9/19 Weekly Migratory Bird Hunting Report

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Sept. 19, 2007

Weekly Migratory Bird Hunting Report

High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Playa lakes filled to the brim encouraged bluewings to stop in the Panhandle. Good hunts were reported near Amarillo, Dumas, Etter and Spearman. Knox City hunters enjoyed good shoots as well. Prospects are good.

North Zone Teal: Teal hunting was fair to good on lakes and reservoirs in Northeast Texas. Lake O’the Pines and the Sulfur River bottom saw limits of birds. Caddo Lake hunting was slow. Toledo Bend, Lake Murvaul, Lake Lewisville and Lake Fork held birds. Better hunting was found closer the coast along the boundary line of IH-10. Devers, Sealy, China, Winnie and Hamshire rice fields were good for limit shoots. Central Texas hunters said they saw more teal than they have seen in a long time. A wet West Texas provide shoots on secluded ponds. Collin County took limits on small lakes and private ponds. Prospects are good.

South Zone Teal: Hunters across the coastal prairies and marshes said opening weekend of teal season was as good as 2006. A year ago, drought conditions across Texas, with the exception of the coast, had birds concentrated in the rice belt and marshes. This year, water is everywhere, and many hunters along the coast feared the birds would be scattered throughout the state. However, limits of bluewings were the norm and not the exception along the coast. The brunt of the birds seemed to be concentrated near El Campo, Garwood, Eagle Lake, Lissie, Wharton, Collegeport, Chesterville, Winnie and the High Island and Anahuac marshes. Hunters queried said 80 percent of their birds were drake bluewings, giving rise to the notion the second migration, mostly young males and hens that did not raise a brood, still have not made it to the coast. That could change any day with the forthcoming full moon slated for Sept. 26. Prospects are excellent.

North Zone Dove: Hunters in the Panhandle reported half-limits of mourning doves in milo and corn fields. Those able to rotate fields have taken limits of birds in the afternoon around watering holes. Collin County and Harrison County hunters said they saw an influx of birds this week with the north winds. Good numbers of mourners have been using soybeans near Bogota and Mount Pleasant. Look for more northern birds to migrate through the state with a brighter moon and cooler temperatures. Prospects are fair to good.

Central Zone Dove: San Antonio, Uvalde, Hondo and Del Rio continue to be the hotspots for whitewings, though hunting has slowed somewhat. Best hunts have been over sunflowers, milo and corn. More mourners moved into Cental Texas with the recent cool snap. Best hunts there have been over water in the afternoon. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Dove: The South Zone opens Sept. 21 and prospects look good. Whitewings are plentiful in the Rio Grande Valley near Harlingen, Brownsville, McAllen and Port Mansfield. Fields near Uvalde, Hondo, San Antonio, Laredo and Freer are holding birds. El Campo, Anahuac, Wharton and Matagorda County fields are showing lots of doves on power lines and fences. Beeville, Victoria, George West and Three Rivers should see steady shoots. Prospects are good.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20070919a