According to the DNR, hunting hours at Wye Island NRMA are one half-hour before sunrise until 1 p.m. The check-in station opens at 5:30 a.m., and hunters are required to check in by 6:30 a.m. Goose or blinds will be assigned at the check-in station. Hunters must hunt from their assigned location only. After 6:30 a.m., pits will be re-assigned by lottery.

Hunters must check out at the check-in station by 2 p.m.

Wye Island's managed goose hunts are awarded by a lottery held the end of October. Hunters must mail in an application prior to the drawing. (Consult your current Hunting and Trapping Guide for the exact dates.)

Hunters who have been awarded blinds for late-season hunts -- as well as those who are assigned no-show blinds on the day of a hunt -- should be prepared to haul their gear to their assigned blinds. Weather conditions can limit the access roads that are normally open. Hand-drawn carts, wheelbarrows and skid sleds are permitted for transporting equipment.

Wye Island NRMA is located near Queenstown. Hunters coming from the west should travel 12.5 miles eastbound on U.S. Route 50 from the Bay Bridge and turn right onto Carmichael Road.

Travel 5.1 miles on Carmichael Road until you cross the Wye Island Bridge. From the Wye Island Bridge, travel south on Wye Island Road for approximately 4.2 miles.

Sportsmen coming in from the east should travel westbound on Route 50 to the state Route (SR) 213 traffic light. Continue west on Route 50 for three miles and look for signs to Wye Island NRMA.

Turn left onto Carmichael Road. Travel 5.1 miles on Carmichael Road until you cross the Wye Island Bridge.

From the Wye Island Bridge, travel south on Wye Island Road for approximately 4.2 miles.

"We have a lot of public areas where you can just pull in and hunt," Hindman said, "but they're mostly tidal marshes and impoundments. Now, you can go in there and kill Canada geese along the river edges. But other than Wye Island, we don't have a lot of public cornfield goose-hunting areas.

"Two other public areas are Tuckahoe State Park, which is on a lottery, and Sassafras National Resource Management Area in Cecil County. Most quality Canada goose hunting is done on private lands."

Like Wye Island's, Tuckahoe State Park's Canada goose hunt is done by way of a lottery that takes place in October. Last season, 23 hunting dates were provided during the fall-winter hunts. During hunt days, a daily lottery takes place to award no-show blinds to standby hunters.

Tuckahoe SP is located near Queen Anne. Hunts on nearby Sassafras NRMA are conducted on the same basis. Though the lotteries have been conducted long ago, it may well be worth your effort to show up as a standby.

As we've explained, folks serious about bagging a few snow geese would do well to investigate private-land options, particularly snow-goose-specific guides and outfitters.

But one good public-land option is available in neighboring Delaware. Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge plays host to thousands of snow geese during the late season.

"Thanks to a reciprocal agreement with Delaware, I can hunt snow geese in Delaware with my Maryland license," said Hindman. "Delaware hunters can do the same in Maryland, but for snow geese only. The only thing I need to buy is a Delaware duck stamp."

Located northeast of Dover, Bombay Hook NWR provides an expansive area for the late-season waterfowl hunter. The federal refuge covers nearly 16,000 acres.

About 80 percent of Bombay Hook exists as tidal salt marsh. Also found within the areas is a small amount of uplands, as well as impounded freshwater ponds, flooded timber and agricultural lands.