There are countless sources from the printed word to social media to DVDs and television programs with tips dealing with every aspect of how to have a successful resident Canada goose season.
Finding a place to hunt these flocks is often as simple as knowing someone who has paid a veterinarian bill for a pet that became seriously ill after being exposed to the droppings of these big birds.
Other good sources are those who have had a pond fouled by the honkers or have had what was once a soybean crop turned into a barren field.
No matter how many hunting locations one has or how large the size of the flocks, often the best advice for a successful season are two words: “Don’t miss.”
Canada geese — much like whitetail deer — quickly change their routine when the shooting begins opening morning, so the amount of sausage put in the freezer often depends on making good with that initial three-shot load from those SP-10s.
Resident Canada goose season is part of the early migratory bird season that gets under way Wednesday, Sept. 1. Geese may be hunted through Friday, Sept. 25, but the first of three dove seasons, which also opens Sept. 1, is open through Saturday, Oct. 10.
Dove season reopens Saturday, Oct. 17, the first day of the statewide openers for squirrels and ruffed grouse. It runs through Saturday, Nov. 28, the closing day for squirrels, grouse, rabbits, pheasants and quail. A final dove season runs from Saturday, Dec. 26, through Friday, Jan. 1.
Hunting hours are from noon until sunset from Sept. 1-25. Beginning Sept. 26, hunting hours during open dove seasons run from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Each dove segment has a daily bag limit of 15 and a possession limit of 45.
Resident Canada goose season retains the recent daily bag limit of eight and a possession limit of 24. Shooting hours during the September goose season are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
When the season overlaps with youth waterfowl hunting days, the shooting hours end at sunset. The first youth waterfowl hunting day is Saturday, Sept. 19, and will be held statewide. The second varies by duck-hunting zone.
Youth waterfowl days are open to licensed junior hunters ages 12-15 accompanied by an adult, who may assist the youth in calling, duck identification and other aspects of the hunt. During those hunts, youth can take ducks, geese, mergansers, coots and gallinules. Licensed adults can take Canada geese Sept. 19 and on the second youth day if there is a general Canada goose season open in the area being hunted.
There are special regulations — including smaller bag limits and possession limits — in a few specific areas of the state. Again this year the controlled hunting areas at the Pennsylvania Game Commission Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Lebanon and Lancaster counties, as well as all of State Game Lands 46, will remain closed to September goose hunting to address the decline in the resident Canada goose flock.
PGC waterfowl biologist Kevin Jacobs said the liberal Canada goose opportunities, including the control programs used by many municipalities and public and private landowners, have stabilized the state’s resident Canada goose population at nearly 250,000 total spring Canada geese in recent years. This is down nearly 90,000 Canada geese from the peak numbers of nearly 340,000 estimated in 2004 and 2005.
“Statewide the Canada goose population remains significantly more than the management goal of 150,000,” Jacobs said. “Hunting remains the most effective and efficient way to manage resident Canada geese, provided hunters can gain access to geese in problem areas.”
And, if they make the most of their shots.