The fuzzy fog of a September morning encloses the slew. Peering through the mists, the hunter checks his decoy spread. He has prepared it for teal with mallard and pintail confidence decoys set out in small groups of three to five.

He has a well-defined fly and kill zone with some five or six dozen blue- and green-winged dekes spread out to his maximum kill zone.

Teal will land near other birds but seek out open water in which to land. By placing the decoys strategically, you can guide them into range. If all you gets is "fly-bys," change the pattern of the decoys until it is more presentable to the birds.

High temperatures, mosquitoes, and humidity tend to turn off most hunters at this time of year. Other hunters are more interested in dove hunting. (You don't have to get up so early to hunt doves.) But the uncrowded conditions are attractive to some duck hunters.

Open areas allow the teal to fly in and still not be intimidated by other birds. When decoys are properly placed, teal will drop low and fast right onto the water. Today, the birds landed in the decoys before shooting hours began. The hunter looks for others to join them. He is not about to shoot birds on the water for two reasons: It is unethical, and such shots tend to destroy decoys.

Carefully concealed in his blind, the hunter can afford to wait for more light before doing any shooting. The blind is constructed of grasses and other vegetation and completely conceals any movement he might make.

The hunter pulls out his teal call. It emits a very high-pitched, single reed sound like a mallard hen call. Teal seem to work very quietly, so he is reluctant to use it. He uses a few soft feeding chuckles and a few short hen quacks.

The birds on the water rise straight up in a tight group and out of range, at what seems to be the speed of light. The report of his gun only seems to encourage their departure.

Tennessee duck hunters will have a relatively short teal season this year. It runs Sept. 11-15. It is not a popular hunting season. The birds are apparently very thin skinned when it comes to cold weather and migrate earlier than other ducks. They prefer hot, muggy weather over frost and ice.

Teal are dabbling (puddle) ducks. They frequent fresh water marshes and rivers and feed by dipping and tipping. They will feed on the surface or only as far under water as they can reach without submerging.

Their diet consists of vegetable matter. The menu consists of water hemp, nut grass, millet, smart weed, insects, and mollusks.

Although our hunter used a teal call, most hunters are well-advised to leave their calls at home. Decoys are all one needs as an attractant.

Teal, like other ducks, are very social. They want to be with other ducks. They are probably the "gabbiest" of ducks, carrying on with non-stop, machine-gun-like quacking, peeping, twittering, and whistling in the air, on land, and on the water.

Another behavior of teal, unique among ducks, is their swift, darting, synchronized flight in flocks. Flying low and erratically, the entire flock twists and turns as a single unit, much like a flock of blackbirds.

Sometimes these groups will have several hundred birds, compared with a maximum of 50-100 birds in flocks of other ducks. Teal are really not fast birds, but they are so small that the ability to dart, juke, and twist is well-ingrained.

Teal fly in tight groups and as a result, knocking down doubles is not unusual. They present a lot of pass shooting, much like wood ducks. You must be prepared to shoot quickly as well as accurately.

They seem to zoom in and look over the decoys and then either drop down on the water or zoom off to some other area. It is kind of like dove hunting over water.

Most teal hunters are over-gunned. A 20-gauge with a modified or improved cylinder works well. The shot should be #4 or #6 steel as pattern density is more important than pellet size. The average size of a picked teal is about the same as a bar of soap.

It does not take a lot of shocking power to down teal. Full chokes on the shotgun are a handicap. An improved or modified choke is a much better choice.

In preparation for teal season, go to a clay target range. Ask them to throw some "midis" (90mm) and some "minis" (60mm) targets. Learn to shoot fast, crossing targets.

Scouting is a good idea a few days before you plan to hunt. Teal hunting hot spots are fairly predictable from year to year, if the habitat does not change. They prefer small bodies of water such as ponds, slews, and small lake. This year why not get out and give teal a try?