

When combining the harvest from all zones by county the top 10 harvest counties in 2009 were: Top 10 counties - Statewide harvest for 2009 (all zones-Reg. season) Estimated County Rank Kill % of Statewide Total Dodge 1 5,619 13.6% Fond Du Lac 2 2,380 5.8% Brown 3 2,019 4.9% Manitowoc 4 1,616 3.9% Dane 5 1,469 3.6% Waukesha 6 1,238 3.0% Kewaunee 7 1,282 3.1% Outagamie 8 1,141 2.8% Walworth 9 1,096 2.7% Sheboygan 10 1,049 2.5% This county level distribution illustrates the continued concentration of geese and goose harvest in areas associated with the Horicon zone (Dodge and Fond du Lac counties) which have high MVP harvest. The five counties with the highest harvest have remained unchanged for several years. The rest of the top harvest counties have all been in the top 10 in recent years. Exterior The Exterior zone represents all areas of the state open to goose hunting outside of the Horicon and Collins zones. In response to requests for a later Canada goose hunting season in the Exterior Zone by some hunters and to test whether higher harvest may result from a Saturday versus week-day opener, for a second year the Exterior Zone was opened the third Saturday in September (19th) rather than the earliest possible opening date of September 16th. The estimated opening day harvest on September 19 was 1,334 which was much lower than 2008 but still up from previous opening days for this season. However, the opening day for the Exterior Zone in 2005 (502), 2006 (735) and 2007 (959) were all weekend days as well. As a result it does not appear that this increased harvest in 2008 and 2009 was simply the result of the opening day being scheduled on a weekend. Two other possibilities could be that the 3 day no hunting period between the Early September and Exterior Zone hunting seasons made the geese more susceptible to harvest on opening day or because the later date allowed more northern migrants to arrive in Wisconsin which increased harvest. While the opening day harvest was up compared to years when the Exterior zone opened with the close of the Early season, the overall harvest in 2008 and 2009 was lower than previous years. By this regulation change, we shifted 4 days of Canada goose hunting from September to December. The harvest of Canada geese in December has been much lower than in the early portion of the season. For example, in 2007, the first 4 days of weekday hunting in September 10

resulted in a harvest of 1832 geese while in 2008 during the last 4 days of the season only 121 geese were harvested. It is clear that the increase in harvest from a Saturday opening day in September does not compensate for the loss of harvest opportunity by placing Canada goose hunting days in December rather than September. The total Exterior zone harvest was 31,570 in 2009, which was 77% of the statewide regular season harvest (Table 8). This proportion of the statewide total was similar to recent years (76% in 2008, 73% in 2007). The actual harvest declined significantly from 2008 but was the 7th highest since the season began in 1990. The list of the top 10 harvest counties was similar to recent years and represents the southeast/south-central portion of the state, excluding those areas in the Horicon and Collins management zones. These counties also overlap with several of the counties that have the highest human populations, which suggest that we are successful in taking advantage of harvest potential in areas where high goose numbers have greater potential to create nuisance problems.

Note: This figure is based on state estimates

Canada Goose Harvest in All Regular Season Zones, 1990-2009 120,000

# geese harvested

100,000

80,000

Total 60,000

Exterior 40,000

Horicon

20,000

Collins

0 1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

.

11

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

Top 10 counties - Exterior harvest - 2009 County

Rank

Estimated Kill

% of Exterior Total

Brown Dane Manitowoc Waukesha Kewaunee Outagamie Walworth Sheboygan Racine Kenosha

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2,019 1,469 1,288 1,238 1,182 1,141 1,096 1,049 976 958

6.40% 4.65% 4.08% 3.92% 3.74% 3.61% 3.47% 3.32% 3.09% 3.04%

Harvest of Canada geese continues to be highest on weekends and most of the Exterior zone harvest occurs in late September and October (Table 11). While the Exterior Zone season did not begin until September 19, there were a total of 38 Canada geese reported harvested during the 4 days of closed hunting between the Early September and Exterior Zone seasons. It is likely that these reports were a result of late early season reports or user error with the harvest reporting system, however, they are reported for data summary purposes. Daily and weekly harvest levels drop off considerably during November and December. In 2009, with the exception of a very cold spell in mid-October, the remainder of autumn was very mild. Marshes froze slightly later than normal in early December, but this was followed by a heavy snowfall in the southern parts of the state causing most Canada geese to migrate south into Illinois before the end of the Wisconsin Canada goose hunting season. Canada goose harvest is particularly low during the regular deer gun hunting season at the end of November and increases slightly following that period. In 2009, 8,683 (11.6%) hunters harvested at least one goose out of 74,709 Exterior zone permit holders (Table 15). This proportion has remained relatively unchanged for several years. While these figures may seem low we have no measure of how many of these permit holders actively hunted geese because Conservation Permit holders can automatically obtain this permit. Thirty-two percent of the successful hunters harvested only 1 goose and 30% harvested 2 geese. These percentages are very similar to 2006 and 2007, but reflect a change from 2008 when 52% of hunters harvested just 1 goose, and only 21% harvested 2 geese.

12

2009 Exterior Harvest Estimate By Day 2,000 1,800

# of Geese Harvested

1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200

26-Dec

19-Dec

12-Dec

5-Dec

28-Nov

21-Nov

14-Nov

7-Nov

31-Oct

24-Oct

17-Oct

10-Oct

3-Oct

26-Sep

19-Sep

0

Date

Horicon Zone The total harvest for the Horicon Zone was 9,326 in 2009, which was 23% of the statewide regular season harvest (Table 8). This total was lower than 2008 (12,543) or 2007 (15,585) but made up the same proportion of the statewide harvest as in 2008. The overall number of Horicon zone permit holders was down slightly from 2008 but participation remained stable and success rates showed a decrease in Period 1 but then increased significantly during Period 2 (Tables 2, 13 and 14). The crops finally being harvested late in the season may serve to explain the jump in success rates during the second time period. The areas directly adjacent to the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge and Wildlife Management Areas (portions of Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties) continue to represent a high percentage of the Horicon Zone harvest (79% in 2009). Only 19% of active Horicon zone hunters in Period 1 harvested more than 2 geese (12% in Period 2) and just 4% of Period 1 hunters (2% in Period 2) filled all 6 of their harvest tags (Table 13).

Collins zone The Collins zone is a relatively small harvest management zone that represents an area with high harvest potential (Tables 13 and 14). Manitowoc County is the 4th highest in Canada goose harvest when combining the harvest from all zones, and though Collins remains a key goose concentration area, the bulk of the harvest in Manitowoc County now comes from outside this zone. The total harvest for the Collins zone was 328 in 2009 (Table 8).

13

MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS In the past, Wisconsin was largely dependent upon the MVP population for goose harvest opportunities. This has continued to change as the giant Canada goose population in Wisconsin and the region has grown. The Wisconsin harvest derivation published in 2010 show that the harvest (3 year average 2005-2007) contained 57% MVP and 40% giant Canada geese. With over one half of the Canada goose harvest from MVP geese, this population is very important to Wisconsin. This proportion of harvest makes Wisconsin unique among states in the Mississippi Flyway where the resident giant Canada goose harvest makes up much more of the annual harvest than other states. In order to properly manage the MVP and meet USFWS requirements, Wisconsin had (until 2007) adjusted its annual Canada goose harvest in relation to the annual changes in MVP production. In the past this system effectively managed our harvest on MVP geese but may have resulted in an under harvest of giant Canada geese. In 2007, the 5 year stable season trial began, and the quota system was eliminated. Our harvest monitoring will be used as part of our continued evaluation of this harvest management system. Wisconsin’s total 2009 Canada goose harvest was 28% below 2008, and the 2009 Exterior zone harvest was also below recent years (31,570 – 2009 vs. 41,215 – 2008, 43,958 - 2007). The season length and early winter weather were similar in 2009 and 2008 as well as the opening day (third Saturday in September, 4 days after the close of the Early season). The MVP production was again very poor in 2009 so relatively few young MVP Canada geese were in the fall flight, but the major factor affecting harvest seemed to be the late harvest of crops statewide. Additional years of data with the current season structure will be needed to fully evaluate the new strategy and resulting harvest. With 18% of the statewide regular season Canada goose harvest coming from just the 2 counties containing the Horicon Marsh (Dodge and Fond du Lac) the potential for a high Canada goose harvest continues to exist in this area. Because a disproportionate number of these birds are MVP, there is a continued need for special harvest management in this zone. The annual changes in Canada goose breeding populations of MVP and Wisconsin giants illustrate the need for continued breeding surveys, banding, and harvest monitoring in order to effectively manage Canada geese in Wisconsin. Breeding, fall distribution, and harvest of Canada geese in Wisconsin is a constantly changing picture. Each year the information collected on Canada geese in Wisconsin has been used to evaluate and adjust our season structure and banding efforts. We continue to refine our banding plan annually as these data provide us the information needed to document any changes in harvest distribution and the population of our resident giants in relation to the MVP, allowing us to make the necessary adjustments to the management and harvest of Canada geese in Wisconsin.

14

Agricultural crop damage from Canada geese during fall and now spring continues to be a concern for farmers in Wisconsin in the Horicon area and other locations where Canada geese concentrate. Consideration of agricultural damage issues remains important in our overall approach to managing Wisconsin’s Canada goose populations. Similarly, consideration of Canada goose problems in urban areas is part of the overall management of Canada geese in Wisconsin. Our resident breeders have shown a generally increasing population trend since we began monitoring this population in 1986, although in recent years it appears to have stabilized. Much of this increase has been in more suburban and urban counties, however, resident breeders continue to increase in distribution across the state. As we monitor breeding populations and harvest we can evaluate our effectiveness at using recreational harvest to assist in managing these more urban problems from concentrations of Canada geese. To target these birds in the fall, the Early September Canada goose season remains an important part of our management strategy and contributes a significant proportion of the overall harvest. In addition, site specific Canada goose control measures will continue to be implemented in urban and agricultural areas to mitigate nuisance goose problems. For 2010, in addition to the Federal requirement, Wisconsin has added its own mandatory reporting for nest and egg depredation permits to better monitor control efforts around the state.

15

CITATIONS Brook, R. and J. Hughes. June 2009. 2009 Preliminary Spring Survey Results for MVP Canada Geese. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Canadian Wildlife Service. Brook, R.W. and D.R. Luukkonen. 2010. A Management Plan for the Mississippi Valley Population of Canada geese. Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section. 43pp. Leafloor, J.O., K. F. Abraham, F. D. Caswell, K. E. Gamble, R. N. Helm, D. D. Humburg, J. S. Lawerence, D. R. Luukkonen, R. D. Pritchert, E. L. Warr, G. G. Zenner. 2003. Canada goose management in the Mississippi Flyway. Pages 22-36 in T. J. Moser, R. D. Lien, K. C. VerCauteren, K. F. Abraham, D. E. Andersen, J. G. Bruggink, J. M. Coluccy, D. A. Graber, J. O. Leafloor, D. R. Luukkonen, R. E. Trost, editors. Proceedings of the 2003 International Canada Goose Symposium, Madison, WI. USA. Miller, S.W. 1998. The biopolitics of Mississippi Valley Population Canada geese management: the Wisconsin perspective. Pages 467-474 in D.H. Rusch, M. D. Samuel, D.D. Humburg, and B.D. Sullivan, editors. Biology and management of Canada geese. Proceedings of the international Canada Goose Symposium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 1980. Canada Goose Management Plan for East Central Wisconsin 1980-1990.

16

HARVEST AND PARTICIPATION DATA Table 1. Number of surveys mailed, returned, and response rate for the 2009 Canada goose season. Zone and Period Horicon 1 Horicon 2 Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Total

# Mailed 6,400 3,604 183 243 109 10,539

# Returned 3,356 1,857 62 144 56 5,474

Percent Response 52.4% 51.5% 33.9% 59.3% 51.4% 51.9%

Table 2. Permits issued, active hunters, percent active, and number of successful hunters by zone and time period. Active and successful hunters derived from questionnaire data. Percent successful applies to active permit holders, except for Exterior Zone where it applies to all permit holders.

Zone and Period Horicon 1 Horicon 2 Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Exterior Total

Permits Issued (hunters) 9,773 3,607 191 250 113 74,709 88,643

Active Hunters 6,622 1,941 53 165 65

% Active 67.8% 53.8% 27.9% 66.0% 57.1%

17

# Successful 3,683 1,259 38 73 22 8,683 13,758

% Successful 55.6% 64.9% 70.6% 44.2% 34.4% 11.6% 15.5%

Table 3. Number of goose permit applicants by zone and county of residence. (Continued on next page).

County Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond Du Lac Forest Grant Green Green Lake Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette

Horicon Collins Exterior Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 9 0.07 2 0.36 194 0.26 3 0.02 4 0.71 294 0.39 5 0.04 6 1.07 1,084 1.45 2 0.01 252 0.34 74 0.55 23 4.1 2,616 3.50 25 0.19 2 0.36 424 0.57 4 0.03 2 0.36 439 0.59 18 0.13 52 9.2 583 0.78 27 0.20 6 1.07 797 1.07 9 0.07 2 0.36 337 0.45 651 4.87 4 0.71 1,225 1.64 34 0.25 2 0.36 356 0.48 647 4.84 15 2.66 4,532 6.06 1,447 10.83 13 2.31 403 0.54 2 0.01 692 0.93 4 0.03 540 0.72 22 0.16 2 0.36 595 0.80 65 0.49 3 0.53 1,016 1.36 1 0.01 1 0.18 51 0.07 1,402 10.49 8 1.42 845 1.13 3 0.02 186 0.25 145 1.09 4 0.71 489 0.65 50 0.37 2 0.36 575 0.77 536 4.01 7 1.24 206 0.28 46 0.34 1 0.18 335 0.45 2 0.01 119 0.16 10 0.07 3 0.53 228 0.31 158 1.18 11 1.95 1,965 2.63 35 0.26 2 0.36 588 0.79 67 0.50 4 1.60 1,176 1.57 1 0.01 5 0.89 657 0.88 227 1.70 6 1.07 1,789 2.39 40 0.30 1 0.18 204 0.27 15 0.11 6 1.07 290 0.39 74 0.55 3 0.53 653 0.87 25 0.19 44 7.82 1,735 2.32 134 1.00 5 0.89 1,592 2.13 18 0.13 2 0.36 874 1.17 18

County Marquette Menominee Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk St. Croix Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood Unknown Non. Resident

Horicon Collins Exterior Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 109 0.82 2 0.36 513 0.69 6 0.01 1,039 7.78 17 3.02 2,401 3.21 25 0.19 2 0.36 538 0.72 14 0.1 7 1.24 751 1.00 86 0.64 5 0.89 940 1.26 212 1.59 56 9.95 3,147 4.21 171 1.28 7 1.24 1,186 1.59 2 0.01 170 0.23 11 0.08 2 0.36 646 0.86 6 0.04 7 1.24 1,093 1.46 131 0.98 5 0.89 1,176 1.57 12 0.09 2 0.36 312 0.42 143 1.07 8 1.42 2,335 3.12 24 0.18 152 0.20 202 1.51 9 1.60 2,040 2.73 2 0.01 5 0.89 242 0.32 15 0.11 4 0.71 1,352 1.81 124 0.93 5 0.89 990 1.32 1 0.01 420 0.56 36 0.27 1 0.18 661 0.88 125 0.94 49 8.70 2,057 2.75 6 0.04 3 0.53 332 0.44 47 0.35 9 1.60 571 0.76 83 0.62 1 0.18 402 0.54 43 0.32 1 0.18 477 0.64 76 0.57 2 0.36 1,400 1.87 3 0.02 567 0.76 682 5.10 6 1.07 1,756 2.35 1,141 8.54 17 3.02 4,381 5.86 69 0.52 5 0.89 1,055 1.41 45 0.34 1 0.18 502 0.67 664 4.97 43 7.64 2,595 3.47 119 0.89 7 1.24 1,604 2.15 659 4.93 10 1.78 2,269 3.04 1,196 8.95 7 1.24 2,756 3.69

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Table 4. Goose hunting in past zones. Current Zone Collins Horicon

Past Collins 91.7% 0.1%

Past Horicon 0.8% 94.5%

Past Exterior 7.4% 5.5%

Table 5. Percent hunting geese in 2009 that also hunted in 2008. Zone Collins Horicon

% That Hunted in 2008 82.3% 87.5%

Table 6. Past and present duck hunting by goose permit. Zone Collins Horicon

Duck Hunted in 2008 56.2% 61.4%

Duck Hunted in 2009 67.6% 69.7%

Table 7. Mean number of hunting trips by zone and time period. Applies to active permit holders only. Zone/Period Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Horicon 1 Horicon 2

Mean # of Trips 7.5 4.9 7.0 4.5 4.2

20

Maximum # of Trips 14 20 26 41 43

Table 8. Harvest by zone and time period. The estimated harvest was derived from questionnaire data in the Collins and Horicon zones. Reported harvest in the Exterior Zone is from mandatory reporting. The reported harvest for the Exterior zone was adjusted by an overall compliance rate of 90.2% to obtain the estimated harvest. Zone/Period Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Horicon 1 Horicon 2 Exterior Total

Estimated Harvest 141 149 38 7,708 1,618 31,570 41,224

Reported Harvest

Table 9. Exterior zone goose harvest by county (continued on next page). Reported Expanded County Kill Kill Percent Adams 288 319 1.01% Ashland 55 61 0.19% Barron 553 613 1.94% Bayfield 61 68 0.21% Brown 1,821 2,019 6.40% Buffalo 344 381 1.21% Burnett 240 266 0.84% Calumet 490 543 1.72% Chippewa 564 625 1.98% Clark 232 257 0.81% Columbia 292 324 1.03% Crawford 194 215 0.68% Dane 1,325 1,469 4.65% Dodge 158 175 0.56% Door 862 956 3.03% Douglas 202 224 0.71% Dunn 133 147 0.47% Eau Claire 110 122 0.39% Florence 32 35 0.11% Fond Du Lac 485 538 1.70% Forest 23 26 0.08% Grant 47 52 0.17% Green 170 189 0.60% Iowa 103 114 0.36% Iron 58 64 0.20% Jackson 73 81 0.26% Jefferson 687 762 2.41% 21

28,467

County Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood Total

Reported Kill 201 864 1,066 366 45 69 173 1,161 764 264 437 9 220 464 77 1,029 620 12 150 758 374 61 880 43 713 224 268 154 336 946 358 368 106 105 51 988 286 694 1,116 641 250 675 479

Expanded Kill 223 958 1,182 406 50 77 192 1,288 847 293 485 10 244 515 85 1,141 688 13 166 841 415 68 976 48 791 248 297 171 373 1,049 397 408 118 116 57 1,096 317 770 1,238 711 277 749 531

28,467

31,570 22

Percent 0.71% 3.04% 3.74% 1.29% 0.16% 0.24% 0.61% 4.08% 2.68% 0.93% 1.54% 0.03% 0.77% 1.63% 0.27% 3.61% 2.18% 0.04% 0.53% 2.66% 1.31% 0.21% 3.09% 0.15% 2.50% 0.79% 0.94% 0.54% 1.18% 3.32% 1.26% 1.29% 0.37% 0.37% 0.18% 3.47% 1.00% 2.44% 3.92% 2.25% 0.88% 2.37% 1.68%

Table 10. Horicon Zone goose harvest by county. The estimated harvest was derived from questionnaire data. County Columbia Dodge Fond du Lac Green Lake Marquette Washington Winnebago Total

Total Estimated Harvest 270 5,444 1,895 961 266 317 173 9,326

% of Harvest 2.9% 58.4% 20.3% 10.3% 2.9% 3.4% 1.9%

Table 11. Exterior zone goose harvest by date. Bold numbers indicate weekends (continued on the next page). Reported Expanded Cumulative Cumulative Kill Kill Total Percent Percent Date of Kill 09/19/2009 1,203 1,334 1,334 4.23% 4.23% 09/20/2009 1,042 1,156 2,490 3.66% 7.89% 09/21/2009 308 342 2,831 1.08% 8.97% 09/22/2009 319 354 3,185 1.12% 10.09% 09/23/2009 343 380 3,565 1.20% 11.29% 09/24/2009 509 564 4,130 1.79% 13.08% 09/25/2009 520 577 4,707 1.83% 14.91% 09/26/2009 1,187 1,316 6,023 4.17% 19.08% 09/27/2009 1,354 1,502 7,525 4.76% 23.83% 09/28/2009 472 523 8,048 1.66% 25.49% 09/29/2009 749 831 8,879 2.63% 28.12% 09/30/2009 724 803 9,682 2.54% 30.67% 10/01/2009 596 661 10,343 2.09% 32.76% 10/02/2009 507 562 10,905 1.78% 34.54% 10/03/2009 1,328 1,473 12,378 4.67% 39.21% 10/04/2009 1,540 1,708 14,085 5.41% 44.62% 10/05/2009 489 542 14,628 1.72% 46.33% 10/06/2009 308 342 14,969 1.08% 47.42% 10/07/2009 445 494 15,463 1.56% 48.98% 10/08/2009 488 541 16,004 1.71% 50.69% 10/09/2009 541 600 16,604 1.90% 52.59% 10/10/2009 1,002 1,111 17,715 3.52% 56.11% 23

Date of Kill 10/11/2009 10/12/2009 10/13/2009 10/14/2009 10/15/2009 10/16/2009 10/17/2009 10/18/2009 10/19/2009 10/20/2009 10/21/2009 10/22/2009 10/23/2009 10/24/2009 10/25/2009 10/26/2009 10/27/2009 10/28/2009 10/29/2009 10/30/2009 10/31/2009 11/01/2009 11/02/2009 11/03/2009 11/04/2009 11/05/2009 11/06/2009 11/07/2009 11/08/2009 11/09/2009 11/10/2009 11/11/2009 11/12/2009 11/13/2009 11/14/2009 11/15/2009 11/16/2009 11/17/2009 11/18/2009 11/19/2009 11/20/2009

Reported Expanded Kill Kill 840 932 99 110 124 138 111 123 79 88 133 147 910 1,009 646 716 260 288 255 283 228 253 234 260 287 318 658 730 547 607 189 210 151 167 227 252 271 301 275 305 445 494 276 306 125 139 128 142 148 164 102 113 197 218 307 340 237 263 73 81 85 94 91 101 121 134 135 150 297 329 201 223 82 91 98 109 100 111 86 95 82 91

Cumulative Total 18,647 18,757 18,894 19,017 19,105 19,252 20,261 20,978 21,266 21,549 21,802 22,061 22,380 23,109 23,716 23,926 24,093 24,345 24,645 24,950 25,444 25,750 25,888 26,030 26,195 26,308 26,526 26,867 27,129 27,210 27,305 27,406 27,540 27,690 28,019 28,242 28,333 28,441 28,552 28,648 28,739 24

Percent 2.95% 0.35% 0.44% 0.39% 0.28% 0.47% 3.20% 2.27% 0.91% 0.90% 0.80% 0.82% 1.01% 2.31% 1.92% 0.66% 0.53% 0.80% 0.95% 0.97% 1.56% 0.97% 0.44% 0.45% 0.52% 0.36% 0.69% 1.08% 0.83% 0.26% 0.30% 0.32% 0.43% 0.47% 1.04% 0.71% 0.29% 0.34% 0.35% 0.30% 0.29%

Cumulative Percent 59.06% 59.41% 59.85% 60.24% 60.52% 60.98% 64.18% 66.45% 67.36% 68.26% 69.06% 69.88% 70.89% 73.20% 75.12% 75.79% 76.32% 77.11% 78.07% 79.03% 80.59% 81.56% 82.00% 82.45% 82.97% 83.33% 84.02% 85.10% 85.93% 86.19% 86.49% 86.81% 87.23% 87.71% 88.75% 89.46% 89.75% 90.09% 90.44% 90.74% 91.03%

Date of Kill 11/21/2009 11/22/2009 11/23/2009 11/24/2009 11/25/2009 11/26/2009 11/27/2009 11/28/2009 11/29/2009 11/30/2009 12/01/2009 12/02/2009 12/03/2009 12/04/2009 12/05/2009 12/06/2009 12/07/2009 12/08/2009 12/09/2009 12/10/2009 12/11/2009 12/12/2009 12/13/2009 12/14/2009 12/15/2009 12/16/2009 12/17/2009 12/18/2009 12/19/2009 12/20/2009 12/21/2009 12/22/2009 12/26/2009 12/27/2009 12/28/2009 12/29/2009 12/30/2009 12/31/2009 Total

Reported Expanded Kill Kill 49 54 62 69 57 63 64 71 110 122 95 105 119 132 84 93 161 179 69 77 94 104 115 128 133 147 160 177 204 226 142 157 67 74 77 85 50 55 23 26 51 57 149 165 140 155 65 72 51 57 45 50 77 85 5 6 2 2 1 1 3 3 5 6 11 12 6 7 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 28,467

Cumulative Total 28,793 28,862 28,925 28,996 29,118 29,223 29,355 29,448 29,627 29,703 29,808 29,935 30,083 30,260 30,486 30,644 30,718 30,804 30,859 30,885 30,941 31,106 31,262 31,334 31,390 31,440 31,526 31,531 31,533 31,534 31,538 31,543 31,555 31,562 31,564 31,567 31,568 31,570

31,570

25

Percent 0.17% 0.22% 0.20% 0.22% 0.39% 0.33% 0.42% 0.30% 0.57% 0.24% 0.33% 0.40% 0.47% 0.56% 0.72% 0.50% 0.24% 0.27% 0.18% 0.08% 0.18% 0.52% 0.49% 0.23% 0.18% 0.16% 0.27% 0.02% 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% 0.02% 0.04% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% 0.01%

Cumulative Percent 91.20% 91.42% 91.62% 91.85% 92.23% 92.57% 92.98% 93.28% 93.85% 94.09% 94.42% 94.82% 95.29% 95.85% 96.57% 97.07% 97.30% 97.57% 97.75% 97.83% 98.01% 98.53% 99.02% 99.25% 99.43% 99.59% 99.86% 99.88% 99.88% 99.89% 99.90% 99.92% 99.95% 99.98% 99.98% 99.99% 99.99% 100.00%

Table 12. Weekday of reported kill in percent. Data from mandatory reporting in the Exterior zone and questionnaires in the other zones. Zone/ Period Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Collins Total

Horicon 1 Horicon 2 Horicon Total Exterior All Zones

Sunday 24.4% 21.4% 15.8% 21.6% 20.2% 15.5% 19.1% 25.3% 24.6%

Monday 17.8% 9.5% 5.3% 11.5% 8.2% 9.0% 8.4% 8.3% 8.3%

Tuesday 13.3% 6.0% 15.8% 9.5% 6.6% 10.0% 7.4% 8.8% 8.7%

Wednesday 13.3% 17.9% 10.5% 15.5% 8.7% 9.6% 8.9% 9.6% 9.6%

Thursday 6.7% 8.3% 10.5% 8.1% 10.7% 8.1% 10.1% 9.9% 9.9%

Friday 4.4% 22.6% 5.3% 14.9% 15.2% 21.8% 16.8% 10.6% 11.2%

Saturday 20.0% 14.3% 36.8% 18.9% 30.4% 26.1% 29.4% 27.5% 27.7%

Table 13. Percent success by active permit for the Horicon and Collins zone. Harvest figures were derived from questionnaire data. Zone/Period Collins 1 Collins 2 Collins 3 Horicon 1 Horicon 2

1st Permit 2nd Permit 3rd Permit 70.6% 64.7% 52.9% 44.2% 24.2% 10.5% 34.4% 18.8% 3.1% 44.4% 29.5% 18.6% 35.1% 21.1% 12.2%

4th Permit 47.1% 5.3% 3.1% 12.7% 8.1%

5th Permit 23.5% 4.2% 0.0% 7.0% 4.5%

6th Permit 5.9% 2.1% 0.0% 4.2% 2.3%

Table 14. Number of birds harvested per permit holder and active permit holder by zone. Hunter numbers derived from applications, questionnaires and 1-800 registration. Zone Collins Horicon Exterior

Birds/Permit Holder 0.59 0.70 0.42

26

Birds/Active Permit Holder 1.16 1.09 N/A

Table 15. Exterior Zone season bag derived from mandatory reporting data. Bag Number of Hunters Percent 0 66,026 88.38% 1 2,807 3.76% 2 2,564 3.43% 3 856 1.15% 4 786 1.05% 5 384 0.51% 6 346 0.46% 7 186 0.25% 8 171 0.23% 9 120 0.16% 10 89 0.12% 11 78 0.10% 12 65 0.09% 13 35 0.05% 14 38 0.05% 15 22 0.03% 16 24 0.03% 17 13 0.02% 18 14 0.02% 19 15 0.02% 20 12 0.02% 21 5 0.01% 22 8 0.01% 23 4 0.01% 24 6 0.01% 25 5 0.01% 26 3 0.00% 27 3 0.00% 28 4 0.01% 29 4 0.01% 30 1 0.00% 31 1 0.00% 33 1 0.00% 34 2 0.00% 36 1 0.00% 37 1 0.00% 38 1 0.00% 39 1 0.00% 46 1 0.00% 47 1 0.00% 54 1 0.00% 60 1 0.00% 62 1 0.00% 92 1 0.00% 145 1 0.00% 27

Table 16. Percent of time spent hunting private land by zone. Zone Collins Horicon

No Answer 49.6% 38.2%

< 25% 36.7% 11.6%

25-49% 0.4% 1.3%

50-75% 0.8% 2.4%

> 75% 12.5% 46.6%

Table 17. If you hunted in Fond du Lac, Green Lake, or Marquette County, did you hunt north or south of highway 23? Frequency Percent North 295 19.7% South 1,203 80.3%

Table 18. Number of active hunters, percent paying blind access fee, mean days hunted, mean payment per trip, and total access fees paid by zone. Active Percent Mean Mean Zone Hunters Paying Days Payment Total Paid Collins 283 17.3% 6.0 $12.65 $3,715.99 Horicon 8,563 30.2% 4.3 $11.79 $131,103.76

28

Table 19. Number applicants, active hunters, and birds harvested during the September early Canada goose season. Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

# of Applicants 19,561 4,772 5,383 2,982 20,724 13,343 21,378 28,761 29,580 73,799 69,716 74,268 75,565 76,728 76,294 74,437 68,152 66,207 63,904 60,567

# of Active Hunters 6,408 1,983 2,024 1,636 7,114 7,923 8,979

Harvest 842 712 772 679 1,668 4,928 10,506 7,435 7,627 6,032 11,192 15,952 11,687 8,650 14,007 13,410 20,034 21,760 24,276 15,342

Table 21. Early September Canada goose harvest by date (bold numbers indicate weekends). DOK 09/01/2009 09/02/2009 09/03/2009 09/04/2009 09/05/2009 09/06/2009 09/07/2009 09/08/2009 09/09/2009 09/10/2009 09/11/2009

Reported Kill 3,475 1,040 674 763 1,381 1,008 1,002 328 353 469 347

29

Expanded Kill 4,010 1,200 778 881 1,594 1,163 1,156 379 407 541 400

Percent 26.14% 7.82% 5.07% 5.74% 10.39% 7.58% 7.54% 2.47% 2.66% 3.53% 2.61%

09/12/2009 09/13/2009 09/14/2009 09/15/2009 Total

634 731 396 694

732 844 457 801

13,295

15,342

4.77% 5.50% 2.98% 5.22%

Table 22. Early September Canada goose harvest by county. County Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond Du Lac Forest Grant Green Green Lake Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette

Reported Kill 57 42 429 108 647 206 188 196 222 115 169 108 385 320 515 118 54 46 18 251 17 88 62 17 56 58 33 357 68 219 425 84 6 73 78 620 302 126 33

30

Expanded Kill 66 48 495 125 747 238 217 226 256 133 195 125 444 369 594 136 62 53 21 290 20 102 72 20 65 67 38 412 78 253 490 97 7 84 90 715 349 145 38

Percent 0.43% 0.32% 3.23% 0.81% 4.87% 1.55% 1.41% 1.47% 1.67% 0.87% 1.27% 0.81% 2.90% 2.41% 3.87% 0.89% 0.41% 0.35% 0.14% 1.89% 0.13% 0.66% 0.47% 0.13% 0.42% 0.44% 0.25% 2.69% 0.51% 1.65% 3.20% 0.63% 0.05% 0.55% 0.59% 4.66% 2.27% 0.95% 0.25%

County Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood Total

Reported Kill 69 299 76 239 148 5 47 623 127 80 330 48 321 81 109 99 162 437 225 191 273 52 20 450 186 357 464 226 75 396 164

Expanded Kill 80 345 88 276 171 6 54 719 147 92 381 55 370 93 126 114 187 504 260 220 315 60 23 519 215 412 535 261 87 457 189

13,295

15,342

31

Percent 0.52% 2.25% 0.57% 1.80% 1.11% 0.04% 0.35% 4.69% 0.96% 0.60% 2.48% 0.36% 2.41% 0.61% 0.82% 0.74% 1.22% 3.29% 1.69% 1.44% 2.05% 0.39% 0.15% 3.38% 1.40% 2.69% 3.49% 1.70% 0.56% 2.98% 1.23%

Table 23. Early September season bag derived from mandatory reporting data. Bag 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 33 36

Number of Hunters 56,787 1,113 781 526 370 381 143 112 79 64 76 31 25 12 10 13 10 5 5 1 6 2 3 2 3 2 1 1 1 2

Percent 93.76% 1.84% 1.29% 0.87% 0.61% 0.63% 0.24% 0.18% 0.13% 0.11% 0.13% 0.05% 0.04% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

32

Table 24. Percent of successful bags containing 1 or 2 geese.

Zone Collins

Horicon

Period 1 2 3 All Periods 1 2 All Periods

Percent of 1 Kill Bags 69.8% 78.0% 85.7% 76.0% 52.2% 55.8% 53.3%

Percent of 2 Kill Bags 30.2% 22.0% 14.3% 24.0% 47.8% 44.2% 46.7%

Figure 1. Canada goose management zones and subzones

33

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provides equal opportunity in its employment, programs, services, and functions under an Affirmative Action Plan. If you have any questions, please write to Equal Opportunity Office, Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

This publication can be made available in alternative formats (large print, Braille, audio tape, etc) upon request. Please call (608)266-8204 for more information.

WM-432

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