The Texas early teal season began Saturday morning and, like most teal openers, the hunters who had done their homework and scouted birds had good hunts.
For those who headed to spots just hoping for a good hunt, many came away disappointed.
Many hunters took to social media to lament the lack of birds, especially in parts of East Texas and along the coast.
Reports continue to come in about huge numbers of teal staging in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, with low numbers right now in Texas and Louisiana. Better shooting could be on the way.
At the Thunderbird Hunting Club in Markham, owner Todd Steele reported a slower-than-normal opening weekend.
“For the opening weekend, 40 guns shot 226 teal for an average of 5.65 birds/gun,” he said. “Although we shot birds, this was the fewest teal I have seen on any opening weekend and typically we have a number of ponds holding a thousand-plus teal. This past Friday it was a stretch to call any pond loaded with teal. But don’t despair, read the migration report that follows. In general, reports across Texas and Louisiana reported very, very slow hunting. There were spots like ours that shot limits or near limits, but in general there is lack of birds across the southern states.”
Public hunters at Mad Island WMA in Matagorda County reported a slow opening weekend, as well.
Tough hunts were also reported around Mineola, Waco and Ennis, with several flocks of blue wings seen, but not many decoyed and not many shots were taken.
Some limits were taken by hunters in North Texas, although scouting was the big key to finding and shooting birds, especially on some of the bigger public lakes.
