Goose catching has become a well-tuned science in Utah

Utah has been catching and banding geese since 1965

Published: June 8, 2026, 3:20 p.m. MDT

Jessa Bowman, left, and Emery Jessop, right, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees, put a wild goose in a crate after capturing it from their boat during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. Tess Crowley, Deseret News

Eva Terry is a staff writer with the Politics and the West team, covering energy and the environment.

There’s a monthlong period in early summer when Canada geese are rendered flightless. As their feathers drop in preparation for a new coat, geese eventually get to a point of being earthbound.

Since the 1960s, Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources has viewed summer molting as a tremendous opportunity to catch the birds and attach tags to them.

At the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper, Weber County, on Friday morning, a handful of employees from the Department of Natural Resources continued that 61-year tradition.

Jessa Bowman, left, and Emery Jessop, right, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees, prepare to capture a wild goose, center, from their boat during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

Clad in waterproof waders and lightweight long sleeves, DNR employees (and some of their children) divvied themselves across nine airboats to catch geese.

Rich Hansen, the Division of Wildlife Resources wetland manager and waterfowl banding coordinator, told press that goose banding is “the reward” for all of the work his team does through the year. “Everybody looks forward to goose banding. It’s nice to be able to get all our families out as well.”

Poll: How far will Utahns go to conserve water?

Why does Utah put bands on its geese?

A wild goose bites a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee after they banded the goose after employees and volunteers captured wild geese from boats during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

From 1965 to 2004, Utah caught and banded 65,000 geese. During Hansen’s tenure as waterfowl banding coordinator, which began in 2004, his team has caught the same amount, putting the state at a banding total of 130,000.

“All of this banding effort is important because we’re in charge of managing wildlife for the public. By putting these bands on, we’re monitoring survival rates and mortality rates, and we’re able to manage the populations,” he said.

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees and volunteers capture wild geese from boats during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

Each stainless steel band has a unique number. That number is recorded, along with the age and sex of the bird, into the USGS Bird Banding database. If a hunter shoots a bird with a band, he can go to that website and enter in the new information of where and when they shot it.

In a conversation with the Deseret News, Hansen said Utah bands more geese than anyone west of the Rockies.

“If we have 500 recaptures, probably 499 were banded in Utah. We get an occasional Idaho or Montana bird,” he said.

A goose flees as Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees and volunteers capture wild geese from boats during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

The Great Salt Lake, along with a strong division of wildlife management, puts the state in a good place for goose capture and banding.

After a DNR employee puts a band around a goose’s ankle, the bird is put in a pen with the other banded geese. “We do like to keep them all gathered together and release them together so they can get back into their family groups and just be safe,” Hansen said.

Hansen loves “every minute of every hour” of banding day. “I mean, I get paid to drive an airboat. Who gets to do that?” he said.

Out of the ashes, the Grand Canyon’s North Rim reopens

How does one capture and band a goose?

Ellie Hartman, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee, center, holds a wild goose as employees band wild geese after employees and volunteers captured wild geese from boats during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

Across the glassy surface of the Great Salt Lake marsh, nine airboats zipped around in search of geese on Friday.

The scientific method of goose capture goes as follows. In front of the airboat captain, two employees (or children of employees) stretch out on their stomachs, sometimes getting sprayed by other boats.

The captain positions the boat behind a goose. The goose then dips under the surface to escape, and the goose-capturers throw their arms into the water. Depending on either the goose’s inability to vanish or the goose-capturer’s skill at finding it in the murk, the bird is pulled out of the water.

Nancy Lee, volunteer, tallies the sex and age of each wild goose that Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees band after capturing wild geese from boats during an airboat roundup of wild geese at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Hooper on Friday, June 5, 2026. When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds and then set them free. The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah and their migration patterns. Geese are flightless this time of year, which makes the banding possible. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

After flapping its useless wings at the goose-capturer, it goes straight into a plastic crate.

Surprisingly, geese are very calm in airboat captivity. They sit there as the process continues, staring unblinkingly at the boat’s passengers.

View Comments

Once a majority of the flock sits aboard the airboats, they’re brought to shore. One by one, they’re handed to sun-reddened employees, who flip the birds upside-down, check their genders, call out a number and a sex, then clamp on a stainless steel anklet.