Opening day for Coastal Zone hunters pushed up to first Saturday in November
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission on Thursday voted to set the dates for the state’s 2015-16 waterfowl season, and opted to push the opening day for Coastal Zone hunters up to the first Saturday in November this year — Nov. 7.
Just last year, citing overwhelming public comment in favor of pushing the Coastal Zone back from its traditional second-Saturday-in-November start, the Commission voted to delay opening day one week in 2014 to Nov. 15.
But on Thursday, the Commission voted to move the 2015 Coastal Zone opening day up to Nov. 7.
According to information provided by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the full 60-day season dates for the Coastal Zone are Nov. 7-Dec. 6 and Dec. 19-Jan. 17, with the youth-only weekend slated for Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
In the West Zone, the full season is Nov. 14-Dec. 6 and Dec. 19-Jan. 24. Youth-only dates in the West Zone are Nov. 7 and Jan. 30.
In the East Zone, including Catahoula Lake, the season runs Nov. 21-Dec. 6 and Dec. 19-Jan. 31. Youth-only dates in the East Zone are Nov. 14 and Feb. 6.
The daily bag limit is six ducks, and may include no more than four mallards (no more than two of which may be female), three wood ducks, three scaup, two canvasbacks, two redheads, two pintails, one mottled duck and one black duck.
The daily bag limits on coots is 15. The daily bag limit for mergansers is five, only two of which may be hooded mergansers. Merganser limits are in addition to the daily bag limit for ducks.
The possession limit on ducks, coots and mergansers is three times the daily bag limit.
