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What licenses do I need to hunt waterfowl in Louisiana?
First, ALL hunters age 16 and older, resident or non-resident, must have a federal duck stamp ($15) and the Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit (free) to hunt waterfowl.
For Residents age 16 to 59, we sell 3 different hunting licenses: Basic ($15), Louisiana Sportsman's Paradise ($100), and Lifetime ($300). For Basic hunting license holders only, an additional Louisiana Duck license ($5.50) is required as is a Wildlife Management Area Permit ($15) if you intend to hunt WMAs. Residents who turned 60 after June 1, 2000 are required to have a Senior license ($5).
For Non-residents (NR), we also offer 3 licenses: NR Hunting Season ($150), NR 5-day Hunting Trip ($100), and NR 3-day Migratory Game Bird ($75). In addition to each of these, a NR Louisiana Duck license ($25) is required as is a WMA Permit if you intend to hunt WMAs.
When are the waterfowl seasons set each year?
Information on the status of breeding populations of waterfowl becomes available in mid-summer. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries uses that information to set specific season dates and bag limits at the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting in early August.
Which Wildlife Management Areas provide the best waterfowl hunting opportunities?
Many of our WMAs provide good waterfowl hunting, especially for those hunters who invest the time to learn particular areas and what it takes to be successful. Along the coast, Pass-a-Loutre, Pointe-Aux-Chenes, and Atchafalaya Delta WMAs can provide very fine waterfowling. Access to these areas is almost exclusively by boat, and traveling the Mississippi or Atchafalaya Rivers can be hazardous without adequate watercraft. More inland, Manchac and the South Farm of Sherburne WMAs are popular with waterfowlers. Manchac is across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans and requires a boat to access. Sherburne?s South Farm offers a lottery hunt every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of the season.
In Central Louisiana, the forested wetlands of Red River, Three Rivers, Grassy Lake, Spring Bayou, and Dewey Wills WMAs provide good waterfowl hunting opportunity depending on the water level, as do the managed fields, and forests of Boeuf, Ouachita, and Russel Sage WMAs in northeast Louisiana. Access varies on these areas from walk-in to nothing more than small boat.
Which species are most important to hunter harvest in Louisiana?
According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife harvest surveys, blue-winged teal (22%), gadwall (21%), and green-winged teal (16%) were the most common species in Louisiana hunter's bags during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Together, they accounted for nearly 60% of the total Louisiana harvest with mallards and wood ducks making up another 10% each. The goose harvest over the past 2 seasons has been about evenly split between light geese (snow and Ross' geese) and white-fronted geese.
What habitat improvements is Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries doing for waterfowl?
Louisiana is the most important wintering area for waterfowl in the Mississippi Flyway, and thus our goal is to provide high-quality habitat from mid-September through mid-March. Shallow-flooded impoundments are created with water-control capabilities so that water levels can be managed to favor growth of moist-soil vegetation that provides both seed and invertebrate foods for waterfowl when reflooded in the fall. Bottomland forest has been impounded (green-tree reservoirs) to provide forested wetland habitat and associated mast and invertebrate foods, and pumping stations are maintained in case precipitation is inadequate to reflood these habitats for waterfowl use.
Along the coast, we are restoring historic hydrology in degraded coastal marshes by blocking avenues of saltwater intrusion to reestablish emergent vegetation and the submerged aquatic vegetation that provides important food for ducks. We have also cut crevasses in the levees near the mouth of the Mississippi River, letting the sediment-laden water spill out and form small deltas which become excellent waterfowl habitat in 3-4 years.
What about wood ducks - Don't we produce a lot of wood ducks?
Indeed we do, and LDWF maintains a very active nest-box and banding program for wood ducks. Currently, about 2,700 nesting boxes have been placed and are being monitored and maintained by LDWF personnel. About 80% of those nest boxes are used in an average year. We also band a large number of wood ducks, over 1,700 last year alone. Banding is an important tool for estimating movements, harvest rates, and annual survival for wood ducks breeding here in Louisiana.
Where can I get a wood duck box?
LDWF does not give out or sell wood duck nesting boxes. All that we have are used in maintaining our program. Some retailers carry kits for you to assemble. However, you can contact our Library at (225) 765-2918 or (225) 765-2934 and get the plans and specifications to build them yourself. It?s a great project for conservation groups, boy scouts, or anyone with an interest in wood ducks.
Pearl River WMA
35,032 Acres
St. Tammany Parish
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