Vermont’s snow goose hunting season starts March 11

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s spring snow goose hunting season starts next month.

The season runs from March 11 through April 23 statewide.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed the reduction of the population of migrating greater and lesser snow geese as well as Ross’ geese each year since 2009 by issuing a conservation order, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department said. The population of these geese has increased to the point that they are destroying habitat, the department said.

“The breeding population of greater snow geese has grown from approximately 50,000 birds in the mid-1960s to 714,000 birds today,” David Sausville, Vermont’s wildlife management program manager and waterfowl project leader, said in a release. “This increase has resulted in damage to agricultural crops and marsh vegetation in staging and wintering areas from Quebec to North Carolina.”

Snow geese usually move through the Champlain Valley in late March and early April during the spring migration.

The daily bag limit for hunters is 15 snow geese. The fall waterfowl regulations will apply except that unplugged shotguns and electronic calls will be allowed and shooting hours will be extended until one half hour after sunset, the department said.