Shortened teal season tops proposed hunting seasons

There was drama Tuesday in what usually is a drama-less January Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting.

January’s meeting focused on the agency’s Wildlife Division announcing the proposed dates and other usually minor alterations for the next hunting season.

Ducks, namely teal, provided the eye-opening lead-in to that staff’s presentation.

This year, the special September teal season will be nine days — Sept. 20-28 — not the 16 days hunters have had for nearly two decades.

The reason comes from the 2024 Waterfowl Breeding Count survey, an estimate conducted on breeding grounds in the north-central United States, the Canadian prairielands and in Alaska.

The count on bluewing teal came in at 4.599 million, just below the 4.7 million needed to allow Louisiana hunters a 16-day season. The bluewing count has declined during the past three surveys from 6.485 million in 2022 to 5.25 million in 2023.

So, what usually are calendar adjustments from the previous hunting seasons turned out to stand only for resident game — deer, squirrel, rabbit and quail seasons.

And for the second year, the West Zone waterfowl season took another turn. In 2024, some West Zone hunters banded together to ask the commission to extend their duck season to the last day, Jan. 31, allowed in the federal waterfowl framework.

They got their wish last year, but not this time.

Commission member Kevin Segrera, who was later voted to chair the commission this year, offered an amendment calling for an extra early end to the West Zone duck season. His amendment, passed unanimously and has a Nov. 1-30 first split followed by a Dec. 13-Jan. 18 second split. The current West Zone season has three splits.

Other proposed changes included:

• Adding a two-day special weekends for Youth (Nov. 8-9) and honorably discharged veterans (Jan. 30-31) to the East Waterfowl Zone;
• Changing to a four-per-season limit (2 antlered/2 antlerless) deer in Deer Area 4 where the limit had been three for a season;
• Removing physically challenged hunter blinds on Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area and the Floy McElroy WMA (for lack of use) and establishes a similar blind one on the Sandy Hollow WMA;
• Moving to allow dogs only on Wildlife and Fisheries’ WMA camping areas;
• Setting a 2 p.m. curfew on waterfowl hunting and a rule prohibiting mud boats and air-cooled vessels and all other nighttime activities on the Biloxi Marsh WMA, and a rule requiring all fish on the WMA to be taken by rod and reel;
• Opening the 2026 turkey seasons on Good Friday, which adds an extra day to the seasons in all three turkey hunting areas;
• And, opening U.S. 11 to all-hours access to the Pearl River WMA.

Newly elected vice chairman Andy Brister offered an amendment to allow hunters 65 and older to use any legal firearm to take deer during the primitive firearm season, a move that mimics the allowance for hunters 17 and younger.

Another offering came regarding the opening of the dove season. Federal regulations allow Louisiana to open the dove season Sept. 1, which, this year, is a Monday. Wildlife Division spokesman Jeff Duguay said previous surveys showed hunters preferred a full weekend to open this season, which, this year, falls Sept. 6-7. Duguay said another survey is in the offing and said the commission staff will work to compile the results for either the Feb. 6 or March 6 commission meetings.

For the full 2025-2026 hunting season’s notice, go to the agency’s website: wlf.louisiana.gov/resources/category/commission-action-items.

Duguay said the public can expect a Zoom meeting in February to discuss the seasons and take public comment.

Comments will be taken during the Feb. 6 and March 6 meetings. March 6 is the deadline to make comments mailed to: Jeffrey Duguay, LDWF Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA, 70898-9000 or e-mail: jduguay@wlf.la.gov.