WILD GOOS CHASE ON THE WING: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS GEARS UP FOR GOOSE SEASON

WARE, Ill. -- On a cold winter's day in January of 1991, more than 850,000 Canada Geese were counted in a four-county area of Southern Illinois.

"That was a peak count for that year," said Rich Whitten, waterfowl biologist for the Illinois Department of Conservation.

That count didn't include all the geese that crowd into farm ponds and other smaller ponds throughout the area. That could shove the count up to the million mark, said Whitten.

Four years later, in 1995, the peak count was much less -- probably under the 500,000 mark, due largely to warmer winters.

"More and more geese are staying upstate," said Whitten. "Geese don't need a lot of water, and if they can find an open waterhole somewhere, they'll stay there."

Waterfowlers can look for some big statistics in Southern Illinois this year, say conservation officials.

A major fall flight is on the wing.

Officially, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services is predicting a fall flight of about a million birds for the Mississippi Flyway, which includes many Midwest states, including Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The lion's share of the geese usually wind up in Southern Illinois.

"The flyway figure could be more this winter," said Whitten. "That prediction was made in June, based on waterfowl conditions in Canada nesting areas."

A late spring led wildlife officials to predict an "under average" production year.

Later, in mid-August to early September, however, water reports from the northlands improved to "average."

Reports from early waterfowl seasons in Canada have been excellent for both ducks and geese. Early resident Canada goose seasons in Ontario and many of the northern states of the Mississippi and Atlanta Flyways were also good in most areas.

The early goose seasons are scheduled for the Canada geese before the migrants from the Arctic and sub-Arctic arrive. The seasons were finished before the end of September.

"The flight index forecast was not changed," said Whitten. "But, it appears that we could have as many as 1.3 million geese in the flyway, which is about average.

The duck index for 1996 is the highest since calculations were started in 1970.

At 89.5 million ducks, prospects for a historic fall flight may be nearing reality. The duck populations have been down in recent years.

Based on spring and fall population surveys in Canada, hunters throughout the Mississippi Flyway once again will have liberal gooses seasons.

"The adult population of Canada geese expected in the Mississippi Flyway is about a million," Whitten said from his Union County Wildlife Refuge headquarters last week. "Add another 400,000 immature geese and that brings the total of geese for migration into the Mississippi Flyway to about 1.3 million.

That all translates into good news for the U.S. Wildlife Service, which establishes the waterfowl hunting season framework.

In the Southern Illinois Quota Zone -- Alexander, Union, Jackson and Williamson counties -- the season opened Saturday and will run through Jan. 31, or until a harvest quota of 36,600 geese is reached.

"We're fortunate to have an 85-day season, a quota of 36,600 birds and a limit of two Canada Geese per day per hunter," said Whitten. "Those are some good figures.

Geese are already arriving in Southern Illinois, and with weather forecasts calling for cooler temperatures ahead, more geese may be arriving daily.

As many as 12,000 to 14,000 geese have been counted in the Southern Illinois area the past weeks.

"I observed one flight of about 500 birds last weekend," said Whitten."

An aerial census conducted over the area Monday revealed about 15,000 Canada geese."

"We went from 5,000 to about 15,000 geese during the past week,' said Whitten. "And we went from `slim-to-none" to more than 40,000 ducks."

"We'll be conducting counts every week now," said Whitten. Waterfowlers can obtain goose county information by dialing the "Goose Hotline," (618)-833-8711.

During the latest count, more than a third of the Canada geese observed -- over 5,200 -- were in the Horseshoe Lake Wildlife Refuge Area in Alexander County, said Whitten.

The only other notable concentrations were in the Crab Orchard Lake and Union County Refuge areas. About 4,000 geese were spotted in the Crab Orchard area, and more than 2,300 were counted in Union County.

Although the season started Saturday, some hunting clubs may wait a while.

"Some clubs have early reservations and will open for a few days, then close until late in November, or early in December," said Whitten.

It's still fishing weather at Horseshoe, said one club operator. Another, Jerry Clutts, said, "We've been making preparations, but we'll wait until after Thanksgiving to open."

That's the feeling of a number of club operators.

"We expected the season to be slow in Union and Alexander counties early on," said Whitten. "But with a three-month season, and a quota of more than 36,000, hunters will have an opportunity to kill geese throughout the season.

Last year's goose hunting season did not reach expectations in the quota zone, despite a pre-season forecast of plenty of geese.

About a half-million geese did show up in Southern Illinois last year, but the weather never really cooperated for good hunting conditions and less than 26,000 geese were harvested in the four-county area during the season, far below the quota of more than 60,000, and far less than the 36,000 killed during the 1994 season.

"The 1995 kill was still near the 20-year average for the area," said Whitten.

The 20-year harvest average is 27,000.

Horseshoe Lake, in Alexander County, has long been acclaimed as the "Goose Hunting Capital of the World." Some 60 hunting clubs in Alexander County and neighboring Union, Jackson and Williamson counties provide hunters with goose-hunting facilities that range from primitive (a bench) to plush (heated pits with telephones and guides).

Goose hunting is big business in Southern Illinois.

A day in the pit can cost 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.

The big honkers are worth their weight in gold say goose economists.

Every goose you see flying in the quota zone is worth $10 to the economy, said the director of the Williamson County Tourism Bureau, which keeps tabs on the economics of goose hunting in the four-county area.

A survey shows that goose hunters bring more money into an area than any other type of hunter. The Williamson County Tourism Bureau survey utilizes a hunter-day system. During a recent year, the survey found that more than 80,800 hunters sought out the Canada geese.

And, more than 75 percent of the hunters are "visitor" hunters. This tabulates into almost 9.4 million annually. Add in the expenses of the 25 percent of local hunters and the total exceeds $10 million in the four counties.