By Steve Weisman
Outdoor Editor

For the past few years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made the September teal season available to Iowans. This early season runs for 16 days statewide (September 1-16),  and according to Orrin Jones, waterfowl research biologist headquartered out of Clear Lake, “The early season is timed to take advantage of the peak migration of teal through Iowa. Although all teal species are legal during this special season, blue-winged teal will be the most common in Iowa.

Jones adds, “The blue-winged teal is a common nester throughout the prairie pothole region and one of the earliest migrating ducks, heading south in August and September.” Here in Iowa, Jones notes, “Teal nesting this year was probably around average. We had a good snowmelt in northern Iowa, which helped fill area potholes and sloughs.”

As with all duck hunting, success relies pretty much on the weather and the water. The key here is to get out and scout to see what sloughs are holding water. For early teal, the birds love the shallow waters along with some emergent mud flats. “Scouting is so important, because water levels can change so quickly with the hot dry conditions that can occur in August. I encourage hunters to spend time in the field and to get out on the areas you plan to hunt,” notes Jones.

In other words, don’t just show up to your spot and expect that the area will be huntable! In other words, don’t just show up to your spot and expect that the area will be huntable! The past month has been hit and miss as far as rainfall, so some areas are going to have shallow sloughs that have gone dry. In other words, don’t just show up to your spot and expect that the area will be huntable!

The past month has been hit and miss as far as rainfall, so some areas are going to have shallow sloughs go dry. The good news is much of northern Iowa got decent rainfall the weekend of August 5-6. Even so, scouting for water is extremely important.

When will they come through?

Who knows! Things can change by the day, even by the hour. 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 that are in the northerly and westerly direction. Then if temperatures remain mild down here in northwest Iowa, we’ll see a teal migration. This is why almost daily scouting is important, especially if you know a relative cold spell is settling in up north. 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.

If you have ever hunted teal, you know that they 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

Remember, the early teal season opens on September and runs through September 16. Rather than beginning shooting time at one half hour before sunrise, like it is for the regular duck season, teal season shooting hours are sunrise to sunset. The goal is to give hunters more light to be able to identify ducks, so the shooting times is moved back to sunrise. 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.

Register for HIP

As with dove hunting, teal hunters need to register for Harvest Information Program (HIP) either through the Go Outdoors Iowa app on their smartphone, through a link at www.iowadnr.gov/waterfowl or atwww.gooutdoorsiowa.com.  The DNR has detailed instructions on how to register for HIP online at www.iowadnr.gov/waterfowl.

Once registered, hunters will need to write a confirmation number on their license, print an updated copy of their license with the confirmation or take a screenshot of their confirmation on their phone to show proof of registration. Requiring a confirmation number will allow the DNR to better track migratory bird hunters – a federal requirement. If you have trouble getting registered, you can call the customer service number at (515) 231-1957.