Calling all ducks

Tyler TX — Duck season kicked off last weekend and experts say the mallard numbers are the highest in thirty years. Some states don't allow you to shoot ducks while they're on the water, but Smith County game warden tells KETK that's not the case in Texas.

Texas waterfowl season runs from the beginning of November to the last weekend in January. Game Warden, Chris Swift said, "Duck ID is very important, there's different restrictions for different kinds of ducks." Swift tells KETK for a successful duck hunt, it's very important to scout out the ducks a few days beforehand. But he doesn't just issue the rules for duck hunting. "I used to be a competition caller, before I was a game warden, ended up winning a couple of championships," said Swift.

"Experts tell us the best way to attract ducks is with a duck caller, so we gave it a shot, and they seemed to respond.

Co-owner Shannon Smith, of Flying Aces in Tyler, tells KETK, the mallard numbers are so high, because a lot of birds never migrated as a result of last year's drought. Smith said, "Here close to Tyler a lot of people hunt Palestine, Lake Fork, Richland Chambers." When Smith hunts, he takes along his dog "Baloo," for what he calls a "retrieval machine."

For a list of hunting times for this waterfowl season, you can visit Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's website at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/season/waterfowl/ [1]