Michigan is Putting the Crosshairs on Canadian Geese

Michigan's hunting season for Canadian geese is not yielding enough waterfowl, so the state will take care of the problem by thinning out the flocks.

Michigan and Canadian Geese

If you live on a lake or near a body of water, you know there is no shortage of Canadian geese in Michigan.

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Michigan goose hunters harvest a little over 150,000 geese a year. That number may seem like a lot, but fewer people are hunting geese than ever. The season generally starts September 1 and has a few small breaks, and depending upon where you hunt in Michigan, the season will close sometime in December or January.

Geese have several young, unlike deer, which only have 1 or 2 newborn per year.  Hunters can't harvest the geese fast enough to control the population. Michiganders' boat docks, swim rafts, and personal beaches can get littered with goose feces. Not to mention their yards. Several Michigan parks get overrun with Canadian geese. The Canadian goose problem is so bad that the Michigan government is going to take aim at solving the problem.

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Michigan is Putting Crosshairs on Canadian Geese

According to WZZM, the Department of Natural Resources will reduce the number of Canadian geese this summer by using carbon dioxide euthanasia in specified areas.

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Other states have successfully controlled the number of geese with euthanasia, so the Michigan DNR wanted to give it a try. The number of geese will not be reduced enough to affect hunting. This is designed to get a better balance in goose numbers while reducing the amount of human and goose conflict. How many times have you been driving to work and geese have been crossing the streets in the city or neighborhoods?

With bird flu continuing to grow, relocating geese is a risk, so the next best alternative was to euthanize a limited number of birds.