S. ILLINOIS GOOSE SEASON TO END THURSDAY

Illinois Natural Resources officials say the Canada goose season in the quota zone of Alexander, Union, Williamson and Jackson counties will end Thursday at 3 p.m.

Hunters have bagged almost 10,000 geese during the season. Officials estimate that the quota of 13,100 geese will be reached by Thursday.

Hunters throughout the zone averaged killing about 100 geese a day through the 1998 portion of the season. That average soared over the past week, to 250 birds.

The season, which opened the day after Thanksgiving, will be 50 days long, the shortest in a number of years for the Southern Illinois quota zone.

During the January portion of the season, thousands of geese left the colder areas to the north. By Jan. 4, more than 200,000 geese were in the area.

An official count Monday revealed more than a quarter-million geese (259,850) in the Southern Illinois quota zone. That included 89,000 at Horseshoe Lake Refuge in Alexander County, 55,000 at the Crab Orchard Lake Refuge in Williamson and Jackson counties, and 54,000 at Union County Refuge.

Hunters have had fields days during the past week in the quota zone.

The final goose count of the 1998 portion of the season, conducted in late December, showed only 9,700 geese throughout the area.

More than two-thirds of the geese killed to date were bagged in the Williamson and Jackson county area, at 6,630. Hunting clubs in the Horseshoe Lake area reported a kill of 1,711 for the season, and 1,399 have been bagged in Union County.

Hunting was closed in the central quota zone of Illinois last week.

The seasons in both the central and southern zones would have remained open until Jan. 31 if the quota had not been reached. However, the quota of 11,800 in the central zone was reach Jan. 4.

Hunting club information is available in Southern Illinois by calling 1-800-248-4373.