Mud flats of the river islands and the sandbar inlets were where sports found Canada geese during the olden times. All along the Mississippi River and its tributaries were located numerous islands and sandbars that were the feeding and wintering grounds for Canada geese for many years immemorial, and since pioneer days it was noted for the goose shooting it afforded.
In the olden days, there were comparatively few goose hunters, because goose hunting was no sport for the novice. Hunting ducks was considered child’s play compared to getting the Canadas within the range of the shotgun. The duck hunter might hide behind almost any kind of blind and scatter his decoys out over the water in almost any old fashion, not so with the goose hunter. He usually selected a long mud flat or sand bar and dug in. That is, dug a pit deep enough to hide himself and fellow hunters. A tarpaulin or some other covering was usually used to cover the opening of the pit. Goose decoys had to be placed out properly according to the way the wind was blowing, or the geese would not be enticed within range of the hunter’s gun.
Today, not one single pit will be dug on any sandbar or mud flat on the Mississippi River, as the hoped-for return of ten thousand Canada geese to Wapanocca and the Southland remains a dream, and Canada goose hunting, a very ancient and respected occupation in the olden times, is no more!
With the situations that exist today and which will continue into the future, the best historical information we have indicates that waterfowl populations can only be preserved by regulating the number of shooting days and bag limit. We should rejoice that this has been effective in the past and that the means is within reach of our hands and determination, and we should not close our eyes to it. Waterfowl live by three tenets: where can we get food, water, and rest with the least amount of pressure. They have lived by these three for thousands of years.
The weather patterns have shifted and so has the migration. It will be a difficult task to reduce the number of days and the limit as businesses and organizations will demand that their money-machine keep running, and waterfowlers will be reluctant to give up days spent in a blind. We better do so, for the waterfowl are giving us a warning and telling us that the changes are already here. The question is will we respond and resolve.