Photo by Andy Martin.

A Christmas goose isn't out of the question for late-season Hawkeye hunters. Hunting during the winter months isn't nearly as popular as in the fall, but plenty of geese are still just waiting to be bagged.

Whether you're after Canadas or the remaining snows and blues, December can put a honker on the table and provide some of the best action of the season. You just have to know where to look -- and following are some places at which to do just that.

RATHBUN LAKE
In the 1970s, this area was almost emptied of Canada geese -- but that's not the current story. Rathbun Lake attracts a lot of waterfowl these days.

"There's a lot of them now," said biologist Greg Schmitt. In the late winter we can have quite a build-up of Canada geese on the North Fork of the reservoir. Canada geese will use the open water, especially just west of the dam, because they feel secure on it."

During the early part of the season, much of the area is an intact refuge, but it opens up to hunting around Christmas. The often-overlooked area west of the dam is a hotspot whose goose numbers can be fairly high.

The resident birds were flooded out during the nesting season a couple of years ago, but the population is up and running again, said Schmitt. If snow geese or blues are in the area, hunters are almost guaranteed permission to hunt the private fields these geese will be feeding in. Thousands of birds can roll in at a time and completely devastate a field in a matter of hours.

The Bridgeview Refuge is the most neglected spot in the area, said Schmitt. Geese that have weathered the early-season hunting pressure by retreating to the closed Canada areas become fair game when the areas are opened. When geese figure out that fields of corn, milo, barley or wheat are within flying distance, hunters set up between the refuges and the fields can easily limit out.

According to Schmitt, some other good goose-hunting opportunities are in the area in addition to Rathbun Lake. At the Woodpecker Marsh, a good winter spot for Canada geese, waterfowlers can get in a top-quality hunt.

Rathbun Lake covers 15,970 acres. The area is six miles north of Plano on state Route 142. For more information, contact the Rathbun Unit at (641) 774-4918.

TWELVE-MILE LAKE
When it comes to late-season shooting, Twelve Mile Lake in Union County is a destination worth checking out. If birds are going to be in the area, said Chad Paup, they'll probably be at Twelve Mile.

Open-water hunting is the draw for the lake. The geese find a sense of security in the wide-open spaces, where they can keep a watchful eye on approaching predators and hunters. Listening to them over the water at night means that sentry geese are doing their job, and approaching them in the morning without their taking flight can be tricky.

Field-hunting can also prove productive, especially pass-shooting at birds as they fly out onto the nearby fields. When the geese are cooperating, they'll follow a pattern, using fields within the same area over a period of time. Colder weather and hunters can move them into other locales, but a few birds will always be moving in to replace them. Here, as at most other large reservoirs in Iowa, resident geese will make up the lion's share of the birds that hunters will see, and at this point of the year, they're going to be leery of humans.

About two-thirds of the area is in grass and brush, with the other third being water. The 1,500 acres or so of public hunting water and land lie four miles east of Creston off U.S. Route 34.

For more information, contact the Mt. Ayr Wildlife Management Area at (641) 464-2220.

RED ROCK RESERVOIR
The Red Rock Reservoir area feels a lot of hunting pressure -- and with good reason: Canada geese find the area irresistible. Given the over 25,000 acres of lake, marshes, grass and trees here, Canada geese can take their pick of resting or forage areas, and the closed refuge attracts honkers looking for shelter from hunting pressure.