With light goose numbers down, TPWD considers reducing bag limit

Published 4:00 pm Saturday, March 21, 2020

The end of a hunting era is probably coming in May when the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission votes on whether to reduce the light goose daily bag limit from 20 to 10 birds during the regular season. The vote was originally scheduled for Thursday. Ironically, it may be an era that should have never occurred to begin with.

It was back in the 1990s that North American waterfowl biologists worried snow, blue and Ross’ geese were eating themselves out of house and home in their summer nesting grounds in the Arctic tundra.

With a population at a record high, states were allowed to offer an in-season limit of up to 20 birds — the largest of any migratory game bird daily limit. With Congressional backing, the Light Goose Conservation Season was also approved in 1999 allowing hunters the chance to hunt the birds into March after they had begun their return migration from winter grounds. Liberalized late-season rules also legalized the use of electronic calls, no shotgun shell plugs and no daily bag limit.

All were contrary to any federal migratory bird regulation historically, but were seen as a last-ditch effort to reduce light goose numbers. At the time it was predicted the regulations would have the desired impact in 10 years.

Initially Texas Parks and Wildlife Department considered a 10-bird regular season limit, but went with 20 after a Gulf Coast commissioner pushed the thought that Texas hunters should have all the opportunity possible.

Headed toward the 2020-21 hunting season, a lot has changed when it comes to light geese and light geese hunting in Texas, but none of it has to do with the 1990s-era regulations.

“This is about a decline in light geese wintering in Texas, decline in goose hunters in Texas and obviously a huge decline in light goose harvest in Texas over the last two decades, and a continental decline of light geese the last 10 years,” explained Kevin Kraai, TPWD waterfowl program leader.

Kraai said the opportunity created by the 20-bird limit has resulted today in an unattainable goal simply because Texas is not wintering the birds it once did along the coast.

The all-time high wintering population along the Gulf Coast was 1.2 million in 1978. During the most recent mid-winter count, that number was just 243,000, and it was not an anomaly.

“Our Gulf Coast goose habitats are shrinking almost daily and the foods available to light geese are declining as well. Couple that with a landscape with near zero sanctuary or roost ponds, we begin to see why light geese find these areas less appealing,” Kraai said.

The biologist noted there is little the department can do to address urban sprawl and changing farm practices, but along with the limit reduction to spread the harvest out, it also plans a program using waterfowl stamp funds to provide roost sites, sanctuaries and spring water to keep private land sites moist in the winter for all waterfowl species.

At one point it looked like the birds might shift their wintering grounds elsewhere in the state including the Panhandle, but in recent years those numbers have remained flat at about 100,000. This means about 900,000 from the heyday 1970s are either going elsewhere or no longer exist.

“Using modernized population estimators, it is estimated that North America had just shy of 20 million light geese in 2007. Most recent estimates are down to approximately 11 million in 2017. It’s easy to see that is a total North American population reduction of close to half in just one decade,” Kraai said.

He added the decline is mostly due to low gosling survival and not from the liberalized limits.

“I find it interesting that few are acknowledging this drastic decline and continuing to believe that unrestricted harvest is still warranted,” he said.

The fact is that biologists have learned that long-term impact on the tundra is not as damaging as first thought.

“Concern has definitely waned and is being brought into question more and more about the extent of damage that light geese are having on tundra habitats. Damage has not expanded much beyond a small stretch of the Hudson Bay shoreline where most of the continents’ light geese stage before departing to the high Arctic where the vast majority of the birds breed. It also appears that we underestimated the vastness and carrying capacity of the Arctic as a whole,” Kraai said.

In 1999 the North American light goose harvest was a million during the regular season. Last year it was estimated at 360,000. In 2018 there were 1.6 million snows killed in the late season, 700,000 of which were in Arkansas alone.

“Currently we estimate that we have approximately 43,000 goose hunters in Texas, down from a high of 76,000 in 2001. Our highest light goose harvest estimate in Texas was 341,000 in 1999. The most recent harvest estimate for light geese was 43,000. Current Conservation Order participation was estimated at a little more than 1,000 people, down from a high of 27,000 participants in 1999,” Kraai said.

That brings up the current dilemma.

“The population is not growing like it once was in the 90s, and that recent population decline isn’t explained by liberalized hunting regulations, but more likely climate change. Harvest rates are very low and survival rates are very high once a bird is recruited into the flock. Can the overall snow goose population continue to handle extensive pressure like we’ve seen the last two decades? Possibly, but at what cost? They are becoming increasingly harder to hunt and rapidly changing their behaviors and distribution. Yes, there is still plenty of snow geese, they just aren’t in Texas. Texas has done their part and now we feel it’s time to take care of what is best for Texas hunters and begin to address the few things we can here in Texas,” Kraai said.

He added, “Texas really invented light goose hunting and we really want to maintain that tradition as best we can. We feel these proposed regulation changes along with the roost pond program are necessary to achieve those goals. I personally hate that the world has vilified the snow goose. Sometimes it has resulted in self-justifying heinous acts of wanton waist, extensive wounding loss, and the take of non-target species all the while claiming they are ‘doing their part to save the tundra.’ That rhetoric just simply is unacceptable to me anymore. The snow goose should be celebrated. Not much on planet Earth is as inspiring both visually or audibly as giant flocks of snow geese.”

Public comment may be given until May.