By Bill Hilts, Jr.

 Due to expanding numbers of local goose populations in the South Zone of the state, the new ten day goose season will continue during the same March 1-10 timeframe. Hunters will once again be allowed to harvest five birds per person per day. The South Zone starts in Niagara County and extends south in Western New York through Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties and further east along the Southern Tier. Check out the Department of Environmental Conservation's website at www.dec.ny.gov for the exact boundary location.

So how should you hunt them? Finger Lakes expert guide Jason Barnes of Frontenac Fowlers (315-889-7260) was quick to share a few tips for the late season.

"Scouting will be 90 percent of whether or not you'll be successful," says Barnes. "You'll need to know what the birds are doing and where they're going each day. Remember, these birds have been hunted all season long, especially if they are local birds, so they've been part of the action since last September."

Barnes believes simplicity is the key. "The simpler the better," he says. "A small number of quality-looking decoys may be a better situation than having an excessive number of imitation birds." The small groups may be the way to go, from the standpoint of what the real birds are doing. "Pay attention to what the birds are doing in the area you plan to hunt. See how many birds are in the individual flocks. Mimicking that can sometimes help paint a more realistic picture as you try to entice these birds into your decoys." Good camouflage will be a must, too.

By good camouflage, Barnes means a few different things. One, you'll need to match to the surroundings as best as you can. If you're using ground blinds, you'll need to use whatever vegetation is available for that specific area. If you have corn stalks in your lay out blind or ground blind from last fall and there's nothing like that around, you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Don't leave anything out around your blind that can give you away, either.

One thing that may aid your cause is using helpful tools like Wing Wavers to help these birds focus on movement - and away from where you're set up. "By using Wing Wavers, the movement will help to attract geese to where you're hiding out. It will also draw their attention away from you and that's a good thing."John Supple of Youngstown isn't a waterfowl guide, but he's definitely addicted to chasing any type of duck or goose that's in season. He took advantage of hunting some local birds in Niagara County last year, before heading south to the Southern Tier and hunts the legal zone to the south of key Finger Lakes that he hopes will be holding birds.

"Knowing where the birds are and where they want to be at different times of the day is the key to success for any waterfowl season," says Supple. "Much will depend on the weather for that time of year and how much open water is available. I might spend one or two days scouting before I even hunt a day. I play the wind and weather to my advantage. I'm not big on blinds, preferring to hunt the hedge rows - especially if there are deep ditches and good natural cover. That's all I need to be successful. The bonus for me is that this is a time of year when snow goose season is also open, with a limit of 15 birds per person. I've hunted these same areas this time of year before and I've notice a good number of geese around, too. This extends my hunting opportunity for waterfowl and last year was a lot of fun!"

Supple mentioned the wind as a key ingredient to success and he's right. Birds will enter a field before landing by flying into the wind, so if you can position yourself for either pass shooting or getting the birds to land in your decoys, it can be a rewarding hunt. "I'll just throw out a dozen or so decoys and use them as a starting point for the birds. Once the birds start landing in a field, they'll start to pile in. When that happens, we'll usually get plenty of shooting. And if it's windy, the muffled sound will often go unnoticed to the birds milling around in the field adjacent to us."

Randy Tyrrell and John Van Hoff, both avid waterfowlers from North Tonawanda, also took advantage of the new season and hope to hunt it again in 2009. "Much will depend on the conditions that present themselves," says Tyrrell, "and how much open water is around us. If places like the Erie Canal or the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge are open, that will be different than if they are frozen up. If everything is frozen, the Niagara River will be a huge draw for birds. The Niagara never freezes"

"If the birds are in the Niagara River roosting, we might try and hunt the water in the afternoon. At least, if that's what our scouting tells us," says Van Hoff. "That happened to us last year." Places like Strawberry Island, Motorboat Island and the blinds around Grand Island could all be decent spots to try if there's plenty of ice around. If not, it will probably spread the birds out a bit more. Again, scouting will be critical.

"When we hunt the water, we use floating goose decoys just like we would for duck hunting - leaving an opening for the birds to land in" says Van Hoff. "Later in the day is usually better for us, when birds are returning to the water after spending time in local fields feeding."

Another option for open water will be the area north of Niagara County in Lake Ontario. Scouting will be important no matter where you intend to hunt, attempting to figure out the travel pattern of the geese as they migrate inland and then back out to the water.

This is the second year of an experimental season to try and control local bird populations. However, should the weather turn mild and entice flight birds to start heading north, it could include a mix of flight birds into this South Zone area of concern. If that happens, look for plenty of action and a lot of happy faces.

Bill Hilts Jr., Niagara County's Sportfishing Promotion person and Outdoor Sports Specialist for Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. He's currently president of the Lake Ontario Sportfishing Council and past president of the New York State Outdoor Writers Association (NYSOWA). He's an active member of the Outdoors Writers Association of America, the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, the Professional Outdoor Media Association, NYSOWA and is a life member of the NRA. E-mail: Bhiltsjr69@cs.com