Scouting

Coastal marshes and flooded rice fields are the favorite habitat of teal in south Louisiana, and bluewings are usually thick in this region by early fall. In a good location, shooting a four-bird limit in 15 or 20 minutes isn't unusual. Even so, Rod Haydel, president of Haydel's Game Calls (haydels.com) in Bossier City, Louisiana, is quick to point out the importance of scouting prior to hunting teal along the Gulf Coast, especially in the marsh. 

"If you're off the line by even a hundred yards, you can literally sit there and watch teal fly by all morning," Haydel says. "As far as flight paths go, certain areas are good year after year. Teal tend to skirt the edges of grass and points in the marsh, and they'll often fly over little islands next to those points." 

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