Alabama Outdoors
September season gives sportsmen a tune-up By John N. Felsher
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nveloped in darkness, we waited as various frogs, alligators, birds, insects and other delta creatures added their sounds to the natural cacophony heralding a new day in this warm, humid wetland. Above us, rapidly beating wings whistled unseen overhead, followed by the sound of something splashing into the pond in front of us. In the distance, faint whistles and high-pitched squeals trumpeted the movements of other birds as small twisting black shapes rocketed over the grass before vanishing into the still dark sky. As legal shooting hours began minutes later, distant manmade thunder rolled across the marshes and bays, punctuated by loud blasts from closer hunters. After months of waiting, another hunting season had begun with the opening of the September teal season. During teal season, sportsmen may only shoot blue-winged and green-winged teal. A harbinger of fall, blue-winged teal migrate much earlier than most other ducks, sometimes arriving on the Gulf Coast by late August. Consequently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows some states to hold special September teal seasons to increase the harvest of this underutilized species. John N. Felsher is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Semmes, Ala. He co-hosts a weekly outdoors show that is syndicated to stations in Alabama. For more on the show, see www.gdomag.com. Contact him through his website at www. JohnNFelsher.com
40 SEPTEMBER 2015
“For many people, teal season is the kick-off for a new hunting season,” says Jud Easterwood, an Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources waterfowl biologist in Tanner. “Teal have very long migrations. Some of them go all the way to South America so they leave earlier than other ducks. FreLydia Lohrer shows off a blue-winged teal she killed. Teal season in Alabama is Sept. 12-27, with a limit of six per day. quently, blue-winged teal are long gone by PHOTO BY JOHN N. FELSHER the time the regular duck season opens. Hunters bag mostly Duck hunting in the north blue-winged teal in September, but occa- and on the coast sionally, they bag a green-wing.” “The prairie pothole breeding areas in Small, fast and tremendously agile, teal the northern United States and Canada often fly in tight flocks maneuvering as looked good this spring so we should have one unit. These unpredictable, incredibly at least the same amount of ducks coming challenging flight characteristics endear down this fall as we did last year,” predicts teal to many waterfowlers. Often, teal fly Seth Maddox, a state waterfowl biologist extremely low and erratically zoom over in Scottsboro. “The Tennessee River Valdecoys. They sometimes appear out of ley is the major duck hunting area in Alanowhere and vanish just as quickly. Fre- bama. Lake Guntersville is a very good quently, waterfowlers look over their de- waterfowl area and holds the most wintercoys and see nothing. Moments later, they ing waterfowl in the state.” notice several “decoys” swimming in the The largest lake in Alabama, Lake Gunpond and can’t figure out how they arrived tersville covers about 69,100 acres and without notice. snakes about 75 miles along the TennesOf course, sportsmen must find teal be- see River through northeast Alabama into fore they can bag them. One day, swarm- Tennessee. On Lake Guntersville, the Jacking clouds of teal might buzz around a son County Waterfowl Management Area particular pond like a whistling tornado. includes several public hunting tracts. The next day, waterfowlers might only stare These include the 8,507-acre Raccoon at empty skies. Creek WMA, the 2,069-acre Crow Creek www.alabamaliving.coop