Status of Mid-Continent White-fronted Geese

White-fronted Geese (aka Speckled bellies, bar bellies, or specks) are some of the most fun species of waterfowl to hunt in the United States. Being highly responsive to hand calls, these birds often provide quite the decoying show. Unlike snow geese which tend to winter in large groups exclusively, white-fronted geese tend to prefer to remain in smaller family groups as the season progresses. Because of this, they are extremely hard to count during the winter survey. Biologist instead focus on fall surveys in Alberta and Saskatchewan to perform counts before the birds break up and head south.

Below is a chart outlining the results of this survey. Regulatory agencies in the U.S. us the three year running average to determine bag limits on white-fronted geese. If the 3 year average is 800,000 or more birds, a liberal bag is available for that year.

TSS Pellet Count Per Ounce

This table compares the pellet counts per ounce of 11g/cc Lead, 12g/cc Hevishot, 15g/cc Heavyweight, and 18g/cc Tungsten Supershot (TSS).

Steel, Lead, Hevishot - Shotshell Pellet Count Table

These charts show the comparison of pellet counts between lead, steel and Rem HD (aka hevishot). Shotshells, pellet count. Hevishot, Steel, Lead.

For more ballistic info, check out this page.

2016 USFWS Waterfowl Population Status Report Released

The 2016 USFWS Waterfowl Population Status Report was released this year on August 10th. This is around 3 weeks later than it has been released in previous years. The full report can be found here: Link to Report

A brief summary of the findings includes 48.4 million breeding pairs of ducks, down from 49.5 million estimated last year. Pond estimated were 5 million which is 21% below last years estimate of 6.3 million. Conditions in most areas were poorer than last year, but still should provide a good flight south this winter.

Status of Light Geese
The 2016 snow goose hatch was estimated to be average for the Mid Continental Populations with colonies on SouthHampton Island doing particularly well. The total midwinter index last year was reported to be 3.4 million snow geese. This is a 5% increase over 2015. Ross Geese in the Queen Maud Gulf Region nested 3 days earlier than normal and it's expected the fall flight will be average to above average.

Mid-Continent White-fronted Geese
977,000 White-fronted geese were counted last year during the fall staging survey. Conditions were average to above average for nesting white-fronted geese and with the staging count over 800,000 average should allow for liberal bag limits to continue.