Duck season opens on Saturday | Louisiana in nature

The first shots of the duck hunting season came this sweltering weekend as young west zone hunters got their first glimpse of the early birds.

The 60-day season will begin in earnest on Saturday when the West Zone receives the first of three splits in the 60-day season. On the same day, our state’s eastern waterfowl area holds a special one-day season for hunters 17 and under, along with honorably discharged hunters. The East Zone will open with its first split on November 16.

The 2024-2025 Louisiana Hunting Regulations brochure outlines the zones, daily catch, species-specific regulations and all other regulations related to waterfowl seasons, and provides licensing requirements for all waterfowl hunters.

First, if you’re 16 or older, you need a federal duck stamp. Most post offices have them. You can also purchase them through a license vendor or by going online to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Need more? Try this wildlife and fishing website: wlf.louisiana.gov/page/federal-duck-stamps

Moreover, there is something new: Rep. Garrett Graves (R, Louisiana) pushed a bill through Congress — the New Modernization Act — to create a federal electronic duck tag that allows hunters to obtain the tag online for immediate use by downloading it to a cellphone or printing a receipt. By law, the stamp is valid from the time of purchase until the end of the waterfowl hunting season, including the conservation order season for blue geese, snow geese and Ross’s geese. Hunters, upon request, will receive a physical seal sometime after March 10.

If you are 18 or older, you need a basic state hunting license. There is an exemption (no license required) for hunters born before June 1, 1940, and those with a lifetime license.

All hunters need a state waterfowl stamp.

If you are 18 years of age or older, all migratory waterfowl and migratory waterfowl hunters must have proof of completion of the Harvest Information Program – HIP certificate. There is no commission. In most cases, you meet HIP requirements when you obtain your basic state license or federal stamp.

If you don’t have a place to hunt, Wildlife and Fisheries has several popular waterfowl hunting areas—wildlife management areas—some of which are among the best in North America.

Try wildlife management areas such as Pass-a-Loutre near Venice on the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya Delta, Pointe-au-Chane, Sherburne, Biloxi Marsh, Dewey Wills, and Russell Sage.

Consult the hunting brochure for rules and regulations regarding equipment and hunting time restrictions.

The state Wildlife and Fisheries in Baton Rouge has maps of these WMAs, or you can get details on the agency’s website: wlf.louisiana.gov/page/seasons-and-regulations.

Also, please remember that federal and state wildlife agents are on patrol during waterfowl season, so be aware that hunting hours on private lands are half an hour from sunrise to sunset (more restrictions on state and federal lands lands); hunt with non-toxic cartridges; your gun must have no more than three cartridges; and make sure you adhere to daily and possession restrictions. Also, be aware that you must keep the duck’s fully feathered wings and head on the way home. This is the law.

Students

When it comes to our state’s college and high school students making friends with people from other states, that’s a good thing.

Because one thing usually leads to another—when it comes to a love of the outdoors—especially hunting and fishing—we usually invite our students.

OK, what about licenses?

There is a special category for them, which applies to all game and fish.

Out-of-town full-time or part-time students age 18 and older who attend an accredited public or private college, university, or high school may obtain student licenses for a residence fee.

You must provide a Wildlife and Fisheries student card with current status and have the student card along with your student hunting/fishing license in case it is checked by state or federal law enforcement.

Personal licenses can be purchased online or from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the state office on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge.

Need more? Call (225) 765-2887.

What is there?

Not the water levels, but what became clear a few days into the West Zone season was whether or not you have the water to have ducks.

Similar to last year’s summer-fall drought, the last 30 or so rainless days (before Thursday and Friday) have hit the swamps and farmland hard, so much so that the rice and soybean fields are mostly dry and anyone who wants to has an opening day . — even at the first split — success — pumping water.

The same is true of some coastal marshes, where even the rain at the end of last week was not enough to flood the marsh landscape.

With rain in the forecast this week, the hope is that sufficient water from the skies will improve waterfowl habitat in coastal areas west of the Atchafalaya Basin.

Even with low water levels in the Mississippi River, it looks like areas on the east side of the West Zone have enough suitable habitat to make for a solid weekend.

What’s below

Migratory ducks dominated by blue teals are reported from every quarter.

Mixed in are some early gray ducks, pintails, spoonbills, and the ever-present wood ducks, a species that seems to have settled in large numbers in our state.

Rumor has come from the central parishes that Catahoula Lake is full of ducks, mostly teal, and that is because there is water, not much water, but enough water and enough food to keep the ducks going until the East Zone opens on November 16th.

We’ll be able to better monitor the numbers of migratory waterfowl after state biologists release their first flyby survey next week.

Good hunting.