DuckSouth.com

Can sombody let me know answers to the following questions...

1. Are electronic calls legal for calling snow geese in Mississippi ???

2. Is there an extended season for snow geese in Mississippi after the normal season goes out on Jan. 25th ???

Sorry for the basic questions, but I can not seem to find the answers on the MS Dept. of Game and Fish website....seems like I saw a press release about it earlier this year but can not find it now...if you know of a linka nd can post it that would be great as well..


Thanks,

JO

1. Electronic callers are not legal when regular duck/goose season is in effect.

2. To be safe, you should call the game and fish. Just look in the blue pages of the Jackson phone book, there are several listings for the various departments. But to answer your question to the best of my knowledge, the "conservation order" on light geese will start the day after the end of the regular season. It will not however, overlap with any youth waterfowl hunts. I don't know offhand what that date is, but in the past couple of years it's been after regular duck season.

3. You will need to call the game and fish and request a free permit to shoot geese during the conservation order.

Good luck, and I hope all this helps out.

Like Wildfowler said, not while regular duck season is open. Last year, after the regular season was over at the end of January, everything that normally was considered"illegal" was made legal when in pursuit of snow geese. The only thing you couldn't, and still can't do, is shoot lead shot. Last year you could:

1. Use electronic calls.
2. Take the plug out of your gun.
3. Hunt up until mid-March (I think that's right.)
4. I don't even know if there was a limit, & if so, it was like 30 or so.

These geese have gotten so large in number - well, everybody probably knows the reports.

Hope this helps, & if you find out the rules for this season please post 'em.
Thanks.

no limit for the conservation season.. Or so that is what I'v been told...

Looks like it is the same as last year....

http://www.mdwfp.com/news/shownews.asp?ID=202



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 27, 2003

Conservation Order Permits Extra Goose Hunting

JACKSON - Under a conservation order from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi hunters may hunt light geese from Oct. 1 through Nov. 20, from Jan. 26-30, and from Feb. 2 through Mar. 10 according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

Many parts of the United States and Canada are burdened by too many light geese which include snow, blue, and Ross' geese.

Annual winter population counts of light geese estimate that the population has more than tripled in the past 30 years, biologists say.

The Service says the fragile Canadian arctic, with its short growing season, cannot support populations of that size. Surveys have shown that large areas around Hudson's Bay have been denuded of all vegetation by geese through overgrazing. This condition may be contributing to the decline of breeding populations of other migratory bird species that share these breeding grounds.

The new rules provide a better opportunity for states like Mississippi to increase their light goose harvests and to help alleviate the over-population of these birds.

According to the Service, these extraordinary measures are needed to halt the widening destruction of fragile arctic migratory bird breeding habitat caused by the exploding populations of light geese.

Hunting under the special conservation order permits:

* The use of electronic calling devices.

* The use of unplugged shotguns. The three-shot capacity doesn't apply during this

special hunting time.

* Hunting until one-half hour after sunset. Shooting begins a half-hour before sunrise as in the regular waterfowl hunting season.

* No bag or possession limits during the period of the conservation order.

* Shooters to hunt without state or federal waterfowl hunting stamps.

* The mandatory use of steel shot or other non-toxic shot.

By federal regulation, the conservation order to take light geese cannot be implemented unless all other waterfowl seasons have closed.

In addition, the conservation order will be closed on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 during the time of the statewide Youth Waterfowl Hunt.

The order will be back in force beginning Feb. 2 through Mar. 10.

Hunters taking geese under the conservation order must call 1-800-670-9613 to register their name and address and receive a free permit number before going goose hunting.



-30-

Pascagoula River Museum Exhibit




1505 Eastover Drive
Jackson, MS 39211-6374


Phone: 601-432-2400