Oklahoma hunters used to seeing large flocks of Canada geese such as some of the state’s other refuges contain are apt to feel that Tishomingo’s numbers just don’t hold up. Even so, it doesn’t take huge numbers of geese to make a memorable hunt -- it just takes enough.

Tishomingo offers limited hunting on its 3,150-acre game management unit. Hunters are allowed to bring only 25 steel shot shells; they must be out of the fields by noon. Bag limits are the same as statewide limits. Information can be obtained by calling ODWC refuge manager Kris Patton at (580) 371-2402.

FORT COBB WMA
Near Binger, just over an hour’s drive from Oklahoma City, lies Fort Cobb WMA. This refuge has become quite popular in the last few years, as interest in goose hunting as a pastime has increased in the area.

If you can find hunting access, Fort Cobb Lake is a marvelous spot for taking a limit of Canadas. The lake’s migrating geese use the local feed fields with such regularity that you can almost set your watch by them.

Caddo County WMA spans more than 3,500 acres fronting Fort Cobb Reservoir. These public lands are excellent for goose hunting, particularly as most of the available private land is leased.

Peanuts are the lure in this area of the state, and the feed fields suffer from considerable numbers of ducks and geese foraging on the high-protein fodder. The area’s wheat fields also are frequented by hungry local geese.

During peak migration, this area holds as many as 20,000 Canadas, the majority of those being lesser Canadas. Fort Cobb WMA also picks up a few white-fronted and snow geese.

Jack Brittingham, an outdoorsman with his own television show, frequents the Fort Cobb area during peak goose migration each winter. His hunts are primarily focused on the peanut fields besieged at first light by the area’s populous flocks of lesser Canada geese. On one of his last hunts there, Brittingham and his hunting companions were covered up with geese, and limited out in short order. “The hunt was amazing,” he recalled. “What a great place to goose-hunt!”

RESIDENT GEESE: A REAL BONUS
OK -- this story is supposed to be about the top five goose-hunting spots in the state. So why the mention of resident geese? Because these birds, which inhabit the entire state, serve as a wild card of sorts. Wherever these super-sized pests have prospered, they’ve sometimes eaten farmers out of house and home. These geese offer a hunting opportunity to waterfowlers who may not have access to the previously mentioned hotspots.

Oklahoma hunters are fortunate in that the Sooner State contains a population of nearly 50,000 resident Canadas. They thrive in urban areas, and seemingly go where they please. The big birds have taken over parks and golf courses, and can show up in the most unlikely suburban settings that you can imagine.

I’ve taken resident birds within 75 yards of suburban homes -- and, yes, shooting in that area was legal. My nephew and I were each rewarded with a banded goose on that hunt. I almost felt like a fox in a hen house as the giant geese made their descent toward a distant pond, passing overhead at 20 feet.