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Brant Numbers High Enough To Clear Way For Skagit Hunt

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

OLYMPIA, WA  -(Ammoland.com)- Brant goose numbers in Skagit County are high enough to allow an eight-day hunt later this month, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

Brant hunting is scheduled Jan. 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28 and 29 with a bag limit of two geese per day.

The hunting season was adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in August, contingent on a count of at least 6,000 brant in Skagit County. A total of 6,704 brant were counted Friday morning during an aerial survey of Fidalgo, Padilla and Samish bays.

“Numbers of brant in Skagit County are down from last year’s count, but still high enough to provide hunting opportunities while sustaining the wintering population in the area,” said Don Kraege, waterfowl section manager for WDFW.

This year’s count in Skagit County is about 2,000 birds below the 10-year average, said Kraege. Last year, WDFW wildlife biologists counted about 8,500 brant in the county.

To participate in the Skagit County brant season, hunters must have a small game license, a migratory bird validation and a special migratory bird-hunting authorization with a brant harvest record card, which are available at WDFW license dealers. In addition, hunters also must have a federal migratory bird stamp.

After taking a brant, hunters are required to record their harvest information on the card immediately, and report their harvest to WDFW by Feb. 15.

Hunters who harvest a brant fitted with a colored leg band should report the leg band’s numbers and color by calling 1-800-327-BAND or at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/bblretrv/ . The leg bands help biologists identify and track the birds.

More information on brant-hunting requirements is available in WDFW’s Migratory Waterfowl and Upland Game Seasons hunting pamphlet at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/ .

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Correct Dates for North Coast Black Brant Hunting Season

Lone black brant, flying low over water and grassy shoreline. Chris Nicolai/USFWS photo.

California Department Of Fish And Game

California --(Ammoland.com)- The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds hunters the north coast black brant hunting season is open from Nov. 7, 2011 through Dec. 6, 2011.

An error in the California Waterfowl Association’s 2011-12 Waterfowl Hunter’s Pocket Guide shows the season beginning and ending a day earlier.

A brief list of season dates and bag limits are on the 2011-2012 Waterfowl Hunting Season Summary at www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations/11-12-waterfowl-sum.html. The complete, detailed regulations are on the Fish and Game Commission website at www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/current/waterfowlregs.aspx#502d5D1.

The 20 to 30-inch black brants appear similar to the Canada goose but are smaller and shorter-necked, lacking the white cheek patch of the latter.

Black brants breed in coastal Alaska and the Canadian Arctic in summers, then spend winters along both coasts of the U.S., and as far south as Mexico.

They feed primarily on eelgrass and other marine plants, so seldom stray far from salt water. The greatest threat to the species is loss of winter habitat to development.

Again, the correct season dates for the Northern Brant Management Area are Nov. 7, 2011 through Dec. 6, 2011.

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