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.