ANNAPOLIS (November 10, 2011) — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that Maryland’s Atlantic Population (AP) Canada goose hunting season will begin later this month. The first segment of the season is November 19-25, 2011 and the later segment runs from December 15, 2011 to January 28, 2012. The daily bag limit for the AP Canada goose season is two birds.
"The Atlantic Population is the largest Canada goose population in North America and more than half of these birds migrate to Maryland for the winter,” said DNR’s Waterfowl Project Leader Larry Hindman. “The number of breeding pairs of AP geese increased to 194,900 in the spring of 2011, compared to 154,000 last year. However, cold spring temperatures in key nesting areas resulted in below average reproduction. Nevertheless, hunters and non-hunters alike can look forward to seeing large numbers of Canada geese returning to Maryland this fall.”
Information on waterfowl hunting and a detailed map of the Canada goose hunting zones is available at http://dnr.maryland.gov/huntersguide/lwfchart.asp. The 2011-2012 Maryland Migratory Game Bird Hunting Seasons flyer is also available online and at most licensing agents.