The next piece of the strategy would be to monitor the weather conditions in the respective zone you want to hunt and find out if freeze-up has occurred at the specific location you'd like to hunt (i.e., at Hovey Lake FWA). In addition, you should find out if there's been enough snowfall to cover the food sources for the geese.

If freeze-up hasn't occurred, and there hasn't been enough snowfall to keep the geese from feeding, the probability for a successful hunt is good.

Moving from north to south, let's now take a look at several public-land properties where you may be able to bag some geese in the late season.

NORTH ZONE
Willow Slough FWA
After being recently renovated in 2004, Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area (FWA) is now back in business. This FWA is located in Newton County immediately adjacent to the Illinois border, and it is well known for its waterfowl hunting. The body of water that attracts waterfowl at Willows Slough is J.C. Murphey Lake, which is 1,200 acres in size.

This FWA is situated near many corn fields making it a prime spot for waterfowl, provided that J.C. Murphey Lake is not covered by hard water. The "Slough" generally operates about 35 blinds.

Willow Slough provides boats and oars for hunters to get to blinds, but you must bring your own life preservers. No outboard gas engines are allowed. Only electric trolling motors with a maximum rating of 24 volts are allowed. For more information about Willow Slough, you can call (219) 285-2704. Please call before you go for current conditions and draw information.

Kankakee FWA
Located along the Kankakee and Yellow rivers, the Kankakee FWA is good place to try for geese in the late season. The Kankakee FWA is located in Starke County and is 4,095 acres in size.

What makes Kankakee FWA a good bet for late-season geese hunting is the fact that the two aforementioned rivers are more resistant to freeze-up than an open body of water. Not insignificantly, there is also a large power-generating station located nearby. Kankakee also has places for those sportsmen interested in field hunting for geese.

With all of these positive attributes, hunting in the late season at Kankakee can be a good experience. For example, a few years ago, several thousand ducks became "ice locked," and sought open water at the power plant's cooling ponds. The ice-bound waterfowl would fly over to the Kankakee FWA from the power plant on their daily feeding runs, offering opportunities for waterfowl hunters.