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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Retired Educator" data-source="post: 125138" data-attributes="member: 3373">You mentioned one of the major issues with waterfowl hunting. Geese are staying in Canada later than they did in the past. I grew up in north central ND and when I was younger we always had snow geese in that part of the state the opening weekend of waterfowl season. Not the case now. Snow geese do come through the state much later than previous years. Good luck with convincing legislators to work on that one.You mentioned the Canadian farming practices have changed. So have the North Dakota farmers. At the height of snow goose hunting in this state there was very little, if any, canola, soybeans, and corn grown. Now geese do like corn but I rarely see them sitting on canola or soybean fields. You have already mentioned that corn is a late season crop so that food isn't available early in the season. What used to be miles and miles of wheat, durum, and barley (all favorites of snow geese) is now a completely different landscape for geese to feed. That issue adds to your mention of finding a field to hunt. There aren't as many field food sources and because farms have grown to be much bigger it's often more difficult to find the landowner or operator.Later seasons don't help most of the state because we are limited by frozen water. No open water, no waterfowl.Another possible reason for less hunters is that the pheasant population for many years was much higher than when we had lots of snow geese early in the season. Getting up later and go for a nice walk was much easier for many hunters. That and equipment is pretty high-priced to get started. It used to be pretty easy to throw enough decoys in the back of the pickup to have a decent shoot. Now it seems like you not only need a pickup, you also need a pretty good size trailer to haul all the equipment. All the rock piles have been buried so there are no hiding places in the fields, meaning you also need a layout blind. Equipment is a much bigger expense than it once was. Not saying you need it all to shoot geese, but someone will try convincing you that you do. It used to be you could buy adequate decoys for about $60/dozen, now you can spend $150 for 4. No hunting of any kind is without all the latest and most modern equipment available. Could it be most of the equipment bags more hunters than the hunters bagging more game?Sorry I don't have answers but do agree that I would love for waterfowl hunting to return to what it was 20-40 years ago. I might also add, it was way easier to shoot a limit of snow geese years ago. Shooting 5 per day seemed like a really good day. Now you need 20 to have a really good day. I have been on some good snow goose hunts the past few years and shooting a limit isn't easy. It's fun, but not easy.</blockquote>

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