But apparently, goose hunting is rarely that easy, and that could be why it is slow to catch on in Mississippi. Geese rank among the most underutilized wildlife resource in the state. Though millions of the birds winter in our Delta, surveys indicate that fewer than 7,000 hunters take at least one goose.

That's in spite of a 15-day September Canada goose season and the long regular season, plus an extended opportunity provided through the continuing Conservation Order that allows unlimited snow and blue goose hunting through February.

But the number of hunters and the number of birds harvested are slowly increasing, according to the latest hunting figures available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In the 2004-05 season, a total of 6,500 individuals participated in goose hunts in Mississippi. That was an increase from 4,200 the year before. The total number of geese harvested increased from 17,300 to 21,000.

But the extra snow and blue opportunities don't seem to be contributing to either the increase in hunting or the harvest. In the 2003-04 season, hunters took nearly 13,000 snows and blues combined. In the following season, that number was only 9,700.

The increase was in Canada geese, as the harvest of those birds jumped from just over 2,000 to more than 8,000 the next year.

The increase in the Canada goose harvest was probably boosted by two factors -- most notably, the growth of the native non-migratory population from 15 years of stocking with "nuisance birds" obtained from other states. The geese were stocked throughout Mississippi on public waterways and some private lands and have become widespread, having expanded their range throughout the Magnolia State.

They are mostly tame now, and can be hunted with relative ease at places like Ross Barnett Reservoir.

The other reason is the increased popularity of the early-September season on Canada geese. The limit is five daily, and 10 in possession.

Scott Baker is the migratory bird project coordinator and one of three waterfowl biologists with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. He doesn't understand why the sport is undergoing such slow growth.

"You'd think with the expanded hunting opportunity for snows and blues, and the fact that we have such a big migration that winters here, there would be more interest," Baker said. "There is growth, but it is slow.

"I think the main reason is that few people have any experience with goose hunting other than getting an occasional shot while duck hunting. They don't know how.

"Another contributing factor is that while the conservation order allows hunting after January, in recent years we have had extremely mild winters. And by mid-February, we start getting warm fronts rising up through the state from the Gulf Coast.

"Geese won't tolerate that. They do not like to be here when it's warming up. They begin migrating out, so the extended opportunity doesn't last as long as you'd think."

Baker confirmed that during the duck season, some hunters get interested in goose hunting when they see so many geese feeding in Delta fields -- such as the flock described in our rabbit-hunt-turned-goose-hunt adventure.

"I get calls every winter here asking about geese," he said, "and our forums fill up with questions about how to hunt them. They get more interested when duck hunting is slow and they see the geese."

Quayle learned about goose hunting decades ago when a friend of his operated a waterfowl guide service specializing in goose hunts in southeast Texas near Beaumont.