As with Ballard, the Sloughs WMA has seen a big increase from both snow geese and white-fronted geese.

In early January last year, white-fronted geese peaked at 6,000 and on many occasions, outnumbered Canada geese.

Mike Morton is a biologist with the KDFWR and also oversees property management of the Sloughs WMA. He flew a waterfowl survey on Jan. 9, 2008 and counted a few thousand Canada, snow and blue geese in the area. But hunting success was sporadic and marginal at best.

Even so, this area offers a wide array of features aimed specifically at attracting and holding geese:

• A waterfowl refuge provides a resting place away from hunting pressure.
• Numerous sloughs, ponds and manually flooded fields provide plenty of open water.
• Standing row crops, winter wheat and almost unlimited acres of surrounding cropland provide an abundance of food sources.

When birds are in the area, this is the place for them to be.

Most hunting at Sloughs is by drawing, but there are opportunities for standby and freelance hunting.

Certain areas of the property have differing regulations.

For more information, contact the site office on state Route 268 near Geneva, or call (270) 827-2673.

PEABODY WMA
The Peabody WMA in Hopkins, Muhlenberg, and Ohio counties provides almost 60,000 acres of excellent habitat for late-winter geese.

Canada geese -- primarily the Southern James Bay Population (SJBP) birds, but also some Mississippi Valley Population and resident geese -- make their way onto the Peabody property each year.

Many of our homegrown resident birds reside there year 'round, while many more resident giants from other states visit the area during portions of the season.

This area offers a lot of diversity for waterfowl. There's a good deal of open land as well as a total of more than 200 bodies of water, varying from small sloughs to larger finished lakes.

Areas set aside as waterfowl refuges allow birds to find shelter, which keeps them from being pushed out of the area by too much hunting pressure.

Abundant nearby crop fields and natural vegetation provide ample food sources all season long, unless there is heavy snowfall.

On Jan. 9, 2008, Mike Morton flew the waterfowl survey and recorded around 445 Canada geese on the Peabody property. Later in that month, he observed some 725 Canada geese.

While those numbers don't sound like a lot, they don't necessarily mean there weren't other geese there, or that geese using the property might not have been elsewhere during the time of Morton's flight.

Peabody WMA does not utilize a draw system: Waterfowl hunting is available on a first-come, first-served basis. But hunters must stay at least 200 yards away from other blinds and boats, and from the boundaries of the waterfowl refuge.

Hunting hours end at 2 p.m.

Before you enter the property, a Peabody WMA user permit is required. It costs $15 and may be purchased from the KDFWR or any licensed vendor. A map of property is also available from the KDFWR.