The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) voted to tentatively adopt proposed season dates, bag limits and shooting hours for the 2008-09 migratory waterfowl season at their Aug. 7 meeting.  The dates will be ratified by a declaration of emergency from the commission, after approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is once again recommending a 60-day season be adopted for ducks and coots.  In the West Zone, the first segment will open on Nov. 8 and close on Nov. 30.  The second segment will open on Dec. 13 and run through Jan. 18.  In the East Zone, the first segment will go from Nov. 15-30.  The second segment will last from Dec. 13-Jan. 25.

Youth waterfowl weekend in the West Zone is Nov. 1-2 and in the East Zone Nov. 8-9.

The daily bag limit on ducks is six and may include no more than four mallards (no more than two of which may be females), one pintail, three mottled ducks, one black duck, three wood ducks and two redheads.  The daily bag limit for scaup is one per day until Dec. 30 in the West Zone and one per day until Jan. 6 in the East Zone.  Daily bag limit for scaup is two per day on those dates and thereafter in both zones.  The daily bag limit on coots is 15.  Canvasbacks will not be allowed this year in the daily bag limit on ducks and will be closed statewide for the 2008-09 season.  In addition to the daily bag limit for ducks, the daily bag limit for mergansers is five, only two of which may be hooded mergansers.  The possession limit on ducks, coots and mergansers is twice the daily bag limit.

Light geese and white-fronted geese will have a 72-day season.  The first segment in the West Zone will open on Nov. 8 and close on Nov. 30.  The second segment in the West Zone will run from Dec. 13-Jan. 30.  The first segment in the East Zone will open on Nov. 3 and run until Nov. 30.  The second segment will run from Dec. 13-Jan. 25.  The daily bag limit on light geese is 20, with no possession limit.  The daily limit on white-fronted geese is two, with a possession limit of four.

The special-permit-required Canada goose season will be from Jan. 10-25 statewide, except for a small area in southwest Louisiana.  The daily limit for Canada geese is one and the possession limit is two.  The special $5 permit may be obtained from any license vendor.

The Statewide Conservation Order for light geese will open in the West Zone on Dec. 1, and the first segment will close on Dec. 12.  The second segment in the West Zone will run from Jan. 31-March 8.  The first segment in the East Zone will run from Dec. 1-12, and the second segment will be from Jan. 26-March 8.  During this time, only snow, blue and Ross? geese may be taken and daily bag and possession limits are eliminated.  The use of electronic calls and unplugged shotguns is permitted.  Shooting hours during the Conservation Order begin one-half hour before sunrise and extend until one-half hour after sunset.

Rails may be taken from Nov. 8-Dec. 31.  For King and Clapper rails, the daily limit is 15 in the aggregate, with a possession limit of 30.  Sora and Virginia rails have a daily and possession limit of 25 in the aggregate.

Gallinule season will open on Nov. 8 and close on Dec. 31.  The daily bag limit is 15 and possession limit is 30.

Snipe may be taken in the first segment from Nov. 1-30 and from Dec. 13-Feb. 27 in the second segment, with a daily bag limit of eight and a possession limit of 16.

Shooting hours for migratory bird hunting, except for the Conservation Order, are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset, except at the Spanish Lake Recreation Area in Iberia Parish where shooting hours, including the Conservation Order, end at 2 p.m.

An extended falconry season for ducks, rails and gallinules will take place from Nov. 1-Jan. 30.

For more information, contact Larry Reynolds at 225-765-0456 or lreynolds [at] wlf [dot] louisiana [dot] gov.