[noodle creek]

Originally Posted by Lreynolds

I think 5-day splits for anything is not very useful for the hunting or for the ducks. We are using them in both the East and West Zone for ducks to balance competing demands with the weird calendar (the framework ends early, Jan. 25, but Thanksgiving is late, Nov. 27). I still don't like them, and I strongly disagree (and so does the harvest data) that early-season hunting days are bad in the East and West Zones.

But to geese ..........

Because the goose season is 74 days instead of 60 for duck season, moving the duck season in the Coastal Zone back a week complicated setting the goose season.

The choices were 1) open it a week before the duck season, 2) let it run for the first 7 days of the split, 3) run it until February 8, or 4) take 7 days off the season. Clearly option 4) is out, and I wasn't comfortable with option 1) because of putting guns in the hands of adults during the youth hunt (which has been an issue in the East Zone) and the added disturbance before the duck opener. But I had no feelings about 2) and 3).

The only complaints I've received about goose seasons since I've been heading the Waterfowl Section, and there haven't been very many, were that some specklebelly hunters HATE the split. I've been told the speck hunting gets good and then it closes for 2 weeks. That's it in 8 years; that is the only complaint about the season dates.

So I called the few dedicated goose hunters I know in SW LA, and they were nearly unanimous that the week in the split was better for white-front hunting than the week in February. Not much to go on, I know, but that was the reason for the decision.

I agree that most likely more Specks will be killed in the 7 days during the duck split than in 7 days in early Feb. To the average hunter, Specks are easier to kill during the first split. I am just glad we still have a 12 day split for the ducks.