Migratory Birds Hunting Schedule & Limit
SHOOTING & HAWKING HOURS
- Ducks, geese, teal, rail, gallinule, snipe and woodcock: One-Half Hour before sunrise to sunset, EXCEPT
- Shooting hours for black-bellied whistling duck is sunrise to sunset.
- Shooting hours for snipe at the Spanish Lake Recreation Area in Iberia Parish, including the Conservation Order, shall end at 2 p.m.
- Mourning dove: One-Half Hour before sunrise to sunset.
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| Species / Group | Zones & Season Dates | Daily Bag Limit | Possession Limit |
| Dove (mourning, white‑winged, Eurasian, ring‑necked) |
North Zone: Sept. 5-27, Oct. 10 - Nov. 15, Dec. 19 - Jan. 17 South Zone: Sept. 5-20, Oct. 17 - Nov. 29, Dec. 12 - Jan. 10 Falconry for Mourning Doves: Nov. 1 - Jan. 31 |
15 in total | 45 in total |
| Falconry daily bag and possession limit for all permitted migratory game birds must not exceed 3 and 9 birds respectively, singly or in aggregate, during the extended falconry seasons and regular hunting seasons. | |||
| Rails & Gallinules: King & Clapper Rails, Sora & Virginia Rails, Gallinules |
Statewide: Sept. 19-27, Nov. 7 - Jan. 6 Falconry: Nov. 1 - Jan. 31 |
King/Clapper: 15 Sora/Virginia: 25 Gallinules: 15 |
King/Clapper: 45 Sora/Virginia: 75 Gallinules: 45 |
| Snipe | Statewide: Oct. 31 - Jan. 10, Jan. 25 - Feb. 28 | 8 | 24 |
| Woodcock |
Statewide: Dec 18–Jan 31 Falconry: Nov 1–Jan 31 |
3 | 9 |
| Falconry daily bag and possession limit for all permitted migratory game birds must not exceed 3 and 9 birds respectively, singly or in aggregate, during the extended falconry seasons and regular hunting seasons. | |||
| Teal (blue, green, cinnamon) | Statewide: Sept. 19-27 | 6 | 18 |
| Black-bellied Whistling Duck | Statewide: Oct. 3-11 | 4 | 12 |
| Ducks, Coots & Mergansers |
East Zone: Youth & Veterans: Nov. 14 & Feb. 6 Regular: Nov. 21 - Dec. 6, Dec. 19 - Jan. 31 West Zone: Youth & Veterans: Nov. 7 and Jan. 30 Regular: Nov. 14 - Dec. 6, Dec. 19 - Jan. 24 Falconry for Ducks: East Zone: Nov. 5-20, Dec. 7-18 West Zone: Nov. 5-13, Dec. 7-18, Jan. 25-31 |
See Ducks, Coots and Mergansers below for more details | |
| Falconry daily bag and possession limit for all permitted migratory game birds must not exceed 3 and 9 birds respectively, singly or in aggregate, during the extended falconry seasons and regular hunting seasons. | |||
| Light Geese, White‑fronted & Canada Geese* |
East Zone: Nov. 14 - Dec. 6, Dec. 19 - Feb. 7 West Zone: Nov. 14 - Dec. 6, Dec. 19 - Feb. 7 |
Light Geese: 20 White‑fronted: 3 Canada: 1 |
Light Geese: none White‑fronted: 9 Canada: 3 |
| Conservation Order for Light Geese (Snow, Blue, Ross) |
East Zone: Dec. 7-18 Feb. 8 - March 7 West Zone: Dec. 7-18 Feb. 8 - March 7 |
No bag or possession limit. See “Geese” section for more detail | |
DAILY BAG LIMITS
-
Ducks: Daily bag limit on ducks is 6 and may include no more than 4 mallards (no more than 2 females), 3 wood ducks, 2 canvasbacks, 2 redheads, 1 black duck and 3 pintails (no more than 1 female).
- Only 1 scaup may be taken for the first 15 days of the season with 2 per day allowed for the remainder.
- No mottled ducks may be taken for the first 15 days of the season with 1 per day allowed for the remainder.
- Daily bag limits for scaup and mottled ducks during youth and veterans hunting days are 0 mottled ducks and 1 scaup if before the regular season, 1 mottled duck and 2 scaup if after the regular season.
- Coots: The daily bag limit for coots is 15.
- Mergansers: The daily bag limit for mergansers is 5; only 2 of which may be hooded mergansers. Merganser limits are in addition to the daily bag limit for ducks.
POSSESSION LIMIT
- The possession limit on ducks, coots and mergansers is three times the daily bag limit.
*CANADA GOOSE SEASON
The Canada Goose season is open statewide EXCEPT for a portion of southwest Louisiana:
- Closed in the following area: Beginning at the Texas State Line, proceeding east along Hwy 82 to the Calcasieu Ship Channel, then north along the Calcasieu Ship Channel to its junction with the Intracoastal Canal, then east along the Intracoastal Canal to its juncture with LA Hwy 82, then south along LA Hwy 82 to its juncture with Parish Road 3147, then south and east along Parish Road 3147 to Freshwater Bayou Canal, then south to the Gulf of America, then west along the shoreline of the Gulf of America to the Texas State Line, then north to the point of beginning at LA Hwy 82. Open waters of Lake Arthur and the Mermentau River, from the Hwy 14 bridge southward, will also be closed to Canada goose hunting.
BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS
Hunters participating in the black-bellied whistling duck season (Oct. 3–11) are required to possess a Black-bellied Whistling Duck Hunting Permit and must complete mandatory reporting of effort and harvest between Oct. 12-26. Report BBWD effort and harvest at: https://louisianaoutdoors.com/bbwd-report
DAILY BAG LIMITS: Only black-bellied whistling ducks may be taken during the black-bellied whistling duck season (Oct. 3-11). Daily bag limit on black-bellied whistling ducks is 4.