 LITTLE
ROCK – This week's much-needed rain is a welcome sight for Arkansas'
teal hunters. Blue-winged teal are riding on the coattails of the cool
front that reached Arkansas on Monday, perfect timing for the September
season which gets underway this Friday.
The special September teal season in Arkansas begins on Sept. 15
and continues through Sept. 30.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission waterfowl
biologist Luke Naylor said the recent cold front likely pushed some
bluewings down from the north. "The tricky part is having water to
attract and hold migrating birds - particularly with shallow water," he
added.
Scouting is important, but teal are often here today and gone tomorrow,
so even if teal appear to have left an area you still may have a quality
hunt due to birds jumping from one place to another or new birds
arriving, Naylor explained. "In other words, do some preseason scouting
to find an area with some teal and give it a try or just head out to a
spot that has water where you’ve had success in the past," he said.
"Blue-winged teal are very sensitive to cold weather," said Luke
Naylor waterfowl biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
"In September, as cold
 fronts
push down from Canada and the northern U.S., large concentrations of
blue-wings will migrate southward to warmer climates. Their primary
wintering grounds include the coastal marshes of Louisiana and Texas as
well as Central and South America," he said.
Naylor said blue wings make up 95 percent of the September migration
(the other teal species being green-winged teal) and will seek out a
variety of habitat during their stopovers in Arkansas.
“They prefer marshes, harvested rice fields, moist-soil impoundments and
agricultural reservoirs. Teal prefer shallow mud flats. Ideal water
depth is less than six inches," he said. “Having said that though,
inland reservoirs and oxbow lakes also provide good teal habitat in
their upper reaches. Shallow water is the key," he added.
Scouting early will help hunters find the best spots to set decoys.
"Hunters don't need many decoys. I generally use 12 to 18 decoys, teal
if possible, but mallard decoys will also work,” he explained.
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