BATON ROUGE — There’s a treat in store for Louisiana duck hunters when the early migratory bird and woodcock hunting season dates and regulations for 2013-14 are set Tuesday by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.
The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. here at the Waddill Outdoor Education Center.
Because Louisiana’s estimated teal population is more than 4.7 million birds, there will be another 16-day special teal season in early September. But in a surprise this year the daily bag limit is expected to be raised from four teal to six teal, according to the state’s waterfowl study leader with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Larry Reynolds, the state agency’s veteran waterfowl biologist, said a number of states have been trying to liberalize the harvest of teal for a number of years. However, a little more than four years ago federal officials effectively shut down all debate and refused to consider any more changes in the teal season until an assessment of teal harvest potential was done.
Reynolds, state biologists from the other four Flyways and scientists from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service formed the Teal Assessment Committee, which finished its study in February and submitted its report in March. The report showed the harvest rate on teal could be substantially higher, he said.
The Mississippi Flyway, which includes Louisiana, the Central Flyway and the Atlantic Flyway all have states with established special teal seasons. For the bag limit to be raised, all three Flyways must agree to the recommendation and they did, Reynolds said.
The U.S.F&WS’ Division of Migratory Bird Management objected, he said. The committee overrode the objected and approved the recommendation because there was “no biological risk,” he said.
“You know, I talk to a lot of people, guys I know that hunt, and pretty much everybody is happy about it,” Reynolds said late Friday afternoon. “For the most part, Louisiana hunters are going to love it.”
Naturally, he has heard some negative feedback from several duck hunters who complain that people hunting teal will stay longer, shoot longer and keep the birds stirred up. Two of the complaints came from men who hunt the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area, a highly popular teal hunting area for duck hunters who reside in the Teche Area.
“You know, you can’t please everybody,” Reynolds said.