Two new hunting seasons open this weekend … duck and quail. This year we have lots of water for the birds to roost on. There’s going to be a whole lot of splashing going on as record numbers of waterfowl are already here, or will be arriving shortly. In fact, mallards and green-winged teal numbers are at all-time highs.

Regular duck season opens in the South Zone and High Plains Mallard Management Unit Oct. 31, and November 7 in the North Zone.

The drill down for the opening: make sure you have your hunting license, Migratory Game Bird endorsement, Federal Duck Stamp, HIP Certification, and don’t forget to have steel or other metals shot loaded in your shotgun.

Quail season also open October 31statewide on October 31 and ends February 28, 2016. The daily bag limit for scaled (blue), bobwhite and Gambel's quail is 15, and the possession limit is 45. The bag limit is the maximum number that may be killed during the legal shooting hours in one day. Legal shooting hours for all non-migratory game birds are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

Across the state,Texas Parks and Wildlife staff report that they’ve not seen this many quail in several years, if not decades.

South Texas appears to have most dramatic swell in numbers, with some predicting a real boom there this year. The Rolling Plains area is seeing a remarkable increase from last year, which was the first year quail started to rebound after years of drought. The Trans-Pecos reports indicate extraordinary scaled quail production for this year; the last time numbers were recorded near this level was in 2007.

Photo: Courtesy TPWD