By Steve Weisman

(Photo by Bill Beardsley)

Can you believe that our first hunting seasons are only two weeks away? As quickly as the summer has gone by, preparations for the early teal and dove seasons have almost slipped by me. Both open on Wednesday, September 1, but there is still plenty of time to get ready for these seasons. Lack of rainfall is probably the biggest news here. Much of northwest Iowa has been in dry conditions for more than a year, and our wetland areas are much different than they have been for the past several years. Of the two upcoming seasons, the water conditions will most certainly affect the teal season the most. This week we will take a look at the early teal season.

Early teal season

This early season runs for 16 days statewide (September 1-16), and success relies pretty much on the weather. Yes, water conditions are much different than the past several years, but Orrin Jones, DNR waterfowl biologist, still thinks the teal season can be a good one depending on weather. “Certainly, conditions are dry all the way into South Dakota, North Dakota and into Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and that has negatively affected reproduction. There will still be good numbers of adult birds, but there will be fewer hatch-of-the-year birds.” Most of the early migraters will be bluewing teal.

Locally, here in northwest Iowa, the smaller shallow wetlands have dried up. Thus, there will be fewer wetlands for both ducks and hunters. The ducks will still be able to utilize the semi-permanent and permanent wetlands. They will be significantly lower, but the dry conditions will provide mud flats that teal prefer.

The question is this: when will the teal show up? Any type of cool weather-gets these early migrators heading south. You can have teal around one day and lows get into the upper 30s to 40s that night, and they are gone by morning!

The key for good hunting here in northwest Iowa is for temperatures to drop into the upper 30s and lower 40s in Canada and down into the Dakotas and Minnesota, along with winds are in the northerly and westerly direction. Then if temperatures remain mild down here in northwest Iowa, we’ll see a teal migration.

The trouble will be if temperatures from Canada through Iowa stay mild with consistent southerly winds. There will be little if any migration during that stretch. That’s why the teal season requires so much monitoring weather forecast both here in Iowa and north, while at the same time scouting wetland areas looking for migrating teal.

This early season is the perfect time to get youngsters and new hunters out. It’s also the perfect time to get your hunting dog some early practice. Even though it is early, there is just something special about getting out into the marshes again. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the breaking of dawn…as a veteran waterfowler, it’s so cool to be able to share them with a youngster. They become memories for a lifetime. For longtime hunting partners, the stories of other hunts become part of the current experience.

Teal are the acrobats of the waterfowl world, darting in and out of a marsh in seemingly a split second. They often fly low over the cattails zipping through the area or all of a sudden, they will land. Often times, you will hear them way before they appear…in a blink of the eye, they are gone often times without a shot fired.

Regulations

Teal season shooting hours are sunrise to sunset which is different than regular duck season to help prevent misidentification. The daily limit is six teal (blue-winged, green-winged or cinnamon only) with a possession limit of 18. Bluewing teal will be the prevalent teal bagged.

License requirements include small game license, habitat fee, Iowa migratory game fee and federal duck stamp. Nontoxic shot is required, and guns must be restricted to hold no more than three shells.