Sept. 2, 2025

Media Contact: TPWD News,  Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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AUSTIN – Teal hunting season kicks off Sept. 20 and for the first time in nearly 20 years, Texas waterfowl hunters face a shortened early season.

The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  (USFWS) and Canadian Wildlife Service in May of 2024 estimated the blue-winged teal breeding population at 4.55 million birds, a 15 percent decline and the lowest estimate in two decades. USFWS requires a minimum population of 4.7 million birds to authorize a full 16-day season.

The most recent May survey showed an even lower estimate of 4.4 million blue-winged teal, which is now 13 percent below the long-term average. Unfortunately, hunters can also expect another shortened season next year during the 2026-27 hunting season.

Blue-winged teal, the second most abundant duck in North America and the primary species targeted during Texas’s early teal season, have faced tough conditions on their northern breeding grounds. Prolonged drought in key areas of Canada and the Dakotas has reduced habitat quality and nesting success, leading to population declines.

“While it’s disappointing to see the decreased hunting season, teal remain an important and resilient species,” said Kevin Kraai, Waterfowl Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “Hunters can still expect fair opportunity this September, especially where wet conditions earlier in the summer have provided good habitat locally.”

Habitat conditions are on the drier side across Texas following a wet summer. Drought conditions in Central Texas restricted irrigation water for the state’s rice prairies and left landowners reliant on rainfall to fill wetlands and fields. Hunters can expect teal to concentrate in the areas where irrigation or groundwater is available.

Despite the challenges, Kraai indicates hunters can still anticipate an average teal season in Texas this fall.

“Local wet conditions earlier this summer should hold birds in many areas,” added Kraai. “Hunters who scout ahead and adapt to shifting conditions will likely find success.”

The nine-day statewide 2025 early teal season in Texas will run Sept. 20-28. The daily bag limit on teal is six, with a possession limit of 18.

Kraai reminds migratory bird hunters that they need to make sure they are Harvest Information Program (HIP) certified and confirm the HIP questions are answered correctly. HIP surveys allow biologists to get an accurate sample of migratory game bird hunters so the USFWS can deliver harvest surveys to selected participants later in the year.

Hunters should purchase their new 2025-26 Texas hunting license prior to hitting the field. In addition, teal/waterfowl hunters will also need a migratory game bird endorsement, Federal Duck Stamp and HIP certification. It’s also required by law that hunters have proof of their completion of a hunter education course.

The Duck Stamp Modernization Act of 2023 modified provisions of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, commonly referred to as the Duck Stamp, now allowing an individual to carry an electronic stamp (E-stamp) for the entire waterfowl hunting season.  A physical Federal Duck Stamp will be mailed to each E-stamp purchaser after the hunting season between March 10 – June 30, 2026.

Hunters can find teal season dates, regulations, bag limits and more on this year’s Outdoor Annual. Hunters can also access digital copies of their licenses via the Outdoor Annual and Texas Hunt & Fish apps.

Anyone hunting on Texas public hunting lands must purchase an Annual Public Hunting Permit. Texas has more than one million acres of land for public access. More information about these lands and locations can be found on the TPWD website. Hunters using public lands can complete their on-site registration via the Texas Hunt & Fish app.

Peterson pleads guilty to unlawful transport of animals

Local News

Sep 3, 2025

Deb Gau

Staff Writer

dgau@marshallindependent.com

• https://www.marshallindependent.com/news/local-news/2025/09/russell-man-sentenced-in-illegal-hunting-incident/

MARSHALL — A Russell man charged with shooting a deer from his vehicle pleaded guilty this week to unlawful transportation of wild animals, Lyon County court records said. Shawn Andrew Peterson, 56, received two years probation and had his hunting license suspended for three years, court records said.

Peterson appeared in Lyon County District Court Tuesday on charges of unlawful transportation of wild animals, discharging a firearm from a public highway, trespassing and transporting a loaded firearm. A criminal complaint alleged that last fall, a Lyon County resident reported seeing a pickup truck chasing a deer along 40th Avenue.

The driver of the pickup allegedly rolled down the window and shot the deer, the complaint said. A witness reported seeing Peterson and a second person run out into a field to retrieve the deer, the complaint said. The complaint alleged Peterson told law enforcement that he did not have permission to hunt in the area where the deer was shot.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Peterson pleaded guilty to unlawful transportation of wild animals, a gross misdemeanor. Court records said Peterson received a stayed sentence of 364 days in jail, a $500 fine, and two years probation. Peterson was also ordered to pay $500 restitution and forfeit the gun that was used in the incident. His hunting license would be suspended for three years, court records said.

The additional charges against Peterson were dismissed, court records said.

A one-eared elk, nicknamed ‘van Gogh’ is one of many elk visiting an area with a webcam on a daily basis. The number of elk is encouraging to hunters as this area was wiped-out by the hard winter of 2022-2023.

Mark Heinz

September 02, 20254 min read

Hunters must be mindful of elks’ keen sense of smell, but at least one curious cow elk in the Greys River area of Teton County is undeterred by residual human and horse scent at a game camera site. 

Video taken by the camera shows the cow elk — missing about half of one of her ears — walking right up to the camera, sticking her face into the lens and snuffing away.

“I am nicknaming her ‘van Gogh’ for her missing ear,” Teton County resident Lacelynn Seibel, who set the camera up, told Cowboy State Daily.

It’s a reference to famed 19^th century artist Vincent van Gogh, who sliced off part of his own ear.

Making Scents Of It All

An avid archery hunter, Seibel has been observing the Greys River herd since she moved to Teton County about three years ago. 

She was somewhat concerned about how good her trail camera footage would be this season, because she left a lot of scent at the site when she installed the trail camera.  

She rode her horse into the site and “it’s a little way back in there and we were both really sweaty when we arrived,” she said.

Like any archery hunter, she knows that even a small trace of human scent can be enough to ruin a good hunt.

However, older residual scent apparently doesn’t bother elk that much, Seibel said, because she’s captured great footage of van Gogh and other elk from the herd.

Alex Maher, an archery hunter from Jackson, said that matches his experience.

“I think you can walk by and minutes or hours later, they’re not going to pick your scent up off the ground,” he said. “The main part of elk smelling you is when you’re there.

“If you are upwind of elk, and they catch your scent, they’re out of there.”

Some hunters use “scent killer” formulas that can be sprayed on clothing or even used as laundry detergent. 

Maher said he relies more on paying attention to wind direction. He carries a “wind-checker” with him while hunting.

That’s a small, squeezable tube of fine powder. When the tube is squeezed, it shoots a puff of the powder into the air, which will indicate which way the wind is blowing. 

What’s With The Ear?

Like much of the wildlife in central and Western Wyoming, the Greys River elk suffered horribly during the hard winter of 2022-2023, when thousands of animals froze or starved to death.

Even so, elk are hardy and resilient, and Seibel said that from what she’s seen, the Greys River elk she tracks are making a strong comeback. 

“The past two years, the elk have had so many babies, and they’re all so fat,” she said.

As to how the particularly curious cow elk lost half an ear, Seibel said she doesn’t know. 

Van Gogh the artist sliced off part of his left ear on Christmas Eve in 1888, supposedly after a quarrel with his roommate in the south of France. 

He reportedly wrapped the severed ear and delivered it to a woman in a neighborhood brothel, instructing her to “guard this object carefully.”

It’s thought that the bizarre episode stemmed from van Gogh’s exhaustion and possible mental illness. 

Van Gogh the elk perhaps could have lost part of her ear to frostbite during that brutal 2022-2023 winter. 

Seibel doubts that’s the case because the ear stub has a clean edge. 

“It’s not typical what it looks like when they lose ears to frostbite, or get it caught in something,” she said. “It’s usually torn and tattered at the edges.”

‘It’s Just A Gorgeous Area’

Seibel said that as hunting season gets underway, van Gogh and the other cows in the herd are safe from her. 

She prefers to shoot bulls. 

“Last year I got a pretty good bull, so I’m holding out for an even better one this year,” she said. 

Most archery elk hunting seasons kicked off Monday. Seibel said she prefers to wait until the middle of the month before venturing out. That way, she misses the initial rush and is more likely to have the fields and woods to herself. 

And even if she doesn’t end up filling her elk tag, the experience is always worth it, she said.

The territory that the elk occupy have become one of her favorite places in the world. 

She relocated to Teton County from the Midwest, where she loved archery hunting for elusive white-tailed deer. Archery elk hunting has proven to be a new challenge. 

“It’s cool getting to know the terrain and how the animals use it,” she said. “It’s just a gorgeous area.”

News brief

September 2, 2025

Lisa Schnirring

Topics

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Marking the first H5N1 avian flu detection at a US commercial poultry farm since early July, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on August 28 confirmed an outbreak at a South Dakota turkey farm.

The facility in Faulk County has 55,400 birds. The last detection at a commercial farm occurred in early July at a game bird facility in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Since then, there was a detection at a live-bird market in Los Angeles County and in backyard birds in St. Lawrence County, New York.

Detections often drop off in warmer months, but sporadic detections in wild birds, dairy cows, domestic cats, and wildlife have continued over the summer.

UK confirms 2 more H5N1 detections

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has been experiencing an early rise in H5N1 outbreaks in poultry, with a spate of detections that began in late July.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs over the past few days reported two more, one at a facility in Devon and the other involving captive birds at a location near Somerset.