44 surveyed hunters kill only 25 ducks
Local duck hunters ventured into the Lake Salvador Management Area last weekend for the opening of the season, but many struggled to kill birds.
While hunters in other areas of the state had a lot of success, Nathan Verdin, of Paradis, didn’t have much luck.
“I like to hunt early in the season to get shots on birds that haven’t been shot yet because later these birds will be flying 100 miles per hour when diving at the decoys. But the Lake Salvador Management Area didn’t have any birds,” Verdin said.
Hunter Floyd Adams echoed Verdin.
“I didn’t fire a single shot,” he said. “It was terrible.”
The official numbers seem to back Verdin and Adams. Todd Credeur, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, was gathering information on ducks killed at Pier 90’s boat launch in Luling. His records showed that 44 hunters combined to kill only 25 birds, including eight blue wing teal, four green wing teal, two gray ducks, two spoonbills, two wood ducks, a coot and six gallinules.
Brody Vial and Thomas Hymel made their usual duck hunt launching out of Pier 90. They ended the trip with one drake wood duck.
“Maybe the season opened too early, but the ducks are not down yet,” Vial said.
The first split of the Coastal Zone, which includes Lake Salvador, lasts until Dec. 1. The second split will take place between Dec. 14 and Jan. 19.
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