By Lynn Burkhead, For The Herald Democrat
On the eve of the Sept. 10-25 early teal season across Texas, it’s good to remember that in some sense, early autumn teal push south through the flyways no matter what is going on with the weather map.
Case in point was my Orvis-endorsed fly fishing guide friend Rob Woodruff, a former Lake Fork guide who now lives on the banks of the Norfork River in northern Arkansas, and a text he sent a couple of weeks ago.
“The hopper fishing has been pretty good for rainbows and browns,” Woodruff wrote. “And I know you’ll be interested in this too, I saw a couple of flocks of blue-winged teal go by on the White River.”
Yup, I was definitely interested because the late August text confirmed what I already knew, that teal were starting to push down through the Central and Mississippi Flyways because that’s what they always do at the end of summer and the beginning of fall.
But whether or not you and I see those early blue-winged teal and green-winged teal migrants pushing for the tropics over the next several weeks, well then, that remains to be seen.
In one sense, the table is set because this year, there are a lot of early teal buzzing their way into Texas. And thanks to recent rainfall in some corners of the state, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department waterfowl program leader Kevin Kraai, says that the season forecast is generally good since the birds will have a reason to stick around now.
“Recent rains have provided a much-needed boost to habitat conditions heading in to opening day, so I am expecting a fair teal season this year for Texas,” said Kraai, in a TPWD news release.
Add in the fact that this year’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl breeding population and May pond count survey work uncovered good teal numbers, and the season forecast is even rosier, particularly along the teal-rich Texas Gulf Coast.
In fact, in the first late spring survey work done in two years — the surveys were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — breeding blue-winged teal numbers sat at 6.485 million birds, up 19-percent from the last survey in 2019 and up 27-percent over the long-term average from 1955 through 2019.
Green-winged teal, which make up a small portion of the Texas early season bag limits each September, were also doing ok at 2.170 million breeding birds. While that was down 32-percent from 2019 numbers, it is right on the button for the LTA figure.
Put simply, as early teal season prepares to blow on by Texomaland hunters — or is that blewed by you? — the next couple of weeks, there are plenty of the early birds coming according to the survey work of the USFWS and the Canadian Wildlife Service earlier this year.
But numbers and abundance are only part of the equation here in the Red River Valley, because there are other things involved in whether Texomaland has a good teal season or not, including the full moon cycle. This year, the September Harvest Moon is today, Friday, September 9, 2022, a date which you might ideally wish for in the middle of the season.
But, we have to take what we get and that’s a full moon at the beginning of the September teal season, and not in the middle or towards the end.
Another factor is the upcoming weather forecast trends, and unfortunately, barring something unforeseen over the next two weeks, there doesn’t appear to be much chance for a strong cold front with stiff north winds that can usher in a big wave of the early birds. And neither does there appear to be much chance for cloudy, mild, rainy weather that might help keep bluewings touring the Texomaland area for an extra few days.
With sunny and warm weather on tap according to the latest forecasts I’ve seen, that could mean that the birds push through this region in trickle-down fashion, with a few here, a few there, and suddenly, the season has run its course.
So, the bottom line here on the eve of the 2022 early teal season is this: there are plenty of bluewings and greenwings preparing to rush south, the drought isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been at this stage in the game, and the birds are going to find their way south over the next several weeks no matter what.
So, if you like waterfowling, blowing a duck call, fussing at the retriever, and firing off a few non-toxic shotgun shells at speedy waterfowl, the September season is tailor made for such wingshooting fun.
All that’s required now is to set the alarm, get up early, put on your lightweight Sitka Gear Optifade waterfowl camo, and make your way to a nearby duck blind to see what might happen. Because you sure can’t bag a limit of tasty teal if you sleep in, now can you?
Credit: Source link
