Photo by Tom Migdalski.

Goose hunting in the Natural State is coming of age. There are plenty of opportunities for Ross, brant, snows, Canadas and white-fronted geese with somewhere between 300,000 and half a million birds expected this fall.

"Goose hunting is something that's only come on strong in Arkansas over the last 10 or 15 years," said Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Regional Supervisor Roger Milligan.

"There's not a lot of interest in goose hunting, but the opportunities are there with large numbers of birds, bag limits and areas to hunt. Years ago, the AGFC began gearing up for duck hunting in the greentree areas, and the goose hunting has more or less been a sidebar."

However, the word is out. In some areas of the state, thousands of geese descend within days to create intense shooting.

According to Luke Naylor, the AGFC's Waterfowl Program coordinator, goose numbers and hunting activity have remained stable over the last several years.

Here's a look at public lands where you'll see some of Arkansas' best goose hunting this fall.

DARDANELLE WMA
"The best place to hunt during the early residence Canada goose season is on the Arkansas River in the Clarksville area," wildlife biologist Virgil Gardner said.

Canadas start out in the area nesting heavily on the islands and then stay most of the summer, Gardner said. When opening day rolls around, the islands can offer up some spectacular hunting, but once the birds are pressured, they'll abandon those sections of the river where they've been shot at and settle in on the nearby farm ponds, pastures and other out-of-the-way spots.

A hunter has to be mobile if he wants to consistently harvest Canada geese. The birds have become skittish by now and can be up to 10 miles off the river in either direction during the daytime. Late-season Canadas have been exposed to all of the duck hunting and are very cautious.

There aren't many light geese in November, and most of the birds will stage for a few days and then move on to the delta and the rice and wheat fields. The locals are more interested in duck hunting, which leaves the snow goose hunting pretty much wide open.

Snow goose hunting requires plenty of scouting, a large spread of decoys, so it's a great deal of work to hunt them.

Dardanelle WMA is one of the river's open-water hunting spots that can pull in many birds. The lake is 50 miles long and covers 34,000 acres, all of which are open to goose hunting. Lake Dardanelle lies in Franklin, Logan, Johnson, Pope and Yell counties.

Floating or motoring is a real option, but the water can be rough. Launch out in at least a 16-footer with a 25-horsepower motor, at a minimum. White caps develop and several boats have capsized over the years.

For more information, contact the AGFC office at (877) 478-1043.

OZARK WMA
"The Arkansas River is a narrow corridor that funnels the geese down through the Arkansas River Valley," wildlife biologist Randal Boyington said. "Most of the good hunting is from Clarksville on down to the Lake Dardanelle and Russellville area. The birds are headed for Texas and Louisiana, and they'll be around until they're harassed, and then they're up and gone."

River hunting is a hit-and-miss proposition. Beginning early in the season, many Canadas are killed on the ponds and bottomlands along the river, but when sandbars and fields present themselves, early goose hunters do well to take notice. Snow geese show up after the Canadas have moved on and present some challenging open-water shooting. The river can get plenty of snow geese, depending on the weather, and they'll be in groups that can number in the thousands. Up and down the Arkansas River, blues and white-fronts show up on occasion, but there aren't a dependable number of them. After being shot at a couple of times, the geese will move on.