Saginaw Bay is covered with them in late summer and come September many gather in groups up to 100 birds. The shooting fun was absolutely fantastic as endless flocks of Blue-winged Teal would strafe our decoy spread.īlue-winged Teal are slightly larger than their green wing cousin and they tend to gather in large flocks, 6-30 birds and migrate across Michigan earlier than other ducks. My favorite haunt was Quanicassee State Wildlife Area east of the Saginaw River and Nayanquing Point found north of Linwood.
I remember the old special teal season when I would drive from Midland to Saginaw Bay and we would set decoys on the water bordering large marshes. They challenge your waterfowling skills in every way and test your marksmanship. Teal are bold, blitz into your decoy spread and blast out before you can shoulder your shotgun. The swooshing sound of their wings can sound like an attack jet plane diving toward earth.
Others bank, circle at jet fighter speeds and zoom past your blind like they have jet engines attached to their tiny bodies. Some hit the water inside your decoy spread with a solid plop. Instead they dive bomb decoy spreads like miniature kamikaze ducks flying at unrealistic speeds. Unlike mallards they don’t cruise over decoys at high altitudes. Many swoosh past at lightning speed and you don’t even get your gun to your shoulder and they are gone, out of range, dipping and diving in and out of sight at supersonic speeds. This is the brand of duck hunting where you need to keep your head turning to spot distant dots in the sky that quickly merge as teal blasting your direction.
Some fly cattail height and zoom over decoys like mig jets with their tail feathers on fire while other flocks climb to the heavens and swoosh over open pockets of water exceeding speeds of 60 mph. The first hour of early teal season is a hoot as gunners begin shooting at flocks and birds swerve throughout the marsh. Hunters will need a Michigan waterfowl hunting license, HIP, Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp and Michigan Base License. The bag limit is 6 birds per day and possession limit is 12 birds, which can include Blue-winged or Green-winged Teal. The special early teal season opens statewide again this year on September 1 and runs 7 days until September 7. The Michigan DNR is conducting a 3-year experimental early teal season and this could be your final opportunity to sample this splendid hunting opportunity. Don’t miss early teal season this year, the shooting opportunities are better than regular duck season in October. However, many Michigan duck hunters missed the early teal season because they didn’t know it existed. The special early teal season gives waterfowlers an opportunity to extend their season and enjoy fast-paced shooting excitement during warm weather. The USFWS recently completed a teal harvest assessment indicating teal populations can sustain additional harvest beyond regular duck migrate south prior to the regular duck season. To sweeten the pie Michigan is taking part in a 3-year early teal season because federal studies indicate continental blue-winged teal populations have grown in recent years. Hey, geese are fun and woodies are prolific but with mallard numbers way down many Michigan waterfowlers have made the switch to teal hunting. Suddenly there were a few shots to the west and then all hell broke loose as hunters opened up on one of the most challenging birds to hunt–teal.
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