Canada Goose Population and Harvest Characteristics at the Grand River MarshWildlife Area, 1977-1981

摘要

Grand River Marsh Wildlife Area (GRMWA) is one of the major state-owned goosemanagement areas (6,958 acres) for the Mississippi Valley Population of Canada geese in Wisconsin. In the mid-1970s, high popularity of the area for goose hunting resulted in hunter crowding and excessive crippling losses. Goose harvest statistics were collected at GRMWA from 1977-81 to understand the forces influencing overcrowding and crippling for future management purposes. In this study of goose harvests the authors evaluated: (1) hunting pressure throughout the season, (2) hunter success rates, (3) harvest estimates with various daily bag limits and tags issued, and (4) crippling losses due to shooting. Data was collected by interviewing hunters in GRMWA parking lots and making observations. The number of waterfowl hunters using GRMWA was heavily influenced by the abundance of geese. An average of 85% of the waterfowl hunters possessed goose tags and indicated they were actively hunting geese. The number of hunting trips made to GRMWA was directly influenced by the annual bag limit, decreasing by 60% when the bag limit was reduced from 4 to 1.