Way back in the mid-1800s, Horace Greeley, a noted New York newspaper publisher, offered this wisdom to a young man anxious to seek his fortune: "Go west, young man, go west."

Southern Zone hunters are reaping limits of ducks from pits once used exclusively for goose hunts. Photo by Jerry Pabst.

Greeley realized the lad's chances for success were far greater on the rapidly developing frontier than they were on the heavily industrialized east coast. He was right. Today, if asked my advice on where to find the best late-season waterfowl action, I would paraphrase Greeley and say, "Go south, my friend, go south.

And, like good old Horace, I, too, would be right.

As winter sets in and dark days grow short, the ponds, lakes and even the rivers in northern and central Illinois freeze up, and the hunting seasons wind down. Most ducks have vanished from the scene, and while geese remain, they are easily persuaded to fly south when the first snows bury their feeding fields.

How far south need a determined hunter travel to stay with the migrations? Well, there will be plenty of mallards in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. There will be all sorts of ducks along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Snow and blue geese will be wintering all the way to northern Mexico, and you will find lesser Canada and white-fronted geese in the rice fields of Texas.

However, before you start Googling hunting outfitters in the Deep South, think about the price of gas, and how much of it you will burn traveling across the country. With the cost of airline tickets having doubled, and probably tripled, that mode of transport is not much of a bargain either. So, let's consider another option.

What you are looking for is a place reasonably near home where you can find outstanding duck and goose hunting. You need to be sure of a place to hunt, along with comfortable and convenient lodging options and all the necessary amenities that will make your trip an enjoyable one.

You can find all that and more within a half-day's drive from your home in southern Illinois, and make the round trip on a couple of tanks of gas. Better yet, you will find reasonably priced meals and motel accommodations, well-established, traditional waterfowl hunting clubs, public hunting areas and expert guides who will greatly enhance your chances for a successful hunt.

For most of the 20th century, southern Illinois was justifiably famous for Canada goose hunting. The big birds came by the hundreds of thousands to winter in three large waterfowl refuges -- Crab Orchard, Union County and Horseshoe Lake. Goose hunting was a driving economic force in the three-county quota zone and hunters poured into the area from all over the country and beyond.

By 1985, however, the migratory patterns of Canada geese changed abruptly with the simultaneous onset of global climate change, no-till farm practices and the introduction of giant strain Canada geese in the northern part of the state. The combination of warmer winters, plenty of food in the fields and the allure of large flocks of resident geese effectively short-stopped migrating geese and held them in the northern counties of Illinois.

For a time, waterfowl hunting in the Southern Zone sputtered to a near halt. With the refuges nearly devoid of geese, hunters soon turned their attention elsewhere. Some of the goose hunting clubs simply dried up and went out of business. Area tourism bureaus began touting other attractions, such as wineries, local festivals, fishing and golf. It certainly appeared that the southern Illinois waterfowl hunting tradition had disappeared from the radar screen.