Online registration is currently open for waterfowl hunters to secure one of 30 hunting blind locations on the Swan Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) during the regular 2019-2020 waterfowl season. Registration will close at 1 p.m. on Sunday, September 15, 2019. Registration is free. To register, visit www.outdooralabama.com/swan-creek-wma-dewatering-unit-duck-blind-drawing.
The Swan Creek WMA duck blind drawing is the only hunting opportunity in the state that allows the selected hunters to place their blind at a stationary location on public land with excellent waterfowl habitat for the entire waterfowl season.
“Swan Creek has some of the best public waterfowl hunting in the state,” said Drew Able, a wildlife biologist with the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) at the Swan Creek and Mallard-Fox Creek WMAs. “Waterfowl hunting can be a lot of work. This limited-quota opportunity helps cut down on some of that work each morning in the field. Perhaps the main attraction to this style of hunting is how comfortable it is. Having heaters, cooking breakfast, and sitting in a chair appeals to most waterfowl hunters.”
Hunting opportunities— including the use of boat blinds or hunting from more shallow waters by foot – are still available at the Swan Creek WMA to those who are not selected in the random drawing.
After registration closes, 30 duck blind permit holders and 10 alternates will be selected via a randomized computer drawing and notified of their selection by email. Successful registrants have until 8 a.m. on September 18 to accept their hunter or alternate status. After accepting their status, hunters will receive more information about the hunts including their randomly selected blind location.
If selected, the permit holders must bring their blind to the Swan Creek WMA at 8 a.m. on Saturday,
