High Plains Mallard Management Unit:Duck hunting remains solid in the Panhandle. An abundance of playa lakes have given birds plenty of wintering habitat. Good numbers of mallards, gadwalls and teal have been harvested. Wigeons, mallards and gadwalls have been steady around Knox and Haskell counties. Goose hunters have enjoyed steady shoots for Canadas. Snow geese, as always, have been tougher to decoys. Best hunts have come over wheat and corn in the Panhandle, and peanuts between Lubbock and Abilene. Dumas hunters have noticed larger species of Canada geese showing this week. Pheasant shoots have been excellent as well. Prospects are good.
North Zone Duck:The second-split opener was much better than the initial opening of duck season. Many hunters reported good shoots on mallards and wood ducks in Pineywood sloughs and rivers. Caddo Lake and Lake O’Pines were good for divers, gadwalls and a few mallards. Lake Fork and Toledo Bend saw good shoots in coves for mallards, canvasbacks, gadwalls and green-winged teal. Hunting remained steady around the zone boundaries of IH-10. Freshwater impoundments held pintails, wigeons, shovelers and teal. Ponds around Sealy, Brookshire, China and Hamshire enjoyed combo shoots for ducks and geese in the thick fog. Another push of cold air should prompt more mallards to cross the Red River. Prospects are good.
South Zone Duck:Fog put a kink in the duck flight along the coast during the second-split opener. However, hunters along the coastal prairie did not mind because the fog encouraged geese to fly lower and some impressive straps of both ducks and geese were taken from duck blinds. Gadwalls, wigeons, teal and pintails were taken on most ponds. Many hunters have noticed a significant influx of gadwalls this season compared to previous campaigns. Large wads of green-winged teal are present, but the fog reduced the flight. Bay hunters enjoyed limits to half-limits near Port O’Connor and Rockport; again, the fog played a major role in limiting the flight. Goose hunters enjoyed four days of thick fog and harvest improved because of it. Many outfitters are saying the juvenile population of snow geese is less than five percent. Specklebellies have cooperated at times, but have shied away from calling. Sandhill crane numbers are steady, and hunters will get their first crack at the large gray birds this week (Dec. 19). Reminder: hunters must possess the free crane permit to hunt sandhill cranes and the bag limit is two. Prospects are good.
