Hunters kill 380 ducks on opening day
Ducks have poured into the marshes surrounding the Salvador Wildlife Management Area, providing great hunting for those who have headed to the public property since opening day.
Many hunters who headed out of Pier 90 in Luling have returned with their limit of gray ducks, teal and gadwall. George Garcia, the harbor master at Pier 90, said last week that hunters either got their limits or returned because they had run out of shells.
“The season is looking pretty good so far,” he said. “There were a lot more big ducks this early in the season. Usually it is a lot of teal, but they have been killing a lot of big ducks.”
Garcia said that around 100 boats launched from Pier 90 over the weekend.
“They were anticipating a lot of ducks because there is no water up in the north to hold them up,” Garcia said. “Usually the ducks would be held up in Mississippi and Arkansas, but there is no water and corn, so we are anticipating they are just going to keep on heading south.”
Logan Loupe, who hunted with his brother, Aaron and dad, Chris, said the three had little problem reaching their duck limit in Lake Salvador.
“It was amazing at day break… the ducks just kept flying,” Loupe said. “We limited out killing gray ducks and green and blue winged teal.”
Loupe said that having so many hunters out on the water kept the ducks moving and that the birds were hitting the decoys throughout the morning.
And the word was out: Colby Unger said there were a lot of hunters in the Lake Salvador Management Area.
“We hunted the northern side of the Tank Ponds and hunters set up around us,” he said. “Birds were moving and we managed to kill a few. A lot of singles flew over and checked out our decoys.”
Tanner Hayes also hunted in the Tank Ponds and said he reached his limit of ducks by 6:30 a.m.
Sandy Canessa was one of the few female hunters out on the water when the season opened Nov 10, and said she reached her limit and returned to Pier 90 by 9:30 a.m.
“Just because I’m a lady doesn’t mean I can’t shoot,” she said.
According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, of the 380 ducks killed in Lake Salvador on opening day about 198 were killed in the Lake Salvador Management Area.
The other 182 ducks were killed in the Davis Pond Diversion ponding area.
About 45 percent of the ducks harvested were teal, while 39 percent were gadwall. LDWF estimates that 125 hunters went out in Lake Salvador on opening day.
Shane Granier, the biologist for Lake Salvador, urged hunters to fill out daily self clearing permits so that the LDWF can keep up-to-date numbers this hunting season.
“I want to know how people use the Lake Salvador Management Area because funding for the operations of the area comes from the species taken, such as wildlife and fish, and how many sportsmen use the area,” he said. “If everyone would fill out the daily self clearing permits, I could provide better reports.”
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