Canada goose hunters should find similar numbers of geese as last year during the September season, which opened Sept. 6.
The DNR estimated the Canada goose population at 244,000 this spring, similar to last year's estimate of 250,000. That doesn't include another 17,500 breeding Canada geese in the Twin Cities.
But officials expect goose production to be better this year. Hunters hope so. Last year, they harvested 229,000 geese, a 24 percent decline from 2012. One reason may be because fewer hunters went afield: an estimated 51,000 — the lowest in more than 20 years and a 13 percent decline from 2012.
The season runs through Sept. 22. Bag limits are 10 per day in the Intensive Harvest Zone and five per day in the remainder of the state. A $4 permit is required.
