Texas Teal Season 2022

Duck hunting in Texas is one of the most popular seasons among hunters across the state. When November hits, hunters flood into fields, ponds, lakes, rivers, and the coast, shotgun in hand. If you’re new to duck hunting regulations in Texas, here are the regulations from bag limits to zones and dates.

Species of Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Cinnamon teal males have a red eye, long dark-colored bill, and vivid brown-orange plumage. They also feature a brown back and white underwing. Female, immature, and nonbreeding male are mostly rich brownish overall. All adults have sky-blue patch in open wing, similar to other teal and shovelers.

These birds are among the least abundant dabbling ducks in north america with breeding populations estimated at 100,000 to 300,000. While many of the water fowl species can be found anywhere, these ducks are confined only to the central and western fly ways.

Blue-winged Teal

Blue wings offer hunters an early start to the season as they typically come through in September. However, they’re much more challenging to identify at this time because they haven’t fully plummed. They’re small ducks that are most often found in shallow water marshes.

The drakes have a black bill and a dark-grey head with a white crescent patch. Their shoulder patches are baby blue, and their wing patches are white with green.

The hens are brown with a black bill. You can tell them apart from the drakes during the early season, but it’s tough when they’re in flight.

Green-winged Teal

Green wings typically come through during the regular season; however, you might encounter a few during the early teal season. They’re small ducks most often found in shallow water areas.

The drakes have a black bill and red head with green eyepatches and green wing patches. The hens are brown with a black and orange bill and green wing patches. As the season progresses, it’s easy to identify between drakes and hens.

Texas Hunting Zones

In Texas, every game animal has a season, bag limit, and other regulatiosn that can vary by geography. The geographic regions are known as zones. In Texas There are three main zones know as the High Plains Mallard Management Unit, South Zone, and North Zone. The zones are defined on the TPWD website.

Texas Early Teal Season 2022

In Texas the early teal season will run from September 10th through the 25th, 2022. The daily bag limit for teal during the early season is limited to 6 teal combined. Teal hunting in texas is also open during the regular duck season as follows.

Texas Duck Season

High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Oct. 29 - 30, 2022, Nov. 4, 2022 - Jan. 29, 2023 North Zone: Nov. 12 - 27, 2022, Dec. 3, 2022 - Jan. 29, 2023 South Zone: Nov. 5 - 27, 2022, Dec. 10, 2022 - Jan. 29, 2023