2011-12 waterfowl season set

Duck hunting begins Nov. 25; goose hunting includes special conservation season.

Hunting dates for the 2011-12 waterfowl season were set by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks during its monthly meeting July 19.

Duck, merganser, and coot seasons will be Nov. 25-27, Dec. 2-4 and Dec. 7-Jan. 29, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks announced.

The duck daily bag limit will be a total of six ducks, including no more than four mallards (no more than two of which may be females), three wood ducks, two redheads, two scaup, two pintail, one canvasback, one mottled duck and one black duck.

The merganser daily bag limit will be a total of five mergansers, only two of which may be hooded mergansers. Coots will have a 15-bird daily bag limit.

The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit for ducks, mergansers, and coots.

Late-season Canada goose and brant hunting can take place Nov. 21-Jan. 29.

Canada geese will have a three-bird daily bag limit, and brant will have a daily bag limit of two birds. The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit for Canada geese and brant.

Snow, blue, Ross’ and white-fronted goose (also known as “specklebellies”) seasons will be from Nov. 17-Jan. 29.

Snow, blue, and Ross’s geese will have a daily bag limit of 20 birds, while white-fronted geese will have a daily bag limit of two birds.

In addition to the regular hunting season, there will be a conservation order for snow, blue and Ross’ geese that will take place Oct. 1-Nov. 18, Jan. 30-Feb. 3 and Feb. 6-March 31. NOTE: Only snow, blue, and Ross’s geese may be taken during the light goose conservation order.

The possession limit during the conservation order for white-fronted geese is four, and there is no possession limit for snow, blue, and Ross’s geese.

The youth waterfowl weekend will be during the weekend of Feb. 4-5.

For more information about waterfowl hunting opportunities, please visit the website www.mdwfp.com/waterfowl.