By Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on June 20, 2013 at 4:31 PM, updated June 20, 2013 at 4:38 PM
Email
LOUISIANA HUNTING NEWS
Dove hunter hoping for early September rewards from late-June work
Duck deluge: Louisiana hunters to get more bluewings this September
How to clean a bullfrog
Brothers go deep in the swamps to harvest Manchac frogs
Randall Mahony frog
All Stories | All Photos | All Videos
Louisiana teal hunters will see their daily bag limits increase 50 percent during this year's special September teal season, according to Larry Reynolds, waterfowl study leader for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Louisiana was one of the states that petitioned for the change, and the loosening of restrictions was granted this week by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Reynolds said.
"All three flyways -- Central, Mississippi and Atlantic -- sent recommendations to the (USWFS) requesting a bag limit increase from four to six this year," Reynolds said. "They approved our recommendation. Everyone that has a teal season will be offered the opportunity to increase the bag limit from four to six."
Louisiana is in the Mississippi Flyway.
The change won't be official until it's approved by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, but Reynolds said that's a slam-dunk.
"I've got a feeling we won't have any trouble getting them to approve that," he said.
The September teal season is open only during years when bluewing teal numbers are decent or better, and that's been the case for nearly two decades. Most years during that stretch, the season has been open for 16 days in September. There have been a few years, however, that USFWS opened it for only nine days.
Whether there is a season and how long it lasts all depends on the breeding count. The minimum required for a 16-day season is 4.7 million birds. Reynolds hasn't gotten official word on this year's count, but he's confident it'll come in strong.
"I can't tell you for sure it's going to be 16 days, but I'm 95 percent sure," he said. "Last year, the number of bluewing teal was over 9 million. I don't see a 50 percent decline in bluewings in one year, especially with all the water in Canada, and now we've got a lot of water in the United States prairies."
Reynolds said the USFWS had appointed a committee to complete a teal assessment that took several years. Reynolds represented the Mississippi Flyway on the committee.
"We presented our final report in the end of February, which showed there is far more harvest potential for bluewing teal than we're currently taking with the current September season," Reynolds said.
The increased bag limit is the big alteration for this season, but other changes may be in the works for next season. For instance, Kentucky and Tennessee currently have five-day September seasons that allow harvest of bluewing teal and wood ducks. They'd like to gain additional days for teal only, Reynolds said.
Here in Louisiana, Reynolds would like to see black-bellied whistling ducks added to the daily bag limits.
"(The flyways) agreed that it would take us another year or so to develop a cohesive proposal to possibly allow additional expansion," Reynolds said.
The limit on teal has been four birds ever since the special September season began in 1965, Reynolds said.
|