Hunting

News Breaker

Aerial Waterfowl Survey finds 20 percent fewer ducks in area than last November

November 20, 2012 Kyle Barnett

In what may come as bad news for local duck hunters the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has found a drop in the number of ducks estimated to be in the coastal region of the state by 20 percent over the beginning of the season last year.

LDWF’s count comes from a Nov. 7-9 aerial survey in which a manual count was executed during an aircraft flyover of the region of the state south of Highway 90.

The biggest trends reported in the survey were a large decline in blue-winged teal from 451,000 to only 33,000 and far fewer coots from a record high 1.84 million to 555,000.[…]

Waterfowl & Duck Hunting

Ducks flock to Lake Salvador

November 20, 2012 Jonathan Menard

Ducks have poured into the marshes surrounding the Salvador Wildlife Management Area, providing great hunting for those who have headed to the public property since opening day.

Many hunters who headed out of Pier 90 in Luling have returned with their limit of gray ducks, teal and gadwall. George Garcia, the harbor master at Pier 90, said last week that hunters either got their limits or returned because they had run out of shells.[…]

Columns

Tricks of the trade

November 19, 2012 Bill Garbo

Whenever I bring up the topic of mature bucks, I am referring to that segment of the buck population that is aged 5 ½ years old or older. True “mature bucks” can be as rare as proverbial “hens teeth” in most populations in the whitetail’s range.[…]