Hunters look for teal season to improve

No doubt those who were hoping to make a duck gumbo last weekend wound up with more andouille sausage in the gravy than blue-winged teal. By all indications, opening weekend of the special September Teal season was pretty much a bust on public land and below average on private lands in the agricultural regions.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Waterfowl Study Leader Larry Reynolds said, “I’ve heard mixed reports from limits near Grand Chenier, Sweet Lake and south of Welsh to half-limit averages from Gueydan, Catahoula Lake and the rice fields in St. Landry Parish, to scratches in Delacroix, Salvador and the Atchafalaya Delta. I heard some reports from crawfish ponds and lakes that had plenty of teal prior to the opener but supposedly due to the weather had disappointing teal hunting this past weekend. I also got some reports from marshes in southeast Louisiana of improved shooting Sunday after very poor Saturday openers.”
Opening day bag checks on the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area here in St. Mary Parish revealed extremely poor numbers. Out of 197 bag checks, the actual kill per hunter was a paltry (.4) birds last Saturday — half of the 2013 average that was (.8) birds per hunter.
One local hunter, Corey Toups, hunted both Saturday and Sunday on the delta and didn’t kill a teal. Toups said, “The teal opener on the Atchafalaya Delta was dry for us. We didn’t bag a bird Saturday or Sunday. I spoke to one of the biologists doing the bag checks and he said he only checked in one dozen birds.”
David Smith, owner/operator of David Smith Hunting, located south of Jennings in the agricultural rice fields, mentioned his hunters also struggled Saturday.
“I didn’t hunt opening day, but one of my guides did,” Smith said. “Two people shot a limit and a half. It’s been real slow. Overall on this end from what I’ve heard, it’s been a poor season so far. It’s been poor to slow. But, I’m really optimistic about this season. It could still be one of the better seasons that we’ve had, just not opening weekend. The past few years we’ve always had a mass of birds that migrated through Louisiana before the season opened. But, I don’t think that happened this year. The birds are just running late.”
Rick Moore, owner/operator of Moore Farms in Welsh, hunts 14, five-man blinds on his properties. Annually, due to the geographic location of his fields — notably above Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge — the waterfowl outfitter does extremely well when it comes to duck hunting. However, the teal opener though, OK, wasn’t up to par with seasons past, according to Moore.
Moore said, “It was good for the most part. We had blinds that didn’t do that well but had some blinds — five — that killed their 30. I guess the average was 14 or 15 birds per blind. It wasn’t limits, but we still had a good hunt.”
Monday, Moore was seeing more birds, saying, “It looks like the groups are starting to show up. We hunted three blinds Monday. Two limited and one blind was two birds short of limiting. I’m not complaining. It’s been good but not as good as it normally is where every blind is limiting. I’ve heard some reports from Gueydan and Kaplan and heard they barely fired a shot. So, no complaints.”
Wildlife management areas across the state reported terrible numbers.
Richard K Yancey WMA reported 21 hunters killed nine teal Saturday. On Grassy Lake WMA, 37 hunters shot 19 teal. At Spring Bayou WMA, 42 hunters harvested 15 teal. On Pomme de Terre WMA, 51 hunters shot 23 teal. On Sherburne WMA, 19 hunters harvested two teal. On the Sherburne South Farm, 30 hunters scratched 17 teal. And on Attakapas WMA, 17 hunters shot 18.
One of the more popular regions of the state, Catahoula Lake, normally produces big teal numbers. The 333 hunters checked had harvested 776 teal — roughly two birds per hunter.
The 2013 teal season, like this year, also got off to a slow start. The teal hunting actually improved during the second week.
Toups remains confident things will improve.
Able to find a few birds on Monday morning, moreover, getting his limit out on the Atchafalaya Delta, a delighted Toups said, “I’m not going to let a slow opener get me discouraged.”
To book a trip with Rick Moore, you can reach him at 337-540-5211 or visit his Facebook page “Moore Farms Hunting.” To book a hunt with David Smith Hunting, you can reach Smith at www.davidsmithhunting,com or 337-305-1956.
If you wish to make a comment or have an anecdote, recipe or story to share, you can contact John K. Flores at 985-395-5586 or gowiththeflo@cox.net or visit his website www.gowiththeflooutdoors.com