Hunting Report Archives

Hunt Season Report 2006

The 2006-hunting season turned out to be the most challenging since the late 1990’s. We went from having almost all October cloudy and windy in 2005 to 80% of the days sunny and warm in 2006. Most of you reading this will have encountered this problem in your area during 2006 as well, as pretty much all of North America had unseasonably warm temps. Because of an extra warm summer the grain crops matured several weeks early, causing our farmers much grief and by the time the birds started migrating from Labrador, the grain fields were experiencing heavy re-growth that by mid-October reached12-24 inches in height. The only reason birds stay with us in the fall is to feed and there were a lot fewer fields available to tend in and thus we lost many of them that migrated to Nova Scotia and beyond. As well, because of extra warm temps in Labrador, the birds tended to hold back and came more in “dribs and drabs” than in the past, with the migration peaking in early to mid-November as opposed to late October. Therefore, what was a very healthy spring hatch once again, was somewhat negated by unseasonable weather conditions.

Having given this very frank assessment of the obstacle(s) we faced last fall, we at Wild Goose Lodge still had what we would call a successful season. While the number of Canada geese we harvested was down approx. 25% from the average of the previous five years, it still exceeded any year during the 1990’s. The average goose yield per hunter in 2006 was just under five, which was down from the seven to eight we would normally average and we shot more ducks than we have for many years.

In spite of so much “blue bird” weather last fall, we enjoyed the best fresh water duck hunting we have had in a decade. We charge for a Canada goose hunt only and do the ducks as an “added value” item, mostly at the end of a day. Last fall, Blacks and Mallards were especially prevalent and the ducks turned out to be a great savior, as some times we would struggle with a goose hunt but later on be able to get our clients a duck shoot and save the day. Of the 155 hunters we hosted in 2006, 142 of them harvested geese and nine of the remaining 13 went home with memories of good duck hunting.

We are treating the conditions of last year as freakish and expect the cropping and weather to go back to previous norms, along with our hunting results for “Canada’s” (over the previous four years, our success rate for groups going home with geese was just about 100%).

The question asked most often is when is the best time to come to our Island to hunt. The season starts the first Monday in October (will probably start the second week of October beginning in 2008) and runs to the second week in December. The migration tends to peak in late October and if one picked the best 4-week period, it would mostly be mid-October to mid-November. Many of us do look forward to hunting the last month of the season, as the birds are in great shape and there are fewer hunters. We take hunters up to the last week. In 2006, November turned out to be the best month, as temps got colder and we had birds migrating later than normal.

We average three to four groups per day and manage over 20 privately leased sites. We have a core of repeat business that runs around 65%, with hunters from the USA and Canada split just about equally (many lasting cross border friendships have developed over the years from this mix). We invest heavily in guides and hunt sites, as well as offering Canada Select 4-star accommodation and two hot meals daily, in our hunting package. We go out of our way to make sure our clients enjoy their time with us and have the best hunting experience possible. You already may have navigated this site for details on rates and other information, or if you would simply like to learn more about how we go about our business, please call me at 1 800 463-4053 and thank you for taking the time to visit with us.

Good Hunting!

Jim Duggan
Wild Goose Lodge