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The teal season began last weekend and ends Sept. 29.
(Submitted Photo/John K. Flores)

Opening weekend producted single-digit teal numbers

During the late ’60s, a band called Three Dog Night had a hit single, “One is the Loneliest Number That You’ll Ever Do.”
Well, if you took one look at and read the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Coastal Wildlife Management Area Hunter Participation and Harvest Survey from the opening day of the September teal season last Saturday, you’d know just how appropriate that song is.
Essentially, 232 hunters were checked on three coastal wildlife management areas: The Atchafalaya Delta, Pass a Loutre and Point aux Chenes. In years past, Salvador Wildlife Management Area typically has been included in the survey, but opening day last week, it was not. The combined actual number of teal killed by wildlife management area hunters was “one” duck per hunter.
In other words, the gumbos cooking for LSU’s big win over Northwestern last Saturday night were thin on ducks and long on gravy.
Dialing in hunter participation on St. Mary Parish public land, there were 98 hunters who were actually bag checked on the Atchafalaya Delta. Utilizing some fancy statistical mathemat-ics, the estimated number of hunters was 145 that actually harvested 1.5 teal per hunter.
I guess since we’re estimating here, 1.5 could be rounded up to mean two teal per hunter, but Three Dog Night had a lyric for that too.
“Two can be as bad as one”.
“It’s the loneliest number since the number one”.
Local hunter Corey Toups takes full advantage of the Atchafalaya Wildlife Management Area’s Wax Lake Delta year round both hunting and fishing. Toups hunted teal opening morning.
“We shot 4 teal,” Toups said. “We had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on but had a great time. We saw much more than expected. Large flocks that seemed to be just arriving were cruising around the Atchafalaya Delta.”
During the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries aerial survey conducted during the first week of September a week prior to the season opener, biologists estimated 127,000 teal in the state. Of those estimates, 119,000 of those were reported to be in the southwestern part of the state and the remaining 8,000 in the southeast.
The estimate was twice the estimate of the 2018 aerial survey, which was the worst on record, but still one of the lowest and well below the state’s long-term average.
Lafayette resident, photographer, and avid duck hunter Danny Womack hunted teal with his brother on their lease in the marsh near Forked Island, just south of Abbeville.
“Saturday started off really dead,” Womack said. “No nothing. Then the marsh came alive with everything except teal. I didn’t have my camera with me, and the tri-color herons were lighting 15 feet away. Later in the morning we saw a nice flight of about 40 teal and saw probably 8 to 10 more before 8:30.”
“Nothing would get close,” Womack continued. “Finally, around quitting time about 8 dipped in and we missed, then had a good chuckle. We went back Sunday and saw a few and did manage to return with 3 that my brother ate that afternoon. All in all, it was really slow, but I enjoy the marsh, so it was all good.”
A little further west in Gueydan, Jack Cousin, who guides for Sportsman Charters, said things weren’t much better.
“Man, it has been a big struggle for most people in this area, unfortunately,” Cousin said. “But, it’s been okay here. We quickly learned that our best opportunities for clients have been in the afternoon, due to the full moon.”
Charles Schultz farms over 1,200 acres of property near Hayes, just south of Lake Charles. During the 2018 teal season, when blue wing numbers were the lowest on record, Schultz had one of the best seasons ever. The teal were thicker than mosquitos. And, that’s saying something for rice field country.
This year Schultz said, “Terrible. Worst I’ve ever seen area wide. I don’t know. I really think it’s just too early, although my buddy, who hunts just north of Holly Beach in the marsh, has been having a stellar season so far.”
The September teal season is the prequel to the big show that comes in November. Many duck hunters simply consider the 15-day season a tune up. The more fanatical chase ducks every chance they get.
For them, one may be the loneliest number they ever do “today,” but there’s always tomorrow…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Flores is The Daily Review’s Outdoor Writer.

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