SETTLES FORD CA
If the geese aren’t at Harmony Mission Lake, they may very well be at Settles Ford CA. This 6,732-acre conservation area sometimes brings in a lot of Canadas, but it is a bit south of where the fast action takes place in northwestern Missouri.

“Units 1 and 2 offer good field hunting opportunities,” noted MDC wildlife biologist Brian Bokern. “These units are broken up into soybeans, wheat, corn and milo, with from 10 to 20 percent left standing.” Canada goose hunting may not be as good here as in other public areas, he said, but the snow hunting can be good while the birds are migrating north, with as many as 4,000 birds on any given field. The timing varies from year to year, but the hunting will usually be good for about a week.

The downside is that the floods of the 2007 summer destroyed some of the crops. Hunters will need to check the area for birds.

Settles Ford isn’t heavily field hunted, so just about anything goes as far as creative approaches. Local hunters bring in portable blinds in deer carts, while others make natural blinds in the standing crops.

Regulations on the area require hunters to self-register at designated parking lots immediately before and after a hunt. A portion of the area is designated as a refuge and closed to hunting between Oct. 15 and Feb. 15.

Settles Ford is under a non-toxic shot restriction. All waterfowl hunters must pre-register and check out on a daily basis at the designated hunter-record boxes both prior to and immediately after completing their hunt.

Settles Ford CA is in Bates and Cass counties, four miles west of Creighton on state Route B and a mile south on Index Road. Additional information is available by calling the MDC’s Kansas City Region office at (417) 395-2341.

BRICKLEY HOLLOW CA
The smaller public areas in the west-central part of Missouri are high percentage spots for taking geese this winter but too small to guarantee a good hunt. Brickley Hollow CA and several other Kansas City-area conservation areas harbor geese on occasion. Catch them just right, and you’ll bag a limit.

Setting out a few decoys for the Canadas is an art form that is more than just unloading a bag of decoys and spreading them out in a haphazard manner. Canadas have a wary eye for anything that looks slightly unnatural in a field situation, especially in the late season. A good hunter will place feeding decoys, as well as a few lookout decoys, to mimic a feeding flock. Calling over a decoy spread is usually intended to call in passing geese, but some hunters have found that calling to discourage geese from stopping is even more effective. You’re trying to tell other geese that this is your area and your food -- and that they’re not welcome. Passing birds will disregard the warning and move in to check out the pickings.

Brickley Hollow features grown-over fields and a small arm of the Lake of the Ozarks known as Cole Camp Creek. These features attract geese and at times can provide exceptional field-hunting opportunities.

Covering 186 Benton County acres, Brickley Hollow CA can be reached 11 miles east of U.S. Route 65. Take state Route H for 11 miles and turn right onto Heits Point Avenue (also known as Lake Road H25); then, drive another three-tenths of a mile.

For additional information, contact the MDC’s Kansas City Region at (816) 271-3100.

PRIVATE LANDS
Because northwestern Missouri is such a popular goose destination, the leasing of land for snow goose hunting has become common throughout the area. Many of these lease lands are strictly controlled, and only a few hunters, for a fee, can hunt them at any one time. Blinds and decoys are often provided.

Farmers with snow goose problems will not only welcome hunters but probably throw in a cup of coffee as well. Snows wander aimlessly from one field to another, rolling across them like a wave; bare ground and ruined crops result.

Expansive decoy spreads help attract snows who think that their counterparts have found some untouched ground; hunters can hide in laydown blinds or behind standing crops.

Canadas, a bit more selective, will fly out from overnight roosting areas on lakes or frozen waters in the early-morning hours. Driving country roads to locate the fields that birds are using during the day will pinpoint where to ask for permission to hunt. The ideal spot is on the field where the foraging is going on, but anywhere between the roosting area and the food crop will do for some pass-shooting.

For more information on goose hunting in Missouri, visit the MDC online at www.mdc.mo.gov./”