TPWD Migratory Bird Hunting Update - Jan. 28, 2009

A disappointing duck season ended Sunday the 25th. Warm weather, dry conditions and an absence of mallards combined to make the '08-'09 season one of the worst in a while.

NEWS RELEASE, Jan. 21, 2009 -- North Texas hunters saw a slow week to end the season, with very few mallards on the lakes, and drying backwaters chasing away the wood ducks.

To the south, results were better, with teals arriving in good enough numbers to cheer up an otherwise spotty season.

North Zone Duck:
The last weekend of duck season slowed to a crawl as hunters reported poor to fair results. Mallards never really showed in force which sent many hunters in search of divers and wood ducks. Drying sloughs and timber ponds send woodies elsewhere as many hunters reported resident wood ducks disappeared.

Canvasbacks, ringed-necks, scaup and a few teal made up the brunt of the bag for the last month of the season on area lakes and reservoirs. Dry conditions along the coast and along the IH-10 corridor made hunting tough for the second half of the season.

South Zone Duck:
The last two weeks of the season were steady as an influx of green-winged teal showed on the prairie and left a better taste in the mouths of hunters for what had been a lackluster season. Good numbers were posted near Eagle Lake, Chesterville, Wharton, Garwood and East Bernard.

Hunters in the marsh near Collegeport enjoyed steady hunts throughout the season. Hunters along the bay near Matagorda, Port O’Connor and Rockport got their redheads and pintails, but gadwalls and wigeons were noticeably absent. Lack of rain and higher salinity levels on the bay could have been a contributing factor.

Overall, goose hunting was solid throughout the season, though it slowed of late due to drying roost ponds which scattered flocks and sent them searching for more water.

An estimated 20-30 percent juveniles in the flock aided in decoying tremendously. Most flocks are feeding on green fields now, since most food sources are gone and most farmers have begun to plow fields for this year’s crop. The Light Goose Conservation Order began Jan. 26. Results were better than expected with fog and low clouds along the coast.

See the full report at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20090128a