Not too much more than a generation ago, Canada goose hunting in Missouri depended on guessing the ever-shifting migration patterns of several subspecies of geese, all of which had reared their goslings hundreds (if not thousands) of miles to the north of our border with Iowa. Back then, goose hunting centered on waterfowl refuges in rural areas and in other remote locations. Don't misunderstand: The "old days" of Missouri Canada geese were anything but "bad." To the contrary, more hunters pursued geese then, and, when conditions were right, plenty of geese were to be found.

Canada goose hunting has undergone so many changes that it's not too much of an exaggeration to say that today it's a sport very different from the one that our grandfathers pursued. By far the most important change relates to the various subspecies of Canada geese that find their way into hunters' game bags. Although several true migratory subspecies still augment the state's total harvest of "dark" geese, the majority of the birds killed in Missouri are giant Canada geese born and reared within the state's borders. In fact, when giant Canada geese forced south into Missouri from Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois are added to the equation, more than 80 percent of the state's total dark goose harvest is now made up of giant Canada geese.

Pardon the non-literal pun, but giant Canada geese are birds of a different color. Unlike the geese that provided the inspiration for "my heart goes where the wild goose goes," giants have adapted to life among people. In fact, Dave Graber, the Missouri Department of Conservation's chief waterfowl biologist, forthrightly stated that Missouri's best Canada goose hunting takes place along the fringes of the state's largest cities. He further explained that the metro areas concentrate the vast majority of the state's resident geese, and the presence of so many geese in and near the cities serves as a magnet to attract geese forced south by winter weather.

Ranking each of the state's metro and quasi-metro areas in terms of giant Canada goose potential is impossible because of the number of variables involved. Nevertheless, the Kansas City metro area gets this old waterfowler's vote for No. 1. My choice (which, by the way, Graber seconded) is based on a unique combination of factors.

For openers, metropolitan Kansas City is geographically immense. While definitely up there in terms of human population, Kansas City, Mo., is among the largest cities in the United States in terms of land area. Add in the dozen or so cities on both sides of the state line whose corporate limits abut Kansas City's, and the result is one of the largest, if not the largest, of the giant Canada goose "refuges" to be found in the heart of the subspecies' range.

To say that the geese have responded to the metro's inadvertent putting out of the welcome mat is to redefine the outer limits of understatement. Untold thousands of the big birds have adopted area golf courses, parks, lawns, and both public and private lakes as year-round homes. By mid-December, hunting pressure on rural Missouri geese and, hopefully, cold, snowy weather to the north will have induced thousands of additional giants to take up temporary residence in the big city.