Louisiana is a world-renowned place for hunting. Its beautiful mountains, dense hardwood forests, lakes, and swamps are perfect habitats for game, and there are many excellent hunting spots in the state. Animals for hunting in the Pelican State are a large population of deer, wild turkey, alligators, waterfowl, and migratory birds, rabbits, and squirrel. The control of hunting in Louisiana is under the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and any licenses must be obtained from them before a hunter make take up his sport in the state.
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Here are some of the top spots in Louisiana for hunting game:
The Atchafalaya Basin
This river basin in the middle of the state is ideal for duck shooting,
according to wideopenspaces.com. Over 150 miles long and 20 miles wide, it is the largest backwater swamp in the United States. There are two wildlife management areas in the swamplands, which ensure a great population of ducks and migratory birds. Duck shooting is excellent along the many lakes and flooded timberland. Hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. The season runs from early November to late January.
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Bossier Parish
This parish in the northwest of the Pelican State is home to some great deer hunting and the kill-to-shooter ratio is very positive. In the Loggy Bayou WMA, the population of deer is very strong and hunting is good in its heavily-wooded forests. The land area is small compared to other WMAs, but Loggy Bayou consistently returns the highest success rate of any in the state,
according to gameandfishingmag.com. Bodcau in northeast of the parish has many open lands between the hardwood forests, and the well managed herds give great shooting opportunities for hunters.
Vernon Parish
This area of over 1,500 square miles is located in the mid-western part of the state. It has long been renowned for its turkey shooting and is a busy area every season. The Vernon Parish has plenty of areas well managed by the LDWF and has a very healthy population of turkeys, according to gameandfishingmag.com. The turkey hunting season runs from early late March to late April, and hunting is during daylight hours only. There is a strict bag limit of one turkey per day, and only two per season.
Elbow Slough WMA
Elbow Slough is a top spot for shooting mourning dove and other migratory birds,
according to nola.com. A small area of no more than 160 acres, this WMA gives consistently good bird numbers due to the mainly flat terrain between a few wooded plantations. The planting of hardwoods in the 1990s and the protection of river basin habitats has helped the populations of mourning dove to prosper and give excellent shooting for the hunter. There is a daily bag limit of 15 and shooting is during daylight hours only.
Ouachita Parish
This small parish located in the north of the Pelican State has a healthy population of rabbit for hunting,
according to fws.gov. Rabbit species in Louisiana are the cottontail and the swamp, both of which are available for shooting here. A lot of the parish is flat and the open land is perfect habitat for rabbits to breed. Duck and deer hunting are also very popular in this parish with high numbers reported each season.
This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.
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