early goose season for minnesota

[PerchJrkr]

Ohh, it must be because nobody hunts over there. LOL.

[mallardnwalleye]

What really gets me are these "field busters" who push geese out of the area by hunting primo food sources like sod farms, commercial vegetable fields and anything that is short grass or early harvested crops. They ruin all my water hunting on transition sloughs.

All this roost busting talk is silly here in MN. Most of the geese end up sitting in the middle of lakes and private sloughs. There is plenty of open water for them that is a refuge.

Canada and the Dakotas have a different tradition as they did not have the water they do now(past 15 years)in the past. Water was scarce and so were roosts. In MN there was and always has been plenty of water and refuge.

A reminder that tagged geese numbers don't correlate directly to production numbers as some of those geese are tagged during the molt on lakes. Where geese molt and where they reproduce are for the most part two different locations.

[booger]

So anybody have an idea what the early season goose bag limit will be?

[Gordie]

Not every patch of water is a roost.

As long as its legal to take birds from the water it will happen and Yes guys will bust the roost so to the guys that hunt the fields keep doing your home work and you will get on the birds oh and you can keep telling the guys that hunt water to do their home work to.

This season is to get rid of the local birds be it shooting them or driving them farther south.

Bag limit should be 5 canada geese but the rule wont be out for a couple of weeks yet.

[brittman]

This season is to get rid of the local birds be it shooting them or driving them farther south.

Bag limit should be 5 canada geese but the rule wont be out for a couple of weeks yet.

I suppose, but I prefer to phrase it another way. I guess some of the farmers want to get rid of them, but most of us want a sustainable population.

The early season allows hunters a largest harvest (kill a lot more birds) on local birds without impacting the arctic nesting birds which historically requires a more restrictive season length and bag limit.

These populations are distinct and have different management techniques. Old school says you have to manage to the "weakest" population. Early season allows you to kill local geese before the more vulnerable arctic migrators show up.

[Gordie]

Most of them fly into the cities and become domesticated birds for the winter then they are called the untouchables.

[outdoorsmanwilly]

Everyone just needs to remember that wether you are in your boat blind or layout blind we all think the same thing before the season and that's the birds. I know in the morning I'm always hoping someone else will keep the birds moving so I get more than one group wether im on the lake or in a corn field.