Teal Hunting

Kentucky's New Teal-Only Season, Sept. 22-25, 2014

Kentucky will open its first teal-only season in 2014. This special season, which includes blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon teal, provides waterfowl hunters more opportunity to harvest these ducks early in the season.

Blue-winged teal (Anas discors) are the second most abundant duck in North America, behind only mallards in total numbers. The 2014 population estimate was 8.5 million birds – 10 percent higher than 2013 and 75 percent above the long-term average (1955-2013).

They breed primarily in the northern prairies and parklands of north-central U.S. and Canada. They winter in the southern United States, Mexico and south into South America.

Blue-winged teal are one of the first ducks to migrate south in the fall and last to arrive on the breeding grounds in the spring. Their fall migration through mid-latitude states including Kentucky generally begins in late August. Although their numbers usually peak in mid to late September, they may linger into late October. 

Males migrate south first, followed by females and young of the year later. During their spring migration, blue-winged teal move through Kentucky as early as March. Most birds, however, migrate through the state in April and early May.

Teal-only Season Approved

Blue-winged teal comprise only a small proportion of the regular duck season harvest because of their migration pattern. Since 1967, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed states to schedule a short “teal only” season in September, prior to the opening of regular duck seasons. Most states were allowed up to 16 days for their “teal only” season.

Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida, however, also have September wood duck seasons. For these states, teal season had to run at the same time as wood duck season. In Kentucky, the combined wood duck/teal season was limited to five days.

Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida have been working through their respective flyways to obtain additional “teal only” days that could be added to the end of their wood duck seasons. In June 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved requests from Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida to add four days or a teal only season, to run after the end of the current teal/wood duck season. 

Federal approval occurred after the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission had met to set the dates for the 2014 September waterfowl seasons. Season dates this year had to be scheduled during the week instead of overlapping a weekend as desired.

For 2014, the combined wood duck/teal season is Sept. 17-21. The four-day experimental teal-only season is Sept. 22-25. Hunters may harvest up to six teal a day during the teal-only season.

Teal Identification

Blue-winged teal are one of North America’s smaller ducks. They are approximately 1/3 the size of a mallard. Fall migrating blue-winged teal are easily distinguished in flight by the large gray-blue patch visible on the upper half of the wing. On the water, they resemble small hen mallards with dark bills.

Both sexes look alike in the fall because the males are still in their eclipse plumage: they lack the dark head and stark white crescent behind the bill so readily observed during spring migration.

Cinnamon teal and northern shovelers are similar in that they have blue patches on their upper wings. While cinnamon teal can be taken during the September seasons, northern shovelers cannot be harvested at this time. Cinnamon teal are rare visitors to Kentucky. For many hunters, they are indistinguishable from blue-wing teal since both species are in eclipse plumage and have a similar appearance.

Teal Hunting Tips

Blue-winged teal prefer large shallow open ponds and marshes. Top spots to look for teal include broad shallow flats with plenty of open water and ringed by emergent vegetation like smartweed, sedges or grasses.

The largest number of blue-wing teal migrate through the western one-third of the state. Places like the flats of Barkley/Kentucky Lakes, Ballard/Boatwright Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Peabody WMA and Sloughs WMA offer exceptional teal hunting when birds are moving through. However, some central Kentucky reservoirs, including Green River, Cedar Creek and Taylorsville lakes, also attract good local concentrations of teal.

Blue-wings are generally not as skittish as other duck species. Hunters don’t need much in the way of special equipment: just a bag of decoys, hip boot waders, a trusty gun and lots of shotgun shells will suffice. Hunters can take advantage of natural cover around ponds and marshes and don’t need a blind.

A hunter can call birds into a pond with a teal call, which consists of one long, high-pitched note followed by a rapid series of descending notes, or use a mallard call with the same series of notes to get the ducks’ attention. They can also use a “laughing” call where the hunter laughs with his voice, usually from a distance.

Teal are known for their speed on the wing. Birds may fly low and get quite close to the water, which makes them even more challenging to hit because of their small size and erratic flying with lots of twists and turns.

Remember this new opportunity is a teal-only season. All three species of teal are legal quarry, blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon, but blue-wings will by far be the most common. Make sure of your target before you shoot and enjoy a few extra days in the marsh.