Texas Parks and Wildlife

Weekly Migratory Bird Hunting Report

Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

Panhandle: Playa lakes continue to hold good numbers of Canada geese that are feeding in nearby milo, corn, wheat and rye grass fields during the day. Decoying action has been steady and most hunters that have taken the time to carefully scout out prime feeding fields are being rewarded. Snow geese have been bonus birds on goose straps. Lots of Ross’ geese mixed with primarily adult concentrations of light geese. Outfitters said the snows decoyed much better this week along with Canadas. Lots of ducks, including mallards, pintails, wigeons, gadwalls and teal on playas with water. The problem is the region has not seen significant rainfall in months and playas are drying up to bare dirt. Crane hunting has been fair. A boon in the pheasant population has many wing-shooters choosing to shoot roosters instead of waterfowl. Prospects are fair to good.

North Zone Waterfowl: The second split of the duck season opens 30 minutes before sunrise Dec. 8. The region could use more water in backwater sloughs and duck ponds. Migrant wood ducks are inhabiting the timber in force. Mallards are building daily with frozen temperatures to the north. The Sulphur River is holding mallards, teal, gadwalls and a few pintails. Lake O’the Pines is holding large rafts of divers on the north end of the lake. Canvasbacks, scaup, ringed-necks and buffleheads are being seen around the Ore City area. Lake Tawakoni is good for mallards and gadwalls. Caddo Lake is fair for ringed-necks, gadwalls and mallards in the Clinton area. Wood ducks have been plentiful at first light. Toledo Bend is good for mallards, canvasbacks, wigeons, teal and gadwalls. Lake Livingston is fair to good for mallards, gadwalls and teal. Ponds along the coast should produce good shoots for teal, pintails, gadwalls and shovelers. The recent front deposited new ducks to the coast. Prospects are good.

South Zone Waterfowl: The second split of duck season opens 30 minutes before sunrise Dec. 8. Duck numbers are excellent and building in the wake of the recent front that blew through over the weekend, an increase in mallards on the coast proves that. Ponds on the Garwood, Eagle Lake and El Campo prairies are chalked full of teal, pintails, gadwalls, mallards, wigeons and shovelers. Duck numbers are excellent in the High Island marsh with great concentrations of green-winged teal, gadwalls, wigeons and shovelers. Ponds near Seadrift and Port O’Connor look solid. Rockport looks good in the freshwater marsh. Ducks are building on the bays with lots of pintails around San Antonio and Aransas Bays. The Laguna Madre is stacking up with rafts of redheads and pintails. Goose hunting continues to be hit-or-miss. Geese are beginning to find winter wheat and rye grass fields which should help to pattern their daily movement. Prospects are good.