Tomorrow marks the beginning of several small game hunting seasons, including ruffed grouse, cottontail rabbit, coyote and wild turkey (although I don’t consider turkey as “small game” since there’s a seasonal rather than daily limit on harvesting them). While rabbit and grouse seasons remain open until Feb. 28, 2011, others close earlier, so hunters need to check the regulations for when the other game species seasons close.

I found it encouraging to hear some distant early morning shotgun volleys this month, indicative that at least some hunters are harvesting overabundant Canada geese in our area. Probably due to the specialized nature of goose hunting?which often requires large decoy spreads, calls, and expensive non-toxic ammo?the number of hunters participating in our part of the state seems to have declined significantly in recent years, despite the liberal daily limits and numerous geese flocks.