The beginning of every duck hunting season is marked with the early teal and wood duck seasons. Normally teal season begins in September before the regular duck hunting season begins. Hunting teal gives you the advantage of early-season ducks that lack fear. That doesn’t mean that hunting teal is going to be easy. Being one of the smartest of the “dumb duck species” it’ll take a little more strategy than some of their dumber cousins.
Teal Hunting Tips and Tricks
Teal are easily the smartest of the dumb duck species. They love strafing and twisting front of your blind and tempting yet nearly impossible shots. Almost like fighter jets dangerously taunting you from the sky and even coming back for a second pass. And when they do land you’ll be tempted to throw rocks at them to flush.
You Have to Know Where To Look
In most states teal hunters are given the first chance at the waterfall gunning season. Teal hunting is known to be extremely opportunistic and if you don’t know where to go you’re out of luck. Just like when you’re out dove hunting teal hunters need to know where to look. There are a ton of different factors that are going to affect the duck patterns,, but none are more important than the weather and water. They prefer extremely shallow water and are often found in mud flats, marshes, reservoirs and shallow Ponds and Lakes.
You’re Going To Need Some Luck
You’ll also have to keep an eye on the timing of northern cold weather. With extremely short seasons it’s common to actually miss the migration. If there’s a late migration you most likely won’t see any birds. Other times though migrate just before the beginning a hunting. When you have an unusually dry summer and there’s very little water they won’t linger for long continuing their migration south.
Hopefully you’ll have an abundance of food and water in your hunting ground that will appeal to migrating ducks. If the water is easily available they could actually stay around for months providing some very fun shooting opportunities. Just remember that teal are never guaranteed, but there definitely cherry on the top of hunting season.
Hunting Setups
Teal aficionados prefer the tradition of bringing out their prized little teal decoys, but it’s hard to say how much of a difference actual Teal decoys make. That being said I don’t like to test my like and bring out my aged collection of teal paired with a few mallards. You really don’t have to spend a lot to buy a set of Teal decoys. With a few sets of the budget Avian-X Decoys you’ll be good to go. I like to bring out a couple dozen deeks to build up some confidence.
If you don’t have a large hunting budget there’s a lot of other hunting equipment you should buy before decoys dedicated to a short season. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like spending the cash, you shouldn’t need a dedicated teal setup for the first few weeks of the hunting season. Teal will readily decoy to just about any other puddle duck decoy.
Find The Right Spread
All you’re really going to need is a few dozen high-quality decoys. Since the water is extremely shallow you should shorten your decoy strings to match the bottom. Try not to cover a lot of ground since Teal tend to bunch up. If you have the extra cash to buy a few more decoys use a more open spread creating a wider canvas. From the distance it will create a much bigger impact on the ducks.
Take Advantage of The Wind
Since all waterfall lands going into the wind make sure you set your decoys up accordingly. Take full advantage of the wind it set up your decoys with a landing pocket front of your blind. Since teal tend to come in close you’re going to want to set up your decoys closer than you think. Try setting up a basic blind around shoreline vegetation it doesn’t have to be to elaborate. If you want you can even simply wear camouflage since teal season is most often in September. Instead of setting up an elaborate blind, most of the time I’ll bring along some cheap camo netting and a couple stakes to setup a basic “instant blind”. Throw in your favorite hunting blind chair (I love the ALPS Outdoorz Blind Chair) and you’ll be off to the races.
Teal Hunting Tactics
Your first step is going to be to locate the birds, but that’s easier said than done. When hunting public waterfowl areas give a call to your local parks service. State waterfowl biologist should be able to give you basic info on the migrations and local waterfowl populations. Try scouting all of the public reservoirs, marshes, coastal areas and large lakes a few days before the season. Keep an eye out for mud flats with extremely shallow water.
Bring along your favorite pair of hunting binoculars to try and identify some birds. If you don’t have luck one day be willing to give some other areas a try. Changing water levels will make a big difference on this shallow water bird.
Don’t Expect Big Flocks
You should never expect the same size flocks like you see with other species. Even though there are lots of teal in an area that doesn’t mean they’ll fly in a large flock. Most of the time their populations will vary from day to day as more birds start to filter in.
Best Teal Duck Hunting Calls
Skip the specialty calls and buy a high quality mallard call. You’ll have a lot of luck using a basic mallard call like this Buck Gardner Double Nasty Call. Mallard calls will bring in a ton of birds if you know how to use one. Make sure you stick to the soft calls spread out slowly. Don’t use any loud highballs or other demanding calls. Soft quacks, sit down calls and feeding calls are going to be your bread and butter. If you want to throw in a little variety try using a Widgeon Whistle or specialty Teal call .
Gunning Teal
Gunning for teal is really a humbling experience even for expert gunners. For less experienced shooters it might even be a day filled with frustration. Twisting, darting and flying at speeds over 50 mph through trees and brush make them extremely challenging. Your first couple birds will most likely be the result of blind luck versus skill. Instantly going into evasive action maneuvers they’ll explode in all directions.
Don’t Get Tempted With Flock Shooting
Flock shooting is almost impossible with birds that move this fast. It’s especially ineffective when aiming at tiny targets that react as a group. It’s extremely important to visually find one bird that you want to take out and stay on it. No matter how difficult it is, follow-through shooting will bring you the most birds. Pick out a bird, swing with it, follow through and shoot. They’ll go down easily using light fast loads. My go to shot is 2 3/4 in No 4’s With 1 ounce shot. You shouldn’t have to spend a lot on shells to take out teal. With a little practice you’ll be taking down more birds than you ever thought possible.