Farther south in the Central Zone, goose hunting around Lake Springfield is rated fair to good, and it can be great if a big storm stops just north of it. This is field-hunting, and permission is needed to access private lands. You will see plenty of geese all along highways I-55 and I-57 between Chicago and Springfield, but these are usually small flocks of 30 to 50 birds, and they would be very hard to hunt.

When you encounter such a situation, you can be sure you will have but one chance at this local flock, and you had better do it right. Once you burn them out of a field, they probably will not be back again that season. They learn fast.

Don't count on big lakes such as Shelbyville or Carlyle to produce many Canada geese. Often their shallow, protected backwaters ice over, and as we have noted, the big birds won't take to the rough, open lake.

The Southern Zone is also scheduled to hunt through the entire month of January, unless their quota is filled, which is something that rarely happens anymore. Without a doubt, this is the best time to goose hunt in this zone.

Although the Rend Lake Quota Zone is no more, goose hunting remains decent, especially after the holidays - unless the lake itself freezes. There are many public hunting areas and access points all around the lake, and full details can be had by phoning the Illinois Department of Natural Resources office in Benton at (618) 279-3110 or (618) 724-2493. Public hunting is available by daily draw at Crab Orchard Lake (618-997-3344) near Marion.

The Union County Refuge (618-833-5157) has a productive public goose hunting program that requires a daily permit. It is too late to apply for that, but standby hunters - especially weekday, late-season hunters - have a fair chance of getting in.

If you have access to public land in the Southern Zone, by all means take advantage of it. If not, you will find gaining permission to hunt a tough sell, since everyone who lives down there is already vying for a field to lie down in.

Of course, all of the commercial clubs are up and running as long as the season is open, and depending on weather conditions up north, that gunning can be spectacular. Here is a tip on hunting the commercial clubs. Most hunters make reservations well in advance of their trip south, and then take their chances that the geese will be there. As an alternative, try showing up at one of the productive clubs and going on the standby list. You get to sit in the warm clubhouse, drink coffee and wait for a blind to shoot out. When, and if, that happens, a-huntin' you go. If the geese aren't cooperating, you don't have to sit in a cold pit all day, and you don't have to pay a blind fee. Not a bad deal.

And then there are the snow geese. Did you ever think an article about goose hunting in Illinois would even touch on the snow goose? But today it would be shortsighted to ignore the opportunities that exist to hunt these wild visitors from the Artic tundra.

As the snow/blue goose populations soared throughout the 1990s, their range expanded to accommodate the huge flocks. Now, this expansion has included the southern third of the state, and hunters are taking advantage of the opportunity to kill what was once regarded as a rare trophy.

On Dec. 30, 2003, an aerial survey found 61,000 snow geese in southern Illinois. On Jan. 2, a private pilot flying over Carlyle Lake spotted a resting flock of snows and blues he estimated at 50,000. By Jan. 12, the official aerial survey estimated 81,000 snows in southern Illinois, and by Jan. 21, that number had risen to 181,000, a figure that held steady through the end of the month.

Hunters are allowed to take 10 snow/blue geese per day during the regular Canada goose season, and that figure doubles during the special season that opens as soon as the regular Canada goose season closes. While that sounds great, it isn't usually accomplished, since the snow goose is a wary goose, and has been hunted hard since its migration began from Hudson Bay in early September.

To successfully hunt the snow goose, you must first know where the flocks are going to be feeding the next morning. It is almost impossible to lure the birds away from their preferred target field, no matter how many decoys or electronic calls you use. (It should be noted that for the time being, the electronic calls, which are highly effective, may only be employed during the special regulation season following the close of the regular Canada goose season in each zone.) Once you locate a feeding flock of snow geese and gain permission to hunt that field the next day, your work has only begun. Snow geese are suspicious critters and will rarely land in a field that does not promise total security. They sometimes make you wonder why they ever land at all. I mean, someone has to come down first, right? In any event, 800 snow goose decoys are not too many, and in most instances, barely enough. These can be commercial shells, full bodies, silhouettes or rags. Alternatively, pieces of white banquet hall table cloths, old white rags, paper plates, plastic garbage bags or a conglomeration of all of the above may be used to create a huge, white spot on the ground.

Calling to large flocks with a standard snow goose call is, in my estimation, a total waste of breath. The racket set up by a milling flock of snows and blues will drown out any sound you can send up. Lie still in the decoys and let 'em work. If you encounter a small flock of less than 20 birds, or singles, standard calling is helpful. The electronic calls work because you can turn up the volume and send out a realistic audio of a flock of feeding geese.

You might have some luck luring a flock of snows back to the same field several times after shooting them out of it, but don't count on it. Still, if one bunch found the field attractive, the chances are following flocks will, too.

The special snow goose hunt continues into March, but by mid- to late February, most of these birds will have left our state. Your best bet is to have a hunt set up with someone who will contact you as soon as snow geese appear. Then it is up to you to hit the road at once, and get there before they disappear.

In Illinois, goose hunting begins with the 15-day early season on Sept. 1, then the Northern Zone opens during the first week of October, and the Central Zone and Southern Zone don't close until Jan. 31. That comes out to around 125 days of Canada goose hunting, and guess what? At that point, it still "ain't over," because the special snow goose season goes on for another five weeks. Whew! Then, and only then, is it "over."