Category: Migration Updates

As the first groups of snow geese begin to arrive in North Dakota, spring has spring across the nation in grand fashion. Flights of juvenile geese remain scattered from northwest Missouri into Iowa and Nebraska. With record warm temperatures and southerly winds pushing them back to the breeding grounds, light goose harvests in the central portions of the Central and Mississippi Flyways is expected to drop significantly over the next week.

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“Got time” in the Mound City, Missouri area has switched gears to “getup and go time” over the past two weeks. Snow goose numbers at the Squaw Creek NWR rose to a peak of just over 1 million birds, and then dropped to 300,000 by the next survey. While juvenile geese are still being harvested at this time, open water in the north is inviting them home to the breeding grounds in a hurry. Continue reading

A series of snowstorms will cross the Plains this week, adding snow to the migration barrier of mid-continental light geese – extending the opportunity hunters have along the snowline. At this time geese are strung out from eastern Colorado to Western Illinois with the concentration of birds in northwest Missouri excellent at this time.

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While there has been no shortage of light geese this season, hunter success has varied greatly in the Central and Mississippi Flyways as the first dense flights of adult birds have moved north. As hunters wait for the arrival of juvenile flocks that migrate later, they have been constantly reminded how difficult this species can be to hunt when trying to decoy these massive flocks. Even with the aid of electronic callers and mind-numbing volumes of decoys, success is not an absolute. Continue reading

As another snowstorm works its way across the nation, the light goose numbers at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri soar to over 700,000 birds. With hunting pressure relatively low at this time, hunter success has been good to excellent in the Mound City area. The snow goose exodus has begun at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico – with few birds remaining after the northern migration began just two days ago.

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Hunting under the Conservation Order is off to a great start in the southern portions of the Central and Mississippi Flyways. The light goose northerly migration has begun and the race to the edge of the snow and freeze line is on.

According to park officials at Bosque del Apache NWR, light geese began to depart two days ago and all but a few remain on the refuge. As a result, light goose numbers are quickly climbing in Colorado as these birds begin their journey north. Continue reading

As the 2011-2012 General Waterfowl Season nears it’s final hunting days a remaining special youth hunts, it will likely go down on the record books as the season that “could have been” for many states. Looking back at our reporting archives, it’s becoming apparent that the seasonal weather patterns that produce greatest numbers of ducks also deliver the mildest migration patterns.

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As Waterfowler.com begins it’s 15 th year of Migration tracking and reporting, we’ve taken a walk down memory lane and reviewed or historical data – not with a find tooth comb mind you, but more of a nostalgic speed read. Surprisingly, the years that stood out the most were not those were harvests were closer to normal and satisfactory, but those where our members and readers where shouting, “where are the ducks?” Continue reading

The first major winter storm blanketed areas of the north last week, finally pushing late-migrating birds further south. While the snow arrived too late for many waterfowl hunters, hunter success has improved dramatically in states that remain open through the end of the month.

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Winter has finally arrived in areas of the north, albeit late and meaningless for a number of states in the mid-south where the duck season has already closed. Despite the record number of waterfowl migrating this season, waterfowl hunters have been harshly reminded that hunter success is dependant on weather – which is unpredictable at best. Continue reading

Despite the arrival of the Winter Solstice, warm air continues to embrace the nation. With temperatures averaging 25-35 degrees above normal this week, areas in the U.S. Prairie Pothole region could reach record temperatures this week and coddle and already stalled migration of northern birds.

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Whether you call it Global Warming or simply cyclical Climate change, warm and dry conditions continue to plague hunter success in the southern half of the nation. While waterfowl hunters remain hopeful that the duck driving Clipper System will rear deliver ducks before the end of the season, data available at the Climate Prediction Center does little to fuel those hopes.

With the exception of the Pacific Northwest, temperatures across the rest of the nation are expected to remain well above average through January, with the epicenter of unseasonable temperatures radiating outward from southwest Missouri. Precipitation will remain below average for most of the south, but above average for the Great Lakes, including the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. Continue reading

A glance at the Surface Temperature and Drought Monitor maps reveal the ongoing difficulties facing holiday hunters. With twenty-degree temperatures receding into the Canadian Prairies, birds remain scattered across northern states, where open water and forage remain abundant. While many were hoping for a white-Christmas of duck moving weather, Jack Frost and Old Man Winter just can’t seem to get their act in gear this season. Ducks continue to hold along the edge of the freeze line running from Colorado to upstate New York. With those already south pushing to regions along the Gulf Coast.

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The plight of the southern hunter can best be described as frustrating. In a year where duck numbers are near peak levels, drought conditions and the lack of precipitation continue to plague hunter success. As expected the lack of ducks across the mid-south fuel doubts that the number of ducks predicted for the fall flight this year are inaccurate but northern hunters who witnessed record activity in November would disagree. Continue reading

An abundance of open water and lack of snow in the north continues to allow a substantial number of ducks and geese to remain along the southerly edges of the northern tier. The most recent waterfowl surveys from areas of the Central and Mississippi Flyway confirm that duck numbers along the Missouri River in South Dakota have begun to decline and numbers along the northern portions Mississippi River remain above average for this time of year – proving there is a significant reason we call them “northern birds.”

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The early part of the migration can often build a false excitement for Waterfowl hunters. Every tiny cold front and puff of wind carries a few new birds south and activity is steady and fresh. As the season wears on, the annual harvest takes its toll and birds become educated, scattered and wary. Continue reading