METHODS FOR DETERMINING CUMULATIVE GOOSE KILL ON SPECIAL AREAS 
By 
William E. Green and Harvey K. Nelson 
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 
and 
Charles W. Lemke 
Wisconsin Conservation Department 
The experimental work in Wisconsin described here may help others to 
measure more accurately than before goose kills in the vicinity of major 
concentration areas. 
During the past 15 years considerable attention has been focused on 
management problems associated with the Mississippi Valley population of 
Canada geese. As indicated by Hanson and Smith (1951), the general breeding, 
migration, and wintering range is well identified. Because this flock of 
geese is closely associated with national wildlife refuges and State manage- 
ment areas in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the 
majority of this population winters in southern Illinois and immediate 
vicinity, it has been possible to determine quite accurately the annual size 
of this total population. (See figure 1) 
Excessive kills in southern Illinois during the midforties resulted in 
special attention to regulations to control the harvest of geese from this 
population (Davis, 1954). Subsequent work by Hanson provided more detailed 
information on the sex and age composition of the population remaining at 
the close of the annual hunting season, productive potential, and factors 
effecting annual breeding success. This has provided a basis for deter- 
mining the maximum size of annual harvest in order to maintain an increas- 
ing population. 
As this population recovered from the low level of 1945, increased 
numbers of birds began using other migration areas in the northern tier of 
states (Smith and Davis, 1958). Hunting pressure likewise increased in 
the vicinity of major concentration areas. 
While concern was expressed over the high annual kill in southern 
Illinois, serious attention was not given to the overall problem until a 
harvest of about 11,000 geese occurred in Wisconsin in 1957. This resulted 
in specific attention being given to determination of total kill occurring 
in the vicinity of all major concentration areas. The subsequent decline 
in population levels in 1958-59 led to enactment of more restrictive harvest 
regulations in Wisconsin and Illinois which required more intensive kill 
surveys to reveal weekly, and in some cases, daily cumulative kill records 
for the areas concerned. (Nelson, 1961) 
Charles W. Lemke is currently with the Wisconsin State Board of Health, 
Madison, Wisconsin. 
