Louisiana · Duck · 2026–27 Edition
Louisiana Duck Season 2026–27: Zone Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons by zone
| Season / Segment | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Teal (blue-winged, green-winged & cinnamon) | Statewide | Sep 19 – Sep 27 |
| Black-bellied Whistling Duck | Statewide | Oct 3 – Oct 11 |
| Falconry for Ducks · Window 1 | West Zone | Nov 5 – Nov 13 |
| Falconry for Ducks · Window 1 | East Zone | Nov 5 – Nov 20 |
| Youth & Veterans Waterfowl Day | West Zone | Nov 7 – Nov 7 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 1 | West Zone | Nov 14 – Dec 6 |
| Youth & Veterans Waterfowl Day | East Zone | Nov 14 – Nov 14 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 1 | East Zone | Nov 21 – Dec 6 |
| Falconry for Ducks · Window 2 | West Zone | Dec 7 – Dec 18 |
| Falconry for Ducks · Window 2 | East Zone | Dec 7 – Dec 18 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 2 | West Zone | Dec 19 – Jan 24 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 2 | East Zone | Dec 19 – Jan 31 |
| Youth & Veterans Waterfowl Day | West Zone | Jan 30 – Jan 30 |
| Falconry for Ducks · Window 3 | West Zone | Jan 25 – Jan 31 |
| Youth & Veterans Waterfowl Day | East Zone | Feb 6 – Feb 6 |
02 — Bag limits
| Duck — Daily | 6, including no more than 4 mallards (max 2 hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 canvasbacks, 2 redheads, 1 black duck and 3 pintails (max 1 hen). Scaup: 1 daily for the first 15 days of the season, 2 daily after. Mottled duck: none for the first 15 days, 1 daily after |
|---|---|
| Duck — Possession | Three times the daily bag |
| Scaup & mottled duck on Youth/Veterans Days | 0 mottled duck and 1 scaup on a youth/veterans day that falls before the regular season opens; 1 mottled duck and 2 scaup on one that falls after |
| Coot — Daily | 15, separate from the duck limit |
| Merganser — Daily | 5, only 2 may be hooded mergansers — separate from and in addition to the duck daily bag limit |
| Teal — Daily / Possession | 6 / 18 |
| Black-bellied Whistling Duck — Daily / Possession | 4 / 12, confirmed directly from LDWF's own 2026-2027 Migratory Birds Hunting Schedule table |
| Falconry for Ducks | 3 daily / 9 possession, singly or in the aggregate across all permitted migratory game birds |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 19, 2026) 06:25 — 19:07
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset for ducks, geese, teal, rail, gallinule, snipe and woodcock (per LDWF) — no evening extension, unlike Louisiana's general big-game shooting-hours rule. Black-bellied Whistling Duck is the one exception: sunrise to sunset, no half-hour-early start.. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Louisiana sun times for any other date.
04 — License, HIP & Duck Stamp
Duck hunters in Louisiana need three things (in addition to any state-specific waterfowl stamp): a Louisiana hunting license, HIP registration (Harvest Information Program) and a Federal Duck Stamp — required for hunters 16+ under federal law.
Louisiana hunting license cost & waterfowl stamp →
Where to hunt public land in Louisiana — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does duck season open in Louisiana?
The 2026–27 opener is September 19, 2026. Waterfowl seasons run under federal flyway frameworks with state-set zone splits — see the zone table above.
When does duck season end in Louisiana?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is February 6, 2027. Late-zone and second-segment closes vary — see the zone table.
Do I need a Federal Duck Stamp?
Yes. Every waterfowl hunter 16 or older must carry a signed current-year Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Duck Stamp). It is available at U.S. Post Offices, many license retailers, most National Wildlife Refuges, and online from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
How many ducks can you shoot in Louisiana per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Duck — Daily — 6, including no more than 4 mallards (max 2 hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 canvasbacks, 2 redheads, 1 black duck and 3 pintails (max 1 hen). Scaup: 1 daily for the first 15 days of the season, 2 daily after. Mottled duck: none for the first 15 days, 1 daily after. Duck — Possession — Three times the daily bag. Scaup & mottled duck on Youth/Veterans Days — 0 mottled duck and 1 scaup on a youth/veterans day that falls before the regular season opens; 1 mottled duck and 2 scaup on one that falls after. Coot — Daily — 15, separate from the duck limit. Merganser — Daily — 5, only 2 may be hooded mergansers — separate from and in addition to the duck daily bag limit. Teal — Daily / Possession — 6 / 18. Black-bellied Whistling Duck — Daily / Possession — 4 / 12, confirmed directly from LDWF's own 2026-2027 Migratory Birds Hunting Schedule table. Falconry for Ducks — 3 daily / 9 possession, singly or in the aggregate across all permitted migratory game birds. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting ducks in Louisiana?
On opening day (September 19, 2026) legal light runs 06:25 to 19:07. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset for ducks, geese, teal, rail, gallinule, snipe and woodcock (per LDWF) — no evening extension, unlike Louisiana's general big-game shooting-hours rule. Black-bellied Whistling Duck is the one exception: sunrise to sunset, no half-hour-early start. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Louisiana sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt ducks on my own land in Louisiana without a license?
No — Louisiana's own agency lists only two hunting-license exemptions (hunters 17 and under, and residents born before June 1, 1940), and landowners aren't among them.
Verified · Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries · Last verified 2026-08-16
Publisher's note. From the official 2026-2027 Louisiana Hunting Regulations, updated July 7, 2026. THIS IS THE FIRST SEASON UNDER A NEW ZONE BOUNDARY: LWFC redrew the East/West waterfowl zone line for 2026-27 through 2029-30 (previously a different split), so a hunter checking a prior year's zone map will be looking at the wrong line. Merganser and coot bag limits are separate from and IN ADDITION TO the 6-duck daily limit — LDWF states this explicitly, unlike most states where the relationship has to be inferred. Scaup and mottled duck bag limits step up partway through the season (scaup 1→2 daily, mottled duck 0→1 daily after the first 15 days) — LDWF states the rule as a day-count rather than a calendar cutoff date, so it's reproduced here as written rather than computed into a specific date, which the source itself doesn't do either. Season-end note: the regular East Zone season closes Jan. 31, but the last day anyone may hunt waterfowl under this season is Feb. 6, the East Zone youth/veterans day — that later date is what the closing date above shows, so it matches the latest row in the table. West Zone youth/veterans day confirmed as a single date (Nov. 7, not a two-day Nov. 7-8 range some secondary sources print) directly against the '2026-2027 Migratory Game Bird Schedule' table in the regulations PDF. Re-verified 2026-08-16, two real gaps found and fixed: (1) the LDWF schedule table itself now gives a clean, unambiguous Black-bellied Whistling Duck limit (4 daily / 12 possession, Oct. 3-11) — the prior ambiguity between two secondary readings is resolved by going straight to this table, so the season is now included. (2) Falconry for Ducks was missing its later windows — East Zone actually has two (Nov. 5-20 and Dec. 7-18), West Zone has three (Nov. 5-13, Dec. 7-18, and Jan. 25-31); only each zone's first window was previously recorded.