Good Times for Whitefronts

By Matt Young, Senior Writer
White-fronted goose populations are flying high, and waterfowlers are reaping the benefits

When Ducks Unlimited magazine Editor-in-Chief Tom Fulgham and I had the rare opportunity to take a waterfowling trip anywhere in Canada a few years back, we carefully considered several possible options, from hunting Canada geese in Alberta's Peace River country to canvasbacks on glacial lakes in Manitoba to black ducks on the salt marshes of Nova Scotia. Of all the great waterfowling destinations in Canada, however, we chose southwestern Saskatchewan for one reason: That's where we would find the greatest numbers of white-fronted geese.

Named for the white patch bordering the base of their bill, white-fronted geese are more commonly known to waterfowlers as whitefronts, or specklebellies, for the distinctive black markings on the breast of adult birds. Throughout their vast range, stretching from Alaska to Mexico, these handsome geese are highly prized by waterfowlers.

Unlike snow geese, which can be almost impossible to hunt using conventional tactics and equipment, whitefronts will readily respond to decoys and calling. They also rank among the premier game birds as table fare. Dining on a young, grain-fed specklebelly-grilled medium rare over hot coals or slow roasted in the oven- is one of waterfowling's greatest pleasures.

After several consecutive years of high white-fronted goose populations, waterfowl managers have recently liberalized harvest regulations for the birds. In 1999, the daily bag limit for whitefronts was increased from one to two throughout the United States. This resulted in a 57 percent increase in the whitefront harvest nationwide, from 185,500 birds in 1998 to 291,000 birds in 1999.

North America is home to two separate populations of white-fronted geese. The mid-continent population-presently numbering more than 1 million birds-breeds from the North Slope of Alaska across the western and central Canadian Arctic. Major nesting areas for this population include the Anderson River watershed, MacKenzie River Delta, and Victoria and King William islands.

The Pacific white-fronted goose population-numbering approximately 300,000 birds-nests in western Alaska, primarily on the vast Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The birds have made an impressive comeback since the late 1970s, when the population fell below 100,000 birds. Restrictive sport hunting regulations and voluntary efforts by native peoples to reduce subsistence harvests on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have helped the population make a strong recovery.

More than any other factor, breeding success among white-fronted goose populations is influenced by weather conditions on their Arctic breeding grounds. When pairs of white-fronted geese arrive on the tundra in late May and early June, they have just over three months to successfully nest, incubate their eggs, and raise their broods to flight stage. With such a short breeding period, a delayed snowmelt or the onset of late spring storms can have a devastating impact on reproductive success.

Conversely, white-fronted geese often have good gosling production in years when snowmelt is early and the weather is mild. In 2000, harsh spring weather resulted in reduced gosling numbers among mid-continent white-fronted geese, yet more than 1 million birds were surveyed this fall on their staging grounds in Canada, indicating that the population remains healthy.

Whitefronts begin leaving the Arctic in early September, shortly after juvenile geese have fledged. Remarkably efficient fliers for their size, they migrate nonstop from their breeding grounds to staging areas far to the south. In early autumn, nearly the entire mid-continent population gathers on the prairies of western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta, where the birds spend several weeks building fat reserves on a steady diet of waste grain.

The largest concentration of white-fronted geese in the world gathers along the South Saskatchewan River in early October. During the fall of 2000, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) pilot-biologists surveyed approximately 600,000 whitefronts along a five-mile stretch of the river near the community of Kyle, Saskatchewan.

Pacific white-fronted geese migrate even farther in the fall to reach their staging grounds than do their mid-continent counterparts. Departing from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, they fly nonstop for more than 2,000 miles across the Gulf of Alaska and down the Pacific Coast before making landfall in Washington and Oregon.

After pausing briefly to rest and refuel, the geese follow an interior route through the mountains to their primary staging grounds in the Klamath Basin on the Oregon-California border. By late October, nearly the entire Pacific population of white-fronted geese gathers on the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge complex, located amid this high mountain valley.

Intolerant of bitter cold weather, white-fronted geese quickly abandon staging areas when the first ice and snow cover the landscape. Much to the dismay of waterfowlers on the Great Plains, most mid-continent whitefronts pass through northern and central states in a matter of days, providing only limited hunting opportunities along their migration routes.

Flocks begin arriving on wintering areas in Louisiana and Texas as early as late September and continue to build throughout October and into November. Pacific white-fronted geese migrate south from the Klamath Basin in November to their primary wintering grounds in the Central Valley of California.