John K. Flores: Teal numbers encourage La. hunters

Two weeks ago, message boards and social media pages were full of postings by duck hunters who were brushing blinds and pumping water in their duck ponds getting ready for the September teal season that opened last weekend.

Most of the postings Friday evening pretty much all read something to the effect, “Good luck tomorrow guys,” followed by, “have a safe hunt.”

For the states 92,000 waterfowl hunters, the early teal season is typically their first incursion into the marshes and agricultural fields since January. For many of them, eight months felt like an eternity. The sweltering late summer heat, humidity and mosquitoes that comes with hunting teal at this time of year wasn’t about to keep them out of the field.

Teal hunters in southwest Louisiana were also greeted with a positive Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries aerial survey report last Friday. The 2022 estimate of 264,000 blue winged teal in coastal Louisiana and Catahoula Lake, though 6% lower than 2021, was still 37% higher than the five-year average and 44% higher than the most recent 10-year average according to the report.

Blue winged teal are unique in that they are one of the first North American duck species to migrate south, typically arriving in late August and early September. And they are typically the last to return to the northern breeding grounds, often still hanging around Louisiana in late April and early May.

Blue winged teal also continue to be one duck species whose numbers have remained stable over the years. This year’s 2022 USF&WS Waterfowl Population Survey estimated 6.485 million blue winged teal on the northern landscape. This year’s estimate was 19 percent higher than 2019 and 27 percent higher than the long-term average for this species.

High teal estimates don’t always equate to great hunts, particularly in St. Mary Parish. Corey Toups, and the group of guys he hunts with, haven’t missed a teal opener since 2004, his junior year of high school.

Toups and his buddies have noticed over the years the birds are not as plentiful on the Atchafalaya WMA as they once were. He also said his group didn’t fire a shot Saturday morning. However, Sunday was different altogether.

Toups said, “Although the birds aren’t as plentiful as they once were, great hunts are still possible with time spent scouting and a willingness to work for them. We quickly found ourselves red fishing and stumbled upon a much better location for Sunday’s hunt. With some good shooting, we were able to put together an awesome hunt Sunday.”

Toups says he tries to spend a couple of weekends prior to the season scouting teal. Around sunset he’s often able to get a general location on where to place a blind or use his pirogue to get to where the birds are.
Toups says when he hunts out of a pirogue he hides in the grass or uses whatever cover is available, but notes, “bringing a fishing pole helps pass the time while scouting.”

Dale Bordelon, owner of Bayou Beast Calls, hunts central Louisiana in and around Avoyelles Parish. Bordelon says his group of hunters killed half limits of teal on Saturday when they had a northeast wind. But, Sunday with a west wind, they had a great hunt.

Bordelon said, “I’m hearing central Louisiana doesn’t have many ducks. I hear most of the blue wings are in southwest Louisiana due to the mass of rice fields across that region. But, a good cold front could change everything.”

Damon Hebert and his group of six hunters hunted a crawfish pond in the Pine Island area of Louisiana. Hebert said there were plenty of birds, but they didn’t decoy well.

However, the group did manage to limit out on Saturday, killing 36 birds.

Sunday was much slower, with only seven birds killed, Hebert said. What’s more, many hunters in the area struggled.

Aaron Snatic hunted the Thornwell area in southwest Louisiana.

Snatic said, “We mostly saw singles and pairs, and a few groups of three to four birds Saturday morning.

"We ended up six birds short of a five-man limit. Most of our shooting was over by 7:15 a.m.”

Thomas Landers hunted a rice field in Gueydan with his son Rayburn and three other hunters. His group of five hunters limited out, mostly pass shooting as birds were reluctant to decoy well.

Teal season runs through Sept. 25, leaving hunters still plenty of time to shoot a few birds before its over.

One outfitter in the Gueydan area I’d recommend is Sportsman Charters. Rates are reasonable whether you prefer overnight accommodations or simply drive up. To reach Sportsman Charters call 337-912-5966.

John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.