Called the Sportsman's Paradise for good reason, Louisiana offers hunters diverse habitats ranging from salty tidal marshes to piney hills where they can pursue various species of game. Nearly 300,000 Louisiana residents hunt, spending more than $500 million a tear on their sport, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey.

Deer

About 200,000 people pursue whitetail deer in Louisiana, bagging about 250,000 animals each year. About one million deer roam the state today, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), but not very long ago, people seldom saw deer here.

Waterfowl

No state beats Louisiana when it comes to waterfowl action. The Mississippi Flyway funnels ducks from three-quarters of the continent into the fertile coastal marshes, rice fields and river bottoms. This year, the West Zone opens from Nov. 10 until Dec. 2 and again from Dec. 15 through Jan. 20, 2008. The East Zone opens from Nov. 17 to Dec. 2 and again from Dec. 15 through Jan. 27, ‘08.The lush deltas of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers create some of the best duck habitats in the nation. Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area (WMA) offers 141,000 acres of public hunting about 25 miles south of Morgan City. In the Mississippi Delta, about 30 miles downriver from Venice, people hunt the 48,800-acre Delta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and the 66,000-acre Pass-A-Loutre WMA. People might also hunt the 39,583-acre Biloxi WMA near Hopedale, the 17,095-acre Big Branch Marsh NWR on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain or the 8,325-acre Manchac WMA near LaPlace.

”Small Game

Squirrel and rabbit season runs from Oct. 6 through Feb. 29, 2008, with a daily limit of eight a piece. Louisiana sportsmen may hunt two species, gray squirrels and fox squirrels. Gray squirrels prefer denser, mixed canopy and more likely inhabit creek bottoms, hardwood drains or cypress-tupelo swamps. Fox squirrels prefer open country, such as scattered pines mixed with hardwoods and transitional areas.Louisiana sportsmen may also chase two species of rabbits, eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits. Both occur statewide and look almost identical except that swamp rabbits grow slightly larger, says Fred Kimmel, an LDWF upland game biologist. In general, darker swamp rabbits show more brown and black on their coats and sport dark rings around their eyes. In contrast, grayish-reddish cottontails exhibit pale cream-colored rings around their eyes and show more whitish fur.Any hunter would love to take a shot at this whitetail buck“Cottontails are more widespread but we do have some overlap throughout the state,” Kimmel says. “Cottontails are mostly around the pasture borders, forest borders and clear-cuts. For cottontails, hunters look for weedy brier patches and woody cover or underbrush. Swamp rabbits are more in the wetlands and wooded bottomlands.”Most sportsmen pursue rabbits with dogs, mainly beagles. They release the dogs in thickets and wait for rabbits to run past them. People who don’t own dogs can try to jump rabbits by kicking clumps of grass or downed logs or smashing through brier patches.

Birds

Upland birds, such as doves, bobwhite quail and woodcock, attract a small yet fervent following. Some people travel from state to state to follow their pointing dogs in pursuit of these elegant birds. For more specific guidance on hunting seasons, laws or limits, see the LDWF Web site at www.wlf.state.la.us.

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