Teal season opens

Early teal season opened today and will run through Sept. 30, giving hunters their first opportunity to hunt ducks in the Natural State.

Teal, especially blue-winged teal, migrate before many other waterfowl. According to recent preseason aerial surveys conducted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, more than 120,000 bluewinged teal have already arrived in Louisiana.

Jason “Buck” Jackson, wetland program biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said teal migrate as far south as South America. A blue-winged teal that was banded near Oak Lake, Manitoba, was later harvested near Lima, Peru, more than 4,000 miles away, marking the farthest known distance that a duck has traveled.

When the regular duck season opens in November, relatively few bluewings will remain in Arkansas. Green-winged teal, however, will be present throughout most of Arkansas’ duck season, and a few will show up early during the bluewing migration.

Their diet during their time here is mostly insects, which give them the fuel and protein needed to go the distance. Moist-soil habitats full of native vegetation are extremely attractive to them because of the amount of insects those habitats hold this time of year.

Hunters may bag up to six bluewinged, green-winged or cinnamon teal per day. Hunters may not kill any other species during the early teal season. Shooting hours begin at the start at sunrise. Hunters must use nontoxic shot, and shotguns may not be capable of holding more than three shells. Hunters must have their hunting license, as well as a federal migratory waterfowl stamp, state duck stamp and must be registered in the Harvest Information Program.