Missouri's Managed Goose Leaders Stay Steady With Ten Mile Pond Ahead of Otter Slough

ILeading wetlands

At 9.0 geese for every 100 hunters Ten Mile Pond leads, followed by Otter Slough at 4.9

A rate of 9.0 for every 100 hunters puts Ten Mile Pond first. Its reports showed at least one goose on half of its days. With 4.9 Otter Slough takes second and has the strongest record from day to day. It reported a goose on 63 percent of recorded days. Its hunter total was much larger as well, 48,724 compared with Ten Mile Pond's 17,556. Next comes Bob Brown at 3.7, followed by Grand Pass with 3.6 and Four Rivers with 3.0.

The areas busiest with duck hunters occupy the low end. At Ted Shanks the reports counted 40,757 hunters and 27 geese, a rate of 0.1 for every 100. Duck Creek had the largest hunter total of all areas with 52,933. It recorded 262 geese for a rate of 0.5. Grand Pass leads our Missouri managed duck areas paper and places fourth here largely because of snow geese.

IIYearly staying power

The two leaders topped the pooled rate during 9 out of 10 seasons

A high ten-season average can owe much to one strong year. We checked for that by comparing each area's goose rate with the combined rate for every qualifying season. A season qualified when that area reported at least 20 days and 200 hunters. In 9 out of 10 seasons Ten Mile Pond came out ahead of the combined rate. Otter Slough did too. Both Four Rivers and Grand Pass topped it during 5 out of 10. Montrose did so in 5 out of 9.

Some areas never got above it. Across all ten seasons the rates at Ted Shanks, Marais Temps Clair, BK Leach, Eagle Bluffs and Duck Creek stayed below the combined rate. For Ten Mile Pond the high season was 2017-2018 with 23.6 geese for every 100 hunters. Otter Slough reached its high in 2025-2026 with 8.6.

IIISeasonal timing

The late January rate reached 11.4 geese for every 100 hunters versus 1.5 in late November

Combining every area shows a goose rate that generally climbs as the season goes along. The late November rate was 1.5 geese for every 100 hunters. December opened at 3.3 in its first half before slipping to 2.8 in its second half. For January the early rate was 4.2 and the late rate was 11.4. The lowest rate was early November's 0.2.

December's totals are driven by snow geese. During December's first half the count reached 2,225 snow geese, more than in any other half-month. December's second half added 1,166. Canadas hit their high of 575 during December's second half and white-fronts peaked there at 527. Only 211 area-days underpin the late January rate, which means a few strong days can move it around.

Each area has its own leading half-month. For Ten Mile Pond it was late January with 13.8 for every 100 hunters across 123 area-days. December's first half was highest for Otter Slough at 7.6 and Grand Pass at 7.8. Each had 150 area-days in that period. Bob Brown reached its high of 9.7 in late December and Montrose peaked at 5.7 during early January. Both results came from fewer days.

Across the full set of areas weekdays held a small edge over weekends. Trips during the week averaged 2.6 geese for every 100 hunters compared with 2.0 on weekends.

IVCanada goose choices

Canadas account for most geese at Eagle Bluffs, Schell-Osage and Montrose

At the leading areas snow geese are the largest species group. Their totals were 1,500 at Otter Slough and 1,416 at Grand Pass, followed by 893 at Ten Mile Pond and 392 at Four Rivers. White-fronts rank second with 641 at Ten Mile Pond and 763 at Otter Slough. Canadas accounted for only 3 percent at Ten Mile Pond and only 4 percent at Otter Slough.

Chasing Canadas points you toward other areas. Eagle Bluffs reports a Canada share of 86 percent. Schell-Osage's share is 83 percent and Montrose's is 71 percent. The goose rate at Montrose is 2.9 for every 100 hunters compared with 2.3 at Schell-Osage. With 382 Canadas Fountain Grove reported more than any other area. They made up 56 percent of its reported geese.

VCounting limits

Most trips were by duck hunters and two groups of faulty rows were excluded

To calculate a rate we divide an area's reported geese by its full reported hunter count. These reports do not distinguish hunters after geese from those after ducks. A low rate therefore does not mean geese were absent. It is an average across a group's trips and tells us nothing about an individual hunter's odds. Hunting dates differ among Missouri's North, Middle and South zones. Each half-month row therefore combines areas working on different calendars. A top half-month based on few days is a lead worth checking, as with Bob Brown's 47.

Two groups needed correction. Six reports for Ted Shanks dated December 21 to 27 in 2018 give 3,000 snow geese and 7,000 white-fronted geese each day alongside 62 to 111 hunters. Across ten seasons no other goose day approaches those figures, so we treated them as counts of birds and removed the reports. Four reports from Schell-Osage show Canada goose totals of 22 to 31 against hunter counts of 4 to 7. Every other retained area-day has at most three Canadas per hunter, so these reports were excluded as well. We removed duplicate area-days along with rows lacking hunter counts. That matches the rule used in our Missouri duck papers. These data cannot explain why one area or one seasonal stretch yielded more geese.

VIPlanning a hunt

Plan December and later goose trips around Otter Slough and Ten Mile Pond

Our picks for a goose day are the two leaders, Ten Mile Pond along with Otter Slough. They earned that choice by leading the averages and holding up through nearly every season. For steadier results from day to day we favor Otter Slough. The higher rate belongs to Ten Mile Pond, whose strongest stretch comes in late January.

December and January take priority over November in our timing rule. For snow geese that points to December's first half at Grand Pass and Otter Slough. For Canadas our starting points would be Eagle Bluffs, Montrose and Schell-Osage with modest expectations. Go to Duck Creek and Ted Shanks expecting ducks and treat any goose as a bonus.