Outdoors

By STEVE KNIGHT
Outdoor Writer

If Hurricane Gustav would have zigged instead of zagged, Northeast Texas might be flush in water for Saturday's opening of the teal-only season.

As it is, hunters gearing for the 16-day season may be better off with a somewhat more limited amount of water for the birds to use.

Although it is geared for the peak of the migration of the earliest arriving ducks each September, the early teal season off the coast is literally a hit-and-miss proposition. Birds that can be here one afternoon might be done visiting the next morning. With a strong urge to migrate, some are winging it as far as Central America before ending their journey; it doesn't take much to send the teal on their way.

According to this spring's breeding count numbers, the blue-winged teal population in North America dipped slightly in comparison to 2007. However, the estimated count of 6.6 million is still 45 percent above the long-term average.

"I can tell they have been building up for the last few weeks," said Corey Mason, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist from Athens. "The first week of August I saw the first three teal of the year. Since then I saw groups here and there on landowner visits to some of the wetlands."

Mason said while he is hearing reports of teal numbers building along the Texas coast, a more reliable spot for the early season hunters, he said groups of five to 10 should be steadily dropping in on Northeast Texas lakes as well. How long they stay around, however, is another story.

"They are finicky birds. The first week of teal season is generally productive," Mason said.

The biologist described the birds as the last waterfowl to leave in the spring and the first to return.

"They are not up there long. We have good numbers of bluewings here until April," Mason said.

Their southern migration is triggered by cold temperatures and the amount of daylight. The bluewings nest primarily in the Dakotas and Canada. While Texans are still basking in 90-degree weather, temperatures last week in the Dakotas were dipping into the 40s.

During the birds' temporary layover in this area, Mason said the birds will be seeking the shallowest water they can find. They also like more open access than some other species of waterfowl.

"You can do well on the upper ends of the big lakes early, and some people with private wetlands should do well," Mason said.

Being the first waterfowl season of the year in Texas, some duck hunters have to go. Because of the inconsistency of the hunting and problems associated with hunting in September, others shy away.

"There are folks who think it is a little slow. It also is early for some people to go and requires a can or two of bug spray," Mason noted. "Teal hunting is really, really good or really slow. It can be fun to pursue it, but with a four-bird limit there is not as much shooting as dove."

He added it is a good time to introduce youth to duck hunting because the weather isn't as extreme as it will be in the winter and the hunts are generally over quickly after sunrise.

Mason recommends using decoys to pull the birds in.

"I don't think it matters what you use. I use a hen whatever. Something with a little color," he explained. He also use a big duck chuckle call with varying degrees of success.

Most hunters shoot No. 6 or 7 shot for teal.

One warning is that hunters need to be certain that the birds they aiming at are teal. There are good numbers of wood ducks around as well as some other migrants that have begun to show up.

The limit on teal is four per day. Legal shooting is from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. The teal-only season closes Sept. 28.