Weekly migratory bird hunting report from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Decoying action has been solid for Canada geese over plowed, milo and corn. Strong numbers of birds have been seen near Dumas, Etter and Spearman. Good numbers of snows are on Lake Etter. Duck hunting has been hit-or-miss due to lack of water on lakes. Successful hunters have allowed ponds to rest longer between hunts. More ducks are using larger reservoirs than ever before. Sandhill cranes have readily decoyed over gray spreads. Prospects are fair to good.
North Zone Duck: Duck hunting remains fair at best. Lack of water in the region has encouraged ducks to keep heading south to find suitable habitat. More mallards have shown, but the brunt of the greenhead population has not arrived. Most sloughs and river bottoms are dry, but those with water are holding solid numbers of wood ducks. Gadwalls and wigeons have been taken in shallow coves of lakes and reservoirs. The diver population on lakes and reservoirs has been impressive since the drought has limited watering sources. Hunting remains best around the coastal zone boundaries of IH-10. Freshwater impoundments have held pintails, wigeons, shovelers and teal, but wildlife managers have had to pump water due to the dry conditions. More divers have been seen on the high ground since salinity levels are so high on the bays. The first split of the North Zone duck season ends at sunset Nov. 27. Prospects are fair.
South Zone Duck: The coast continues to produce steady duck shoots on the prairies, marshes and bays. Gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers, teal and pintails have been the species showing in bags. If you have water, you have ducks. Bay hunters have seen an influx of birds with limits of redheads, wigeons and pintails being the norm around Port O’Connor. Good numbers of birds were reported in Rockport and Port Mansfield, with pintails, wigeons and redheads making up the brunt of the bag. Prairie hunters are holding abnormally high amounts of diver ducks, probably due to the lack of freshwater near bay flats. Snow goose hunting has been solid in isolated areas with significant water to roost birds. A good number of juvenile snows have aided in solid decoying action over feeding fields. Specklebellies action has been impressive, with a bumper crop of young specks readily decoying over rice. Sandhill crane numbers are steady, though the large gray birds will not be legal to hunt until Dec. 23. The first split of the South Zone duck season ends at sunset Nov. 27. Prospects are good.
Season/Bag Limits: The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan. 29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.
The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.
