GEESE STAYING NORTH WITH GOOD WEATHER

WARE, Ill. -- It was just another spectacular day across much of the nation -- unseasonably mild, a few showers here and there, barely freezing temperatures in Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Memphis and Cape Girardeau.

This is not a forecast Canada goose hunters in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri want to hear.

A few snowflakes are expected following the weekend in portions of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana, but few changes are forecasts in temperature, which will reach into the 40s.

"This is not traditional weather for this area at this time of year," said Steve Fadden, manager of the Union County Wildlife Refuge near Ware. The geese are still in the upper Mississippi Valley in northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

"And they may stay there," said Fadden. "A big population of Canada geese is in the Chicago area."

The geese have the resources they need farther north, including food, said Fadden. "At this time, we just don't have the type of weather here to attract them."

The latest goose census in the Southern Illinois area revealed fewer than 12,000 geese in an area that normally attracts thousands of geese at this time of year.

"The goose count is way down," said Fadden

The count conducted Tuesday showed 3,200 geese in the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge area in Williamson and Jackson counties, 2,600 in the Horseshoe Lake Refuge area of Alexander County and about 2,100 at the Union County Refuge.

"Most hunting clubs have opened for the season by now," said Fadden, but many remained closed for the first week to 10 days of the season that opened Nov. 27.

Most Williamson County clubs opened from Day One, and that is reflected in the early kill. Through Dec. 13, hunters in Williamson County bagged 999 of the 1,128 geese killed in the four-county Alexander, Pulaski, Williamson and Jackson Quota Zone.

The seasons were cut because of winter conditions and less geese in the Canadian Northlands this year.

The Southern Illinois Quota Zone has only been allotted 13,100 geese, the fewest in recently memory, and the daily bag limit has been cut from two to one.

This has been affecting hunter participation, Fadden said, explaining that hunters won't travel the long distances for the prospects of harvesting one goose.

Club owners have reduced their hunting rates to reflect the one-goose limit.

"It's a real bargain basement for hunters," said Fadden, but goose hunters might be on a wild goose chase throughout much of the season.

Canada Goose numbers are expected to be down everywhere in the Mississippi Flyway this winter. Flights could be down as much as 40 percent, say officials of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Although northern Illinois goose hunters had a good year during the 1997-1998 season, Southern Illinois hunters suffered miserably, bagging 22,010 geese, about 80 percent of their quota.

Peak county statistics verify the low 1997 numbers.

The peak count for Southern Illinois came in January, said Kathy Thornburg, office assistant at Union County Wildlife Refuge near Ware.

That peak count was 176,550, a sizable number of geese until it is compared with peak counts of previous years: 431,900 in 1996 and 603,600 in 1994.

The Southern Illinois area has always been a mecca for Canada geese and hunters. During the mid-1980s to the late 1980s, peak counts of 850,000 to 1 million geese were not uncommon.

If the 1998-1999 count is down 40 percent from a year ago, that means about 100,000 geese could be the peak count this winter.

The 20-year average of the Southern Illinois goose season is 56,000 hunters and 27,000 geese harvested.

It could fall far short of that this year.

The season has been shortened -- Nov. 26 until Jan. 31 -- unless the quota is reached earlier. The harvest quota has been set at 13,100, less than half of the 26,400 quota of last year.

The daily bag limit will be one Canada goose, half of the daily limit a year ago, through Jan. 17. The bag limit will be two a day the final 14 days of the season.

Goose hunting has always been big business in Southern Illinois.

A day in the pits normally costs a hunter from $50 to $100 and up, plus guide costs. Hunters, however, spend more than that. According to various surveys, the average goose hunter spends $150 to $160 a day while in Southern Illinois.

Some posted prices this year have dipped to as low as $20, for a day's shooting.