The feathers are going to fly: LDWF approves increases for teal

Thibodaux duck hunter Jamey Fontenot will be throwing some extra wrapped and stuffed teal breasts on his barbecue pit and pan frying a few more teal legs come this September.

“I’m happy that the teal bag limit was increased,” Fontenot said. “I think it’s going to be good.

“In the last five or six years, we have been seeing a lot more blue-winged teal at the spot I hunt in Des Allemands. We see even more during big duck season, especially the green-winged teal.”

Many state duck hunters had long been asking why they were allowed to only harvest four teal during the state’s earliest, teal-only duck hunting season, which typically opens on a Saturday in mid-September and closes the last Sunday, but were allowed take six during the two main duck season during November, December and January.

Hunters’ decade-old wish was fulfilled this month when the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved both a bag and possession limit increase on teal. Hunters can now harvest six birds and have up to a three possession limit of 18 birds. Teal hunters will get to make it rain feathers from Sept. 14 – 29, pending U.S. Fish and Wild Service approval.

“Hunters have been backing this change for quite a while,” said Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries waterfowl study leader Larry Reynolds. “States in the Mississippi and Central flyways have been pursuing an increase in the blue wing teal. The bag limit for teal was set in 1965. Back then, the bag limit for big duck season was also four, so that seemed like the way to go.”

LDWF began working toward the increase four years ago when it approached the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its Division of Migratory Bird Management, which monitors the country’s waterfowl population, with the request.

“USFWS said it would not entertain the expansion of blue-winged teal hunting until a survey of harvest potential was done,” Reynolds said. “The final report came out in March, and we have a healthy blue-winged population. The optimal harvest rate is actually twice as high as it was before the change. The six-bird limit is a good variation.”

The report looked at the last 40 years of harvest data, reproduction rates and population models for blue-winged teal to assess how well the population could sustain an increased harvest.

“It was a big modeling effort,” Reynolds added. “The Mississippi and Central Flyway Councils both passed the recommendation to increase the limit. The USFWS commission approved it, and then our commission approved it.”

“In 2009, our service regulation committee asked to work with the flyways to assess teal populations,” said Emily Jo Williams, USFWS assistant regional director for migratory birds in the southeast region.

“Biologists from the United States and the Canadian Wildlife Service performed a thorough analysis. They looked at our May duck surveys and reproduction, harvest and banding information. They also developed new models to predict the potential harvest for teal. Teal had more potential for harvest than we were taking advantage of.”

Even though the population of blue-winged teal is more than healthy enough to sustain an increased harvest, the USFWS’s choice to up the limit was not a hasty one.

“This was not a completely easy decision, but we are comfortable with it,” Williamson said. “We have to be pretty cautious. I am confident the bag limit will stay in place, but we will look at teal population numbers each year. We will look at breeding grounds, reproduction and recruitment.

“We are all interested in maintaining a sustainable waterfowl population. It will be good for the hunting public and bird watchers, and the teal population will be taken care of. The limit is pretty conservative.”

So, will duck hunters see enough teal this season to harvest the six bird limit?

“This year is looking to be pretty good, but not as good as the last few years,” Reynolds said. “Water came to the breeding grounds later in May and June showers, and these birds are late nesters.

“We don’t know the population yet for blue-winged teal going into this season because the numbers are still being crunched, but last year’s blue-winged teal count was more than nine million birds. Even if the population is a little lower, like seven million, hunting will still be good.”

Last year, more than 2,000 teal were harvested at Pointe-aux-Chenes and Atchafalaya Delta wildlife management areas, which are both located in the Tri-parish area, alone, according to the four teal season hunter participation surveys and harvest summaries conducted at the WMAs. Almost 100 percent of the teal harvested at the WMAs were blue-winged teal.

“The harvest has been hit or miss the last four to five years,” Reynolds said. “You either limit out or get none.”

For Fontenot, it’s hit.

“We usually limit out at our spot, and I’ve been hunting there my whole life,” Fontenot said. “The place is good for teal hunting because it’s crawfish ponds where we can lower the water for the birds to come in. There’s also lots of grass in the ponds for the birds to eat.

“I think the limit increase will be more attractive to hunters, and I hope it will improve the number of people duck hunting. Plus, it might bring some more income to the state. Six ducks in one hunt is a pretty good number, even if you’re only hunting a few days a week.”

LDWF turkey, waterfowl and migratory bird news

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has issued notices of intent for the proposed 2014 wild turkey season and regulation changes, and hunters have until Sept. 5 to comment on the department’s recommendations. The only area in the Tri-parishes available for turkey hunting is at Attakapas Island WMA, partially located in St. Mary Parish, but those who hunt in other parts of the state may view the state-wide notices at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/action-items. Public comments can be submitted by mail to Kenny Ribbeck, LDWF Wildlife Division, P. O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000, or emailed to kribbeck@wlf.la.gov through Sept. 5, 2013.

Dates for the 2013-2014 early migratory bird hunting seasons were set by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, and the dates are tentative pending U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval. The dove seasons in the south zone, which includes the Tri-parishes, will be from Sept. 7-15, Oct. 19 – Dec. 1 and Dec. 21 – Jan. 6.

The daily bag limit for mourning, white-winged and fully dressed Eurasian collared-doves and ringed-turtle doves will be 15 in aggregate and possession of 45 in aggregate. An extended falconry mourning dove season will be from Sept. 16 – Oct. 2. There is no bag limit on Eurasian collared-doves or ringed turtle-doves if the birds in possession still have a fully feathered wing and head. Field dressed doves of these two species will be included in the aggregate bag.

The first split of rail and gallinule seasons will be Sept. 14 – 29, and the later season dates for these birds will be set in August with the regular waterfowl seasons. King and clapper rails will have a daily bag limit of 15 with a possession limit of 45, and sora and Virginia rails will have a daily limit of 25 and possession limit of 75. Common and purple gallinules will have a daily bag limit of 15 and possession limit totaling 45.

Woodcock season will be from Dec. 18 – Jan. 31, statewide, and hunters will be allowed a three-bird daily bag limit and a nine-bird possession limit. An extended falconry woodcock season will be from Oct. 28 – Dec. 17 and will reopen from Feb. 1-11.

Shooting and hawking hours for dove, woodcock, rail, teal and gallinules will begin one half hour before sunrise and end at sunset, except for a start time of noon the first day of the first dove split. The falconry daily bag limit will be three and possession limit of six birds for all permitted migratory game birds during the extended falconry and regular hunting seasons.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a change in the bag limit on teal, and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved the bag and possession limit for the tentative Sept. 14 – 29 teal season. Hunters can now harvest six birds and have up to a three possession limit of 18 birds.

COURTESY PHOTO