Connecticut ups effort to cull Canada geese

Memo to nonmigratory Canada geese: Connecticut has you in its crosshairs.

Connecticut”™s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced recently the dates for the 2014-15 migratory bird hunting seasons, which include increasing the season to hunt Canada geese from 10 days last year to 70 this year.

The geese that face the reaper are those that do not migrate; hunting remains off limits when the migratory geese are in the skies.

Hunters can harvest resident Canada geese during the special late season east of the Quinnipiac River from Jan. 26 to Feb. 14. The fall hunt has been extended in each DEEP region for the geese.

DEEP also issued seasons for hunting ducks, geese, woodcock, snipe and rails.

Hunters will still be allowed five sea ducks Sept. 22 to Jan. 20.

DEEP said, however, “Due to continued concern over the status of sea duck populations and increasing hunting pressure, the total sea duck bag limit remains at five. Sea duck hunters should be prepared that reductions in season lengths are on the horizon in the next couple of years. This may also be accompanied by changes in the bag limit.”

The Canada geese population has two components: those who pass through and those who stay all winter. The resident geese began that behavior in the 1950s, DEEP said. They wreak havoc on lawns, in parks and on golf courses and can be testily territorial. The geese hunts are timed to cull only resident geese.

Specific details on season dates, bag limits, regulations, and other reminders are published in the “2014-2015 Migratory Bird Hunting Guide,” which is available at www.ct.gov/deep/hunting. The print version will be available from DEEP and town clerk offices by early September. All waterfowl hunters are required to obtain an annual Harvest Information Program permit in addition to obtaining a hunting license. Waterfowl hunters 16 years of age or older also are required to purchase a federal Duck Stamp and a Connecticut Duck Stamp.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies estimates nationally that hunting generates $25 billion in retail sales, $17 billion in salaries and wages and employs 575,000.