South Carolina’s early teal season opens statewide September 19 and runs through September 27, giving waterfowlers a nine-day window before regular duck seasons begin. The daily bag limit is six teal total, with blue-winged and green-winged teal counted together. Possession limit is 18, which is three daily bag limits. Shooting hours run from sunrise until sunset, a tighter window than the state’s mourning-dove season, which begins a half hour before sunrise.
Only blue-winged and green-winged teal count toward the early-season bag. Any other duck species taken during the September 19-27 window is illegal, so hunters need to confirm species identification before shooting, particularly in low-light dawn periods. Hunters must carry a state hunting license, a state migratory bird permit, a federal duck stamp for hunters 16 and older, and complete the federal Harvest Information Program registration for the current license year.
The early teal season is separate from the state’s regular duck season, which does not begin until November 21. Regular duck runs November 21-28 and reopens December 12 through January 31, 2027, giving South Carolina waterfowlers two split seasons after the teal opener closes.
Public opportunities include Waterfowl Management Areas across the coastal plain and interior lakes, with several areas requiring advance permits or lottery-drawn hunt dates. Impounded rice-field managed areas along the ACE Basin and the Santee-Cooper system historically hold the state’s densest early teal concentrations, though water levels and weather in the days leading up to September 19 shape opening-weekend movement. Hunters targeting public impoundments should check the state’s WMA hunt calendar before the opener for site-specific rules on entry times, blind assignment and shell restrictions.
