All About Lesser Snow Geese
Waterfowlers travel to Kaska Goose Lodge, where the flyway begins, to focus on hunting migrating lesser snow geese. There are three populations of lesser snow geese based on their breeding ranges (Wrangel Island, Western Arctic, and Mid-continent). Kaska’s hunters see the mid-continent snows, which nest from central and northwestern Alaska to the west coast of Hudson Bay and the Melville Peninsula, in Canada’s Arctic, north of Hudson Bay.
In 2020 the population of mid-continent lesser snow geese was estimated to be 9.9 million birds vs. a count of 11.5 million birds in 2019. Over the past 10 years the population of the mid-continent lesser snow geese has been stable, declining 4% between 2011 and 2020. The population is more than double the sustainable population objective of 5 million adult birds, under the revised 2018 North American Waterfowl Management Plan. As a result, the mid-continent population of Lesser snow geese is considered an overabundant species. For a quick view of the objectives and estimates for North American goose populations, click on this link: https://kaskagoose.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2018-NAWMP-Update.pdf
As an overabundant species, the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources has instituted Special Conservation Measures, which include special hunting seasons and generous bag limits for snow, blue and Ross’s geese. The following information is applicable to Manitoba Hunting Zone 1:
- Fall: August 15 – 31
- Spring: April 1 – June 15
- Daily limit: 50 white geese per hunter per day
- Possession Limit: No limit
For more information and facts about lesser snow geese, click on this link: https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/lesser-snow-goose.html
