Good hunting from the jump as teal season opens

When Louisiana’s legions of duck hunters were preparing for last weekend’s opening day of the 2021 September teal season, they were greeted with some good news from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
The department had conducted its aerial waterfowl population estimate and estimated there were some 281,000 blue-winged teal in the state.
This survey was 19% higher than the 2020 estimate and 66% higher than the five-year average of 169,000. What’s more, it’s 24% more than the long-term average of 227,000.
One only has to look back to 2018 to determine how significant this increase is when only 59,000 blue-winged teal were counted during the annual September survey. Pickings were mighty thin three years ago, but steadily increasing the past few seasons.
If you were lucky enough to lease or own one of the better properties around the Thornwell/Lake Arthur area of Southwest Louisiana in 2018, you might have had a couple of good shoots that season. Overall, it came down to the haves and have nots, with the haves killing a few birds.
This year the aerial report estimated 209,000 teal in southwest Louisiana and 66,000 in southeast Louisiana. Notably, according to the survey report, the 66,000 estimate from the southeast transects is five times the most recent 10-year average of 13,000.
The problem with this bit of good news is, most of the hunters in the southeastern part of the state are still in full recovery mode following the rampages of Hurricane Ida. That’s not to say some folks suffering didn’t hunt.
Chauvin resident and owner of E&E Machine Shop and Services, Britt Cavalier, was someone who pretty much lost everything during the storm, but it didn’t keep him out of the Terrebonne marsh opening weekend.
Cavalier, who moved his family into his father’s house in Houma, laughingly said Tuesday morning, “John, I lost basically everything except my boat, tractor, guns, and vehicles, but I’ve actually hunted three of the last four days and I’m seeing more teal this year than ever.
“We have around 200 teal on our Orange Grove lease, which we never have teal this time of year there. I’ve also seen great numbers behind my house in the marsh in Chauvin.
“The best morning we’ve had was 7, because they just aren’t decoying well,” Cavalier continued. “But there are a lot of teal around all over.”
From the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area, Bayou Vista resident Corey Toups said there was plenty of hunting activity out on the refuge.
Toups said, “We had good numbers of teal, but lots of hunters. I think the combination of a perfectly timed cool front and above average teal numbers was the reason for the crowd. Also, I’m sure we gained hunters from the east that were unable to hunt on that side. It seemed like everyone was shooting and had some success.”
LDWF Hunter Participation and Harvest Survey data from opening day bag checks confirmed Toup’s observation. Atchafalaya Delta WMA hunters averaged nearly five birds per man.
Jeff Benhard of Palmetto hunted Acadia Parish west of Lafayette near Morse in some crawfish ponds.
Benhard said, “We had quick limits both days this past weekend. Hopefully the birds will hang around after the storm passes. One of the members hunted in the rain Tuesday morning and shot a quick limit. We had eight guys on Sunday and limited out before 8 a.m. We saw lots of birds and it seemed like everyone around us had plenty of action.”
Lafayette resident Danny Womack hunted the Forked Island area as he has done for over 20 years. Womack said he saw quite a few birds flying high and his group had bagged 14 teal.
Womack, who was among five guys hunting Saturday, said, “We did a whole lot of missing, but all had fun.”
In Gueydan, Jack Cousin, who guides for Sportsman’s Charters LLC, said, “We had a great opening weekend. I believe we had a count of 800 or so after Sunday afternoon.”
Sportsman’s Charter’s teal season tally in 2020 after the season closed was 2,655 birds. With an opening weekend of over 800, this particular outfitter is well on its way of matching last year’s totals.
Dale Bordelon, owner of Bayou Beast Duck Calls, hunts in Avoyelles Parish. Bordelon is a traditionalist when it comes to anything he does outdoors. That includes duck hunting.
Bordelon said, “I hunted with my hand carved decoys and the action was very good. We killed our limits by a little after 8 a.m. both days, but saw plenty of teal. Overall, opening weekend was much better than the last two years.”
What’s interesting is for the past two years, there has been no North American Breeding Population and Habitat Survey due to COVID. This has left flyway wildlife managers without critical information when setting season dates and bag limits.
Additionally, the upper Midwest has been experiencing severe drought conditions on the prairie. Managers were expecting very limited production from this particular breeding area, which is the heart of blue-winged teal breeding habitat.
The teal numbers that hunters saw opening weekend may or may not be indicative of what the actual fall flight will be come November, when the regular waterfowl season opens. No matter, with good reports coming from around the state, duck hunters currently have a great opportunity to harvest a few teal. There’s nothing quite like duck gumbo to go with football season.
For more information on how to book a hunt with Sportsman’s Charters, call John Saucier at 337-912-5966. For information on how to purchase a duck call from Bayou Beast Calls call Bordelon at 318-308-0397.