Rhode Island terms its late season “experimental.” This special season is limited to Providence and Kent counties and parts of Exeter and North Kingston. Hunters should be sure to check the latest updated regulations for legal boundaries.

Hunting private property (with the landowner’s permission, of course) is usually the way to go for Ocean State goose hunting.

Contact the Rhode Island DFW in Great Swamp for the required late-season permit, maps, information and legal hunting demarcation lines. It’s up to waterfowlers to acquire individual landowner permission slips.

Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a large public hunting area that offers good goose hunting when inland waters freeze. This includes the Warwick area at Conimicut Point, Green Island and Rock Island. Boat launches are around Narragansett Bay, but a better choice for Conimicut Point is the small sand launch at the end of Shawomet Avenue. A more substantial ramp is off Narragansett Parkway south of Rock Island. Wickford Harbor is another good option, with access via Route 1 off Intrepid Drive, southwest of Kingston.

See DeLorme’s Rhode Island Atlas and Gazetteer, Map 71.

For additional information, maps, regulations and a late-season permit, contact the Rhode Island Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Wakefield, RI 02879. Phone (401) 789-0281, or visit the agency’s Web site at www.dem.RI.gov.

For lodging and travel arrangements, contact the Rhode Island Tourism Division, 1 West Exchange Street, Providence, RI 02903. Phone 1-800-556-2484, or visit their Web site at www.VisitRhodeIsland.com.

MASSACHUSETTS
MassWildlife started a goose relocation project in the 1960s that consisted of trapping birds along the coast and moving them into central and western Massachusetts. No one thought this would lead to such a boom in resident goose numbers. By the early 1980s, MassWildlife biologists estimated that 10,000-12,000 geese were year-round residents.

By the late 1990s, surveys showed the state’s stay-at-home population had grown to 38,000 birds.

That’s when biologists and lawmakers authorized special early and late seasons designed to reduce the native goose population. Biologist surveys showed that one-quarter of the non-migrant goose population was shot during these seasons. Fortunately for hunters, more recent studies show that at least 30 to 35 percent need to be harvested annually to maintain population control. But as in Connecticut and Rhode Island, late- season success usually depends on the Northeast’s recent uncertain, unpredictable winter weather patterns.

In the Coastal Zone, last year’s late goose season ran from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15, with a daily bag limit of five birds. These dates should be similar again this year, but hunters should check the exact days and limits before heading out.

Massachusetts established its Coastal Zone as a line from Route 139 in Duxbury-Marshfield to Brant Rock north to the New Hampshire line.

Biologists always say that two of the most reliable public-access hunting locations are the Salisbury Marsh and the Parker River wildlife refuge areas, both north of Boston.

A recently constructed ramp is at Salisbury State Park, an all-season, all-tides landing. To get there from I-95, take Exit 58A to Newburyport and the intersection with Route 110 east. Follow Route 110 East to Salisbury and the intersection with Route 1A north. Turn right on Route 1A and follow it two miles to the park entrance on the right.