Hunting seasons popping up like spring mushrooms

Daniel Smith, Seymour, Holds his first teal of the 2016 season while hunting at the Schell-Osage Conservation Area.

Ken White | Special to the Daily Mail

Opening day of the small migrating birds season started Friday. As usual, some cool nights have nudged the doves to pack up and head south.

“I have seen more doves this year than in a long time,” said Jim Lawson, a 67-year-old Missouri dove hunter.

“In my 25 years of hunting those fast flying birds, I don’t remember seeing so many birds before opening day, but it seems we always get some cool nights just before the season opener on September 1 and the birds aren’t around too long. Last year I had a good opening day; after that they got wise and you couldn’t get close to them.”

Lawson like a lot of other dove hunters, who also like to fish, hunts near a farm pond or utilizes small water holes. So when the birds aren’t flying, he can at least go fishing.

“Several times last year, I was able to shoot some doves and catch a few fish as well,” said Lawson

Another plus of the early dove season is that you can locate where the blue wing teal are working, so on opening day (Sept. 9) of the early teal season, you have an idea where they are or aren’t. Last year Lawson said he even added a snipe to the teal he bagged.

Waterfowl officials are predicting another good flight of teal that will be heading south this year. Already, there are a sizable number of these small ducks in the state. The teal season that opens Sept. 9 will run through Sept. 24. with a daily limit of six teal and possession limit after opening day of 18.

John Farris with a 16 inch crappie he caught on Bushwacker Lake. It shows that fishing is going strong as hunting seasons are opening.

Ken White | Special to the Daily Mail

Lawson was scouting for dove last week and saw several teal as well as some wood ducks. Hunters will need to be sure they are shooting at teal and not “woodies.”

Teal hunters will have from sunrise to sunset to get their limit of a half-dozen teal this season and, in most of the state the water and food conditions are good. Some places, however, including the Schell-Osage Wildlife Area, have too much water at present.

One observer said it looks more like Truman Lake instead of Schell. It remains to be seen what effect the high water will have by the time the regular duck season opens later, but right now there are only a few teal in the area.

A boatload of successful teal hunters pulls into short after an opening day hunt 2016 at Schell-Osage Conservation Area. Things will be different for the opening day, Sept. 1 as the lake is very high and few teal on using the area.

Ken White | Special to the Daily Mail

As usual, both snipe and rail season also started on Friday.

There are a lot fewer hunters out for these two migrants. It’s a big difference between a rail and snipe. The rail is a slow flying small bird that can be found in weedy marshes. It has a short flight and often by the time a hunter shoots, the bird has already dropped back into the marsh.

Hunting them by wading in knee-deep water with mosquitoes buzzing around, looking for a bird the size of a common blackbird with the temperatures hovering near 90 degrees doesn’t appeal to most hunters. The daily limit on these small birds is 25 with the possession limit 75 after opening day.

The snipe, yes, there is such a bird, is a much different target than the rail. This fast flying bird with a long beak, is a challenge similar to the dove. It is usually found near the shore of ponds or small lakes looking for food. The snipe season opened Friday and will run through Dec. 16, with a daily limit of eight birds.

Although fishing is still going strong, hunting seasons will be popping up like spring mushrooms. As always, here in Missouri, we have a lot to look forward to in our outdoors.