Regulations, conditions favor duck hunters
By BOB MARSHALL The Times-Picayune

NEW ORLEANS - It's a double dose of good news for Louisiana waterfowlers: the state Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has announced another duck season based on the liberal 60-day, six-bird limit, and state biologists said wintering waterfowl habitat across much of the state is in excellent condition.

The regulations for the 2008-09 seasons feature an early start, a closed season on canvasbacks and reduced regulations on scaup (dos gris).
Ducks: West Zone: Nov. 8-30, Dec. 13-Jan. 18. Youth weekend: Nov. 1-2. East Zone: Nov. 15-30, Dec. 13-Jan. 25. Youth weekend: Nov. 8-9.
Daily bag: Six ducks not to include more than four mallards (not more than two of which can be hens), one pintail, three mottled ducks, one black duck, three wood ducks and two redheads. Hunting canvasbacks is closed this season.

Scaup (dos gris): One per day until Dec. 30 in the West Zone and one per day until Jan. 6 in the East Zone, then two per day on those dates in both zones and thereafter.

White-fronted and light geese: West Zone: Nov. 8-30, Dec. 13-Jan. 30. East Zone: Nov. 3-30., Dec. 13-Jan. 25.

Daily bag: White-fronted, two; light geese, 20.
Conservation Order for light geese: West Zone: Dec. 1-12, Jan. 31-March 8. East Zone: Dec. 1-12, Jan. 26-March 8.
Bag limit: During this time, only snow, blue and Ross' geese may be taken and daily bag and possession limits are eliminated. The use of electronic calls and unplugged shotguns is permitted. Shooting hours during the order begins one-half hour before sunrise and extends until one-half hour after sunset.

The liberal regulations were allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service even though a drought spreading across the northern breeding grounds had resulted in lower numbers of wetlands, as well as fewer breeding ducks. But while production is expected to be lower than last year, key figures in the formula the USFWS uses to set regulations had not changed enough to warrant a reduction in hunting pressure, at least on most species. Larry Reynolds, waterfowl study leader for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said any birds that do arrive on the Louisiana coast will find plenty of food and shelter.

The southeastern and central portions of the coast hold a thickly growth of submerged aquatic vegetation that will attract and hold birds, thanks to the very high spring runoff of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, he said.
"Those areas are in the best shape they've been in a long time," Reynolds said. "We should be in great shape this winter - as long as we don't get any hurricanes."

The story is different in southwest Louisiana, where habitat is good but not as flush as the past two years. That region had experienced a flowering of prime waterfowl habitat because the big storm surges from hurricanes Katrina and Rita had scoured away invasive plant species that had been clogging marshes, allowing the re-growth of native plants.

"Well, the invasives have started coming back," Reynolds said. "It's still good, just not as great as it has been."