Greater snow goose

Greater snow goose - Why spring hunting must continue

There are many reasons – at this actual moment – to continue Spring hunting of the greater snow goose. After serious research, animal life specialists all agree. Outlines are economic reasons (agricultural losses, hunting profits) as well as environmental ones (population’s control and breeding areas protection).

Historical account

We must go back to the 90’s to understand the stakes for bird control, when the Service canadien de la faune was permitting some farmers from Cap Saint-Ignace to scare away the birds. The goal was to move away the snow geese from the fields to reduces damages to some crops such as lucerne and spring seeds.

The population of the greater snow goose is continously growing. It is doubling every other 8 years, making damages do the same.

Here are the damages caused by the yearly visits of the greater snow goose.
 

In 1996, the agricultural production union (APU) says it is a state of alert and even recommands a spring hunt. Proof is that the scaring away of the birds by the farmers does not work as expected.

Québec hunters with their associations ask to help knowing about the development problem in the arctic (overpopulation of the snow goose in west and extermination of the habitat).

The Service canadien de la faune knows about the growing population of the greater snow geese and the problem for Québec. Complaints from the farmers are multiplying and there are astronomical amounts of money losses. It is decided to consult to request the re-opening of the international convention between Canada, the United States and Mexico to allow a first spring hunt of the greater snow goose.

Here is the population’s evolution for the greater snow goose since 1993, on St-Laurence River.
 

Lesser snow goose

We cannot speak about the greater snow goose with talking about the lesser snow goose.

This species counts the greater population of snow goose in Canada, between 4.5 and 5 millions of birds, following the Canada goose counts.

The amall snow goose population if 5 times the population of the great snow goose and this is the reason of the problem. There are damages to the nordic habitat and, unfortunately, it will take hundreds of years to eliminate them because of this over-population.

Almost all the migration is through west Canada flyways. (see graphics on this page)

But you also can see it among the greater snow geese flocks in many Québec regions. Their presence has been confirmed in Abitibi, Lake Champlain and St-Laurence River (Cap Tourmente region). We even see long-flight birds in the Atlantic provinces.

There are many migrations flyways because the small snow goose is everywhere in Canada. Some populations go as far as south of the Baffin region and they are hunted by Chissasibi residents on Pointe Louis XIV, in James Bay and Hudson Bay. At the time of migration, with north-west prevailing winds, some snow geese varieties are even found in the quebec province. If they are north-east winds, many birds will pass and nest in south-west Québec.

Just as the greater snow goose, the lesser snow goose has 2 different aspects: it could be white (completely, except for the end of its wings) or it could be a bluish color with its head white.

Going with latitude, laying eggs starts from end of May to mid-June. Sometimes, because of the snow, it won’t happen after June 20.

Considering these facts, scientists had to decide for opening hunting periods for the greater snow goose.

In the past, some decisions were made from the Service canadien de la faune to protect the Richardson Canada Goose, those nesting on Caniapiscau River with not more than 22,000 pairs of breeders.

Who does not remember the outcry and protest from the hunters at that time? Since, the situation changed since the breeders are up to 146,000 pairs. Results of the decision was to increase the number of birds and re-establish a stopover tradition in many regions. As an exempla, in St-Jean d’Iberville, stopover birds increased from 400%, last five years.

Without a doubt, the scientists made a good decision for the birds as well as for the hunters. We need this king of leaders to take the required decisions when, in a specific region, the species needs protection, even if some hunters are not happy.

A necessary decision

This visionary approach – to ensure healthy species development – is imperative also for the greater snow geese.

Because of damages caused by a well too high number of lesser snow geese in their habitat, scientists want to establish some kind of population control on a preventive basis, even though its habitat is in better shape than the habitat of the lesser snow geese. Better be safe than sorry!

Chart 1 (Greater snow geese since 1993), clearly indicates that the adult’ count is stable even with Spring and Fall hunting. This form of control than controls farming damages and stabilises the population protecting this way their nordic habitat.

Unlike for deers, it is hard to control the population during migration periods. Birds are flying from a region to another depending of the hunters and of feeding possibilities. The snow geese have an erratic behavior which is making hunting even more complicated. To control the deer population, there only has to be more hunters. This is the efficient way for forecasted limits. Natural factors also control the population: difficult winter, natural predators and unfortunately, poaching.

Last year, juveniles count was established at 27% meaning between 180,000 and 270,000 birds. Even with a 10% error margin, next Fall, there should be 100,000 birds hunted to maintain the population level.

Depending of the hunting success in the United States, we must think that the number of snow geese will increase. American hunters prefer the Canada Goose hunting instead of the snow goose hunting which they totally ignore.

They could change their minds when they see the negative impact of the snow geese on the Canada geese population. When they arrive in the migration sites, the snow geese simply drive out the Canada geese changing that way the whole portrait.

Two techniques

Hunters have two conflicting techniques to hunt the snow geese making the situation even more difficult to understand.

There is the hunting with decoys and the deerstalking hunt. The snow geese often move away when a deerstalking hunt is used because the hunters fire between many geese at a time. In a migration period, the snow geese find other stopovers which could be far from where the decoy hunters are waiting. When there are wide spaces, the deerstalking hunt is harmful for the decoy hunting.

At Spring 2001, scientists followed a group of snow geese with radios and compiled results on the Internet. Snow geese have been followed from Victoriaville and after a stop at Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, the birds flew along the St-Laurence River up to Baie-du-Fèvre, a trip of 700 to 800 kilometers.

Unbelievable? We must remember that the snow geese, at the time of their Spring migration, arrive from Baie of Chesapeake (Maryland) and from even farther. The above mentioned trip could be only a “small tour” for the snow geese.

You surely understood here that we must think ahead before deciding for a deerstalking hunt for the snow geese because of the impact. This is a control element in the hands of the hunters.

Many techniques have been exposed in the Techniques Chasse et Pêche Magasine (#27 – July 2001) and they can be applied here.

These techniques are the ones with decoys, the decisive factors for the snow geese to come to the decoys, the sandbank hunting and the bushes hunting. Hunters who want to know more may as for a copy at: La Maison des Faits de pêche, C.P. 400, Saint-Pie (Québec) J0H 1V0, phone (450 656-6446 or 1-877-656-4449.

Guide trick

In Spring, there will be between 100,000 and 150,000 juveniles (depending of the death rate registered in Carolines). Juveniles and adults are in the same long-flight but juveniles reacts well to the decoys (flying geese sold by Jack-Kites). You only have to install 8 to 10 of these kites among a few hundreds of decoys (up to 800) for an unforgettable hunting success, as you can see in this photo.

Have a good hunting season!

Philippe Dupuis
(450) 658-9062