Question: The current waterfowl season regulations show a special speck and snow goose season from Feb. 18-22 for the Balance of the State. Do people like me who belong to a duck club located in the speck closed zone (usually after Dec. 15) get to hunt specks into February?

Answer: No, white-fronted goose hunting is not allowed in the speck closed zone (officially the Sacramento Valley Special Management Area, or SMA) during the late season goose hunt (Feb. 18-22).

According to DFG Waterfowl Biologist Melanie Weaver, the SMA is in place to restrict the harvest of Tule white-fronted goose, a larger and somewhat darker colored and far less numerous sub-species of white-fronted goose (there are approximately 15,000 Tule white-fronted geese in the Pacific Flyway). The season for specks in the SMA is now 63 days compared to 48 days in 2004, so the speck season is open more than it is closed in the SMA. There have been five liberalizing changes in the SMA since 1995. Harvest regulation recommendations will continue to be based on the status of the resource.

After early December the bulk of the other far more numerous (about 650,000) white-fronted goose subspecies (Pacific) have dispersed throughout the greater Sacramento Valley and Delta areas, resulting in the potential for increased harvest pressure on the Tule, the bulk of which remain in the SMA throughout the winter. The need for the closure can be confusing to hunters because the smaller and somewhat lighter colored Pacific white-front population has increased dramatically (from approx 100,000 in the late 1980s), resulting in liberalized bag/possession and season length regulations in the Pacific Flyway in recent years.