Biologists report on the most productive spots in each of the seven regions
The Sportsman’s Paradise, where waterfowlers were counting down the days until the start of the 2024-25 duck hunting season on public lands, made it through the first third of the hurricane season without a puff of air on coastal Louisiana.
Then Hurricane Francine interrupted the reverie when it blew in Sept. 11 in south central Louisiana. The Category 2 storm brought grief to people and property in its spiraling exit out-of-state but, fortunately, less devastation than anticipated to coastal and inland WMAs.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries game biologists reported on how the table is being set at top WMAs in all seven regions. Get your duck calls, shotguns and shells ready!
Hammond Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Pearl River WMA: 3,133 ducks reported (1.01 ducks per hunter effort)
Manchac WMA: 1,959 ducks reported (1.57 ducks per hunter effort)
Biloxi WMA: 681 ducks reported ( 2.11 ducks per hunter effort)
Hurricane Francine entered the preseason talk when she made landfall 30 miles west of Morgan City.
Forest Burks, Hammond Region biologist supervisor and an 11-year veteran LDWF biologist, echoed the sentiment of outdoorsmen across the state when he said, “We were hopeful to be spared this year. Yeah. It was pretty rough. It mixed things up out there. Some areas caught a lot worse than we did.”
The water rose but fell quickly so there are “no access issues,” Burks said the third week of September.
Francine may have moved ducks around because during the opening weekend of the special teal season most of the ducks were downed on Biloxi WMA and parts of Pearl River WMA, not on Manchac WMA or Joyce WMA, according to Burks.
He’s still optimistic for the big duck season on Pearl River WMA, which gave up 3,133 ducks last season, Manchac WMA, which gave up 1,959, and Biloxi WMA, which gave up 681. His preseason outlook hasn’t changed.
“The storm hasn’t messed up our habitat so I expect it to be the same,” he said, noting the harvest will consist mostly of gadwall, blue-winged teal and green-winged teal.
Lafayette Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Spring Bayou WMA: 2,264 ducks reported (1.7 ducks per hunter effort)
Richard K. Yancey WMA: 1,669 ducks reported (1.8 ducks per hunter effort)
Attakapas Island WMA: 1,510 ducks reported (2.5 ducks per hunter effort)
Sherburne WMA: 1,078 ducks reported (0.9 ducks per hunter effort)
Grassy Lake WMA: 447 ducks reported (2.1 ducks per hunter effort)
Pomme de Terre WMA: 158 ducks (2.2 ducks per hunter effort)
Four WMAs in one region each accounted for 1,000-plus ducks harvested in 2023-24.
No other region matched those numbers. The Coastal Lafayette Region came closest with three public areas checking in with 1,000-plus ducks, while the Hammond and Monroe regions each boasted two WMAs with harvests in the 1000s.
Lafayette Region WMA biologist supervisor Arthur Hebert said it’s tough to single out the region’s “top” WMAs because of different factors that equate a “good duck hunt.”
“Whether we are looking at total ducks harvested or ducks harvested per hunter, the WMAs in the region are similar in production,” Hebert noted.
Spring Bayou WMA and Richard K. Yancey WMA boasted the top harvests in 2023-24 with 2,264 and 1,669, respectively, while the highest average per hunter efforts were Attakapas Island WMA (which didn’t make the Top 5 in 2022-23) and Pomme de Terre WMA with 2.5 and 2.2 ducks per hunter effort.
“Waterfowl are migratory and highly mobile,” Hebert said. “A WMA may be holding a good number of birds but once word gets out to the duck hunters, it’s anyone’s guess how long they’ll stick around.
“Spring Bayou and Pomme de Terre are consistently among the top WMAs in the region to waterfowl hunt, and there is no reason they shouldn’t be this coming season…”
While opening weekends are preferred, Hebert said late-season duck hunts can be rewarding because there’s less pressure, as many waterfowlers have hung it up. Areas tend to be less crowded and, while birds tend to be more wary, resourceful waterfowlers can bring them in.
Lake Charles Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers of 2023-24
Sabine Island WMA: 97 ducks reported, 1 duck per 89 acres, 94 hunter efforts
Sabine Island WMA’s reputation for fair to good duck hunting was underscored last season despite a prolonged drought in the months leading up to it.
The WMA gave up 97 ducks in 94 hunter efforts during 2023-24, a vast improvement over the previous season when 31 hunter efforts bagged 12 ducks.
Lake Charles Region WMA biologist Kori Legleu Buxton said waterfowl hunting was a challenge across the region’s WMAs due to decreased surface water, thus less available waterfowl habitat. Water levels finally rose in December/January.
“The drought conditions probably had less impact on Sabine Island due to the Sabine River’s fluctuating water levels,” Buxton wrote in her report.
Buxton called Sabine Island WMA the best WMA for duck hunting in the region because of its cypress-tupelo swamps and sloughs. They offer the greatest opportunity for wood duck harvest, while waterfowlers in boat blinds usually harvest other species, including blue-winged teal and mallards, along the rivers and bayous.
Clear Creek WMA could be a viable option for waterfowlers, despite a minimal harvest in 2023-24. In 2022-23, however, 41 ducks were taken off it in 25 hunter efforts.
Minden Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Bodcau WMA: 1,136 ducks reported, 1,413 hunter efforts (0.80 ducks per hunter effort)
John Franks WMA: 309 ducks reported, 365 hunter efforts (0.85 ducks per hunter effort)
Loggy Bayou WMA: 218 ducks reported, 257 hunter efforts (0.85 ducks per hunter effort)
Duck hunters will be looking for wood ducks, mallards, teal and gadwalls on their favorite Minden Region WMAs in November.
Most of them expect to find them on Bodcau WMA, where duck harvests typically number more than 1,000 ducks each season. When it ramps up depends on the timing of cold fronts, according to Jeff Johnson, the Minden Region’s biologist manager.
“Whenever the ducks get here,” he said. “In all seriousness, it varies from year to year depending on when we get cold fronts. Anytime new ducks have recently arrived can be good.”
Bodcau WMA duck hunters harvested 1,136 ducks last season, a little more than the 1,057 ducks downed in 2022-23. Bodcau WMA, also known for its great squirrel hunting opportunities, led the region’s other WMAs for ducks last season.
Johnson suggested early morning duck hunts for those who like to target teal and perhaps mid-morning or later for other species there and at Loggy Bayou WMA (218 ducks in 2023-24) and John Franks WMA (309 ducks in 2023-24).
Monroe Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Boeuf WMA: 3,215 ducks reported, 1,771 hunter efforts (1.81 ducks per hunter effort)
Russell Sage WMA: 3,054 ducks reported, 1,813 hunter efforts (1.68 ducks per hunter effort)
The Minden Region’s biologist supervisor came up with a plan in the offseason to give migrating ducks a break in Wham Brake before the big duck season starts on Russell Sage WMA, where 3,054 ducks were harvested in 2023-24.
Mitch McGee’s idea should keep as many ducks as possible on the pond, so to speak, in Wham Brake. The new regulation closes that area to all motorized vessels 14 days before the season opens and during each split.
“We’re trying to limit the disturbance so the birds will settle down. We’re trying to hold everything we can for as long as we can,” he said, noting he realizes the new regulation won’t be everyone’s favorite.
The news isn’t so good for those disappointed that the pump was out last season on the Topan Tract north of Louisiana 4 on Boeuf WMA. It still hasn’t been fixed as of mid-September, McGee said.
The 14-year veteran game biologist said the pump’s seals leaked, which allowed water to get into the hydraulics. Repairs will be costly, he said, adding a crane needs to be moved onsite and a diver sent down to get the work done.
As of early September, Mother Nature was doing its part by putting water in the Topan Tract. McGee’s staff put boards back in to hold the water.
“We had some rain last week,” McGee said. “That kind of primed it.”
With more rain events between early September and opening day, he said, “It won’t take long to fill it up.”
Nevertheless, he said, “We’ve got every intention of trying to get the pump going as soon as possible. We’re working to get it repaired as we speak. It’s hard to say when it’ll be prepared.”
Pineville Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Dewey W. Wills WMA: 7,445 ducks reported (2.2 ducks per hunter effort)
Alexander State Forest WMA: 446 ducks reported (1.3 ducks per hunter effort)
Great waterfowl habitat makes for great duck hunting success.
No one knows that better than Cliff Dailey, biologist supervisor since 2013 for the Pineville Region WMAs. There is overwhelming proof on Dewey W. Wills WMA, where 7,445 ducks were harvested in 2023-24.
Dailey, who marks his 16th year with LDWF in December, wrote in his report that its sloughs, moist soil flats, borrow pits, flooded oak flats and impoundments create a duck hunting paradise. The WMA got even better after 2,440 acres of moist soil habitat were acquired in the Little River Basin, formerly Catahoula Lake. Primary species there are woodies, gadwall, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, pintails and mallards, Dailey said.
That Little River Basin area should be productive when water depths increase, giving up divers such as canvasback, ring-necks, scaup and redheads, according to Dailey.
Based on his experience, the best time to hunt the majority of the WMA is late winter during the second split when temperatures and available floodwater are favorable. Dailey advises hunters to set up before legal shooting time and hunt till at least 9 a.m.
Dailey pointed out his staff is working to improve Muddy Bayou (north of the Diversion Canal) by removing giant salvinia via herbicide and drawdown.
Coastal Lafayette Region
Top WMA waterfowl harvest numbers for 2023-24
Atchafalaya Delta WMA: 7,729 ducks reported, 2,661 hunter efforts (2.91 ducks per hunter effort)
Pointe-aux-Chenes WMA: 3,425 ducks reported 1,475 hunter efforts (2.32 ducks per hunter effort)
Pass-a-Loutre WMA: 2,471 ducks reported, 641 hunter efforts (3.85 ducks per hunter effort)
The last thing the top Coastal Lafayette Region needed between last duck hunting season and the upcoming season was the hit from Hurricane Francine.
Lance Campbell, the region’s biologist manager with 19 years of experience, wrote that after a dry late summer a storm could harm waterfowl habitat and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) production on the top three WMAs, including Atchafalaya Delta WMA. SAV is critical to attracting and keeping ducks.
“The Delta did sustain some damage but it wasn’t terrible,” said biologist supervisor Tyson Crouch. “The water came up briefly. (But) we did not lose a tremendous amount of SAV.
“The interior stuff was more protected. It didn’t look like we had a major surge of saltwater. There should be some recovery now to the start of the major duck season as long as we don’t get another storm event.”
Crouch, who graduated from Clemson and got his masters from Auburn before joining LDWF in 2011, feels right at home working the Coastal Lafayette Region.
The biologist supervisor believes Atchafalaya Delta WMA can match or exceed the 2023-24 harvest of 7,729 ducks. Most of the ducks probably will come off the Wax Lake Outlet, he said, adding, “It has a lot more usage for waterfowl. The layout of the Wax just has more habitat.”
Meanwhile, Pointe-aux-Chene WMA (3,425-duck harvest in 2023-24) and Pass-a-Loutre WMA (2,471-duck harvest in 2023-24) both were on the west (“dirty”) side of Francine.
