As the first cool winds of the season begin to stir from the north, blue-winged teal start moving south from their prairie breeding grounds. These birds will soon fill the flyways just in time for September teal seasons in many states. While weather and local habitat conditions will affect where and when bluewings will be available, the following teal-hunting tips will help you make the most of your hunting opportunities when these fast-flying little ducks blow into your area.
Scouting
Coastal marshes and flooded rice fields are the favorite habitat of teal in south Louisiana, and bluewings are usually thick in this region by early fall. In a good location, shooting a four-bird limit in 15 or 20 minutes isn’t unusual. Even so, Rod Haydel, president of Haydel’s Game Calls (haydels.com) in Bossier City, Louisiana, is quick to point out the importance of scouting prior to hunting teal along the Gulf Coast, especially in the marsh.
“If you’re off the line by even a hundred yards, you can literally sit there and watch teal fly by all morning,” Haydel says. “As far as flight paths go, certain areas are good year after year. Teal tend to skirt the edges of grass and points in the marsh, and they’ll often fly over little islands next to those points.”
Decoys
There’s usually no need for a huge spread of decoys during the early teal season. While Haydel has hunted over as few as three decoys and as many as 10 dozen, he says a dozen is generally about right.
“You can certainly get by with standard mallard decoys, but I prefer teal decoys,” he says. “We’re hunting bluewings in the early season, but I don’t think it matters what type of teal decoy you put out. The key is being sure you have the decoys in a spot where the birds want to be.”
Tim Daughrity of Murray, Kentucky, has been hunting Lakes Barkley and Kentucky for years. He uses a half-dozen hen mallard decoys. “It’s been my experience that hen mallard decoys work just as well as species-correct teal decoys,” he says. “The birds are still in eclipse plumage in September, so the drakes more closely resemble a hen mallard decoy than they do breeding-plumage teal decoys. Plus, we pay a premium for magnum and super-magnum decoys for late season. Why wouldn’t you want the same effect in the early season?”
Daughrity likes to add a spinning-wing decoy to his spread as well. “Teal respond well to motion decoys,” he says. “You don’t need an elaborate spread to have them kamikaze at your feet.”
The X
Teal flights are often but not always early, short, and sweet. If you find yourself watching but not shooting shortly after daybreak, it may be time for a quick move. This is one reason Haydel favors a mobile approach in the early season.
“After a few flights in the morning, you can usually predict what’s going to happen,” Haydel says. “That magic window of opportunity may last an hour and a half, and it may last half an hour. If you’re hunting one of those short days, moving quickly can be critical. If you’re hunting light, you can always move, and if it doesn’t pay off, you can move back.”
“I always like to be on the ‘X’ at first light, but I’ve had some great teal hunting later in the morning,” Daughrity adds. “Some mornings, teal don’t seem to really start flying well until nearly 8 o’clock. If you are not on the X from prior scouting, all is not lost. Of course, if the birds are piling into a spot 200 yards away, you need to relocate immediately, because the flight can fall off at any time.” Read more – http://www.ducks.org/Hunting/Waterfowl-Hunting-Tips/Tips-for-Hunting-Early-Teal?poe=huntingTips