Photo by Neal & MJ Mishler

Hunting geese in the late part of the waterfowl season has its own nuances. To begin with, the season dates for the respective waterfowl-hunting zones will be expiring before you know it, and hunters will have to adjust their hunting plans accordingly. Additionally, freeze-ups or large amounts of snowfall may occur. If either one of these weather-related events happens, the geese will keep on moving south until they find open water again.

Adam Phelps is the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) waterfowl research biologist. He said that freeze-ups are probably not the main reason that geese are forced to keep moving south on their migration. Phelps notes that overall patterning geese can be pretty tough.

"Geese are problematic," Phelps said of determining migration patterns. "They will only fly as far (south) as they have to. If geese can't get to their food source like waste grain because it has been covered by snow, it's more likely that this is the reason why they will continue to migrate."

Phelps notes that even when freeze-up occurs on lakes, there is likely open water somewhere near the geese's location. Cooling ponds used by power plants are a good example of this. "If there's been over 6 inches of snow, and the geese can't get to their food source, it forces them to continue heading south."

Last season, hunters downed approximately 48,000 geese in Indiana. Phelps notes that 25 to 50 percent of this total was shot in the so-called nuisance goose season, which occurred back in the first two weeks of September.

Not surprisingly, as the seasons progress, the hunting generally will get tougher. This is due to colder weather and large amounts of snowfall and season closing dates. However, there are places and strategies available for die-hard geese hunters who wish to brave the weather and keep on hunting.

To manage waterfowl hunting, the DFW divides the state into four zones. They are (from north to south): the North Zone, Southern James Bay Population Zone (SJBP), South Zone, and the Ohio River Zone. The SJBP Zone applies to goose hunting only; and of all the zones, it has the shortest overall season and encompasses the smallest geographical area.

Each one of the aforementioned waterfowl-hunting zones corresponds to a respective geographical area within the state. Each has its own specific dates for hunting. These dates progress chronologically through the zones from north to south to match the migration.

As its name implies, the North Zone is located in the north part of the state. The North Zone takes up about one-third of the state, and extends from Lake Michigan or Indiana's border with Michigan southward. From north to south, the North Zone is about 60 miles long. The North Zone's southern boundary runs along a line east to west that follows U.S. Route 24.