There is no haphazard chance or dart-throwing involved in picking the separate, seemingly arbitrary, regions for hunting Atlantic Population (AP — migratory) Canada geese vs. Resident Population (RP — homesteading) Canada geese. It’s not arbitrary. The separate AP and RP zones are a result of science — called banding data — according to Larry Hindman, Department of Natural Resources waterfowl project leader.

He notes that for hunter ease, the DNR does go by roads and county lines in picking boundaries and that there can be a few places with a small cluster of AP geese in an RP area or vice versa.

“We have to make it simple,” Hindman said of the road and county-line boundaries.

Micro-manage too much, and we could have disparate AP/RP hunting areas that would make the state look like a checkerboard.

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The resulting boundaries do affect waterfowl hunters. Hunt in an AP area, and you can take only two geese per day, while a day spent in an RP area can — with good luck and good shooting — get you five to take home. Canada goose seasons open again Nov. 15 for resident population areas and Nov. 16 for migratory geese. Both continue through Nov. 24, with a final season in December. (Dec. 16 through Jan. 27 for AP geese; Dec. 7 through Feb. 15 for RP geese.)

Boundaries are sometimes readjusted as a result of new banding data. This occurred two years ago when the RP/AP boundaries for Baltimore and Harford counties were readjusted as a result of new banding information on RP and AP geese.

Most importantly for hunters, Hindman notes that the hunting for AP geese should be better this year than last.

“This year, we saw a strong nesting effort and better production,” Hindman said of the geese that summer and raise their young in Canada.

Last year, a cold July reduced the number of geese flying south.

And while hunting for brant and snow geese should be about the same this season as last, hunting for ducks should be up. It’s up so far in the first split season that began Oct. 14 and ended Oct. 21.

Hunting starts again Saturday and continues through Nov. 14 and then has a final season Dec. 12 through Jan. 27.

“We’ve had a lot more ducks show up last week — more dabblers, a few divers, with more divers to come,” Hindman noted.

Look for more greenwing teal, mallard, scaup, bufflehead and scoter, although the latter should be at their peak now.

The bag limits for ducks are a tad complicated, so check the posted season and bag limits at your favorite gun shop or on-line at www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/lwfchart.asp.

Better still, take a copy of the legal limits with you in the field and check it before shooting.

C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and is currently working on his 25th book. He can be reached at cbpfeiffer@msn.com.