You Almost Have To Be A Brain Surgeon

( A thought to have been lost story from 2006)

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a 60-day configuration for the 2005-06 duck season. Simply put it allows a 6-duck per day bag limit.  But, it is a long way from being that simple. First off we have different hunting zones in the state of Louisiana.  West Zone hunters get to go first with the first split of their season opening Nov. 12. The East Zone hunters follow the next Saturday, Nov. 19. Both splits will end Dec. 4, and then pick up their second splits Dec. 17. The West Zone will end January 22 and the East January 29.
 
OK, so to hunt ducks in Louisiana you first must determine which zone you are in.  I am a native, born and raised in Louisiana and I still don’t know exactly where the boundaries for each zone run. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission maintains an extensive website, but does not include the waterfowl zones on their website. I called both the Caddo and Bossier Sheriffs departments and was told, … “I’m not sure”. I called the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and was told to pick up a waterfowl pamphlet at one of my local sporting goods stores.  After contacting the three local sporting goods store, I was told that they were all out of the pamphlets.  So once again …. I think I know which zone I am in and for the purpose of this article, let’s assume you all know which zone you are in.

Now lets examine the 6-duck per day bag limit . Upon closer examination the simple 6-duck per day limit now becomes a bit more complicated. The daily bag limit of 6 can consist of no more than 4 mallards of which no more than 2 can be hens, 2 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 scaup, 1 pintail, 3 mottled ducks, 1 black duck. Now the sport of identification really begins. For instance lets take the mottled duck and the black duck.

The identification of the mottled versus the black duck in Louisiana is a little understood or appreciated field problem for observers. One of the problems causing confusion is that all of the standard field guides illustrate the main race of mottled ducks, which are more commonly found in Florida and the eastern Gulf Coast. Birds from most of Louisiana and Texas are of the maculosa race commonly found in Mexico.

Louisiana mottled ducks  can be every bit as dark as black ducks, show purple speculum, and have gleaming white wing linings. Our mottleds can vary from pale to very dark birds. This is never mentioned in the field guides. Basically, to ID a true black duck in Louisiana takes a very careful study of the feather edges of the scapulars, flank, back, etc. Mottleds show buffy internal markings on these feathers with a buffy edge, while black ducks lack any internal markings on these feathers and have very crisp, fine, lighter edges. There are some slight differences in the throat and facial markings as well, but these are subtle and very hard to see even after the bird is harvested. 

Yet a duck hunter in Louisiana is supposed to be able to distinguish between the two species while the bird is traveling in excess of 30 mph in the low light of early morning. You really should be a certified wildlife biologist to hunt these ducks. To make matters even tougher, most game wardens do not know the difference and will automatically classify both species as a black mallard if you are checked in the field. So good luck proving that you have 3 mottled ducks instead of 3 black mallards. 

Oh, by the way, did I mention the canvasback ? The 6-duck per day bag limit also allows for 1 canvasback. Well, sort of. -----  You can harvest 1 canvasback a day, but only during the special canvasback season. Yes, now we have a season within a season. There is a 30-day canvasback season -- Dec. 17 through Jan. 15 in both zones -- with a one-per-day limit on that species.

In addition to the daily bag limit on ducks, you can kill 15 coots and 5 mergansers of which only 1 can be a hooded merganser. Why, you would want to kill either of these species is beyond me.

Lets recap what species can be harvested under the simple 6-duck per day bag limit:
 

1. 4 mallards ( only 2 can be hens)
2. 2 scaup ( includes both Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup
3. 2 wood ducks
4. 2 redheads
5. 1 pintail
6. 3 mottled ducks
7. 1 black duck
8. 1 canvasback
9. 6 widgeons
10. 6 gadwalls or gray ducks ( another argument  for another day)
11. 6 goldeneyes
12. 6 buffleheads
13. 6 spoonbills
14. 6 ring necks
15. 6 butterballs
16. 6 teal (Both cinnamon and green wing even though the limit is only 4 during the early teal season.)

Plus other species that I can’t recall right now.  You must be able to extinguish between them all while in flight during such low light times as from 30 minutes before sunrise and at sunset. Which brings me to the simple timetable that the state of Louisiana has published for use to determine sunrise and sunset. This timetable can be found in the waterfowl pamphlet and on the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries website.

You have to have the New Orleans timetable then the separate timetable for other areas of the state. You check your area or the area closest to where you hunt and then the month and then the day. Once you have established all that you either add or subtract the difference in minutes that is given for your area from the New Orleans timetable. Next you have to add an hour if during daylight savings time such as the special teal season. If you need the legal shooting time for early morning then you have to also subtract 30 minutes from the sunrise time. It’s as simple as that.

I won’t even go into the goose season and daily bag limits. That is even too complicated for a duck hunter.

So I hope this helps to simplify the season and bag limit for all of you duck hunters.  Better yet, you really need to be a brain surgeon to understand it all.