Photo by P.J. Reilly

If you haven’t noticed that these are the “good old days” for New York goose hunters, then you aren’t paying attention.

First, we have all those resident Canadas, which have discovered the easy living to be had on town and country waterways. But the most exciting development is that goose numbers are up across the board.

In the Atlantic Flyway, for example, the so-called northern population of Canada geese has increased more than sixfold from its low point in 1995, when breeding ground surveys revealed only 29,000 pairs. By 2003, biologists counted 175,000 pairs on nests -- a recovery greatly aided by hunting restrictions.

And a decade ago, who would have guessed that hunters would ever see a white cloud of snow geese lifting from an upstate cornfield?

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
Dr. Mark Petrie, a Ducks Unlimited waterfowl management specialist, recently summarized the resurgence of goose populations in North America.

“Today, there are nearly three times as many geese as there were just 30 years ago,” Dr. Petrie asserted. “During the 1960s, United States hunters harvested an average of 1 million geese a year. By 2003, the goose harvest was approaching 4 million, which is about the number of mallards that were shot in a typical season.”

The various waterfowl open seasons are winding down in the five migratory game bird zones of the state, but there’s still plenty of time for some of the best goose shooting of your life.

The complex pattern of open seasons and bag limits was not finalized at press time. But hunters who registered with the Hunter Information Program (HIP), which is required of waterfowl hunters, have received the details. To register, go online to Wetland.net, or call 1-866-426-3778.

While you’re readying your gear for a late-season hunt, here’s an overview of the public goose-hunting opportunities still available from Long Island to the shores of Lake Erie.

LONG ISLAND
“Later is better,” is the old-timer’s advice to Long Island waterfowlers. Exactly when this sage observation began making the rounds is lost in the mists of time. But the early market-hunters certainly knew that as January’s wintry blasts locked up inland lakes and streams, the shooting improved on coastal bays, inlets and backwaters.

The majority of Long Island’s goose and brant hunting focuses on the south shore’s many shallow bays, salt marshes and estuaries -- and of course, in the crop fields, which are more prevalent in eastern Long Island. There are various public goose-hunting opportunities on the island, but according to Lisa M. Masi, Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist stationed at Stony Brook, hunters will need to familiarize themselves with the regulations and restrictions necessary in an urban-suburban environment.

Two free New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) brochures -- Hunting on State Tidal Wetlands and Public Hunting Opportunities on Long Island -- are recommended for first time waterfowlers, Masi advised.

TIDAL WETLANDS
Free access permits, issued for three-year periods by the DEC’s Stony Brook License Office, are required to hunt the seven state-owned properties designated as tidal wetlands and managed by the Bureau of Marine Habitat Protection.