Migration Alert: Waterfowl Numbers Climb in Northwest Missouri

December is getting off to a hot start for hunters in northwest Missouri, where waterfowl numbers have been increasing with each recent round of winter weather impacting southern Canada, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Read on for a closer look at what waterfowl hunters are seeing in the northwest corner of the Show-Me State.

Just two weeks ago, the overall outlook for waterfowl hunting opportunities in Missouri was positive but not necessarily overwhelming. Small migration events in October and early November had delivered flocks of puddle ducks and geese into the state, but a massive migration of waterfowl into the state had yet to occur.

A coordinated survey in mid-November of wetland areas managed by the state and those found on National Wildlife Refuges tallied an estimated 700,000 ducks statewide, roughly in-line with the 5-year average, though mallard numbers within that estimate were over 40 percent lower than the 5-year average and over 50 percent below the long-term average. Those figures would soon change when winter weather arrived on the northern reaches of the Central and Mississippi Flyways.

Mallard and other waterfowl numbers began to soar in Missouri when a November winter storm delivered snow, freezing temperatures and strong northwest winds to parts of Canada, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Areas of quality habitat in northwest Missouri, including the wetlands found at Fountain Grove Conservation Area, saw a significant increase in waterfowl numbers in response to the changing conditions in the north. Currently, some of the largest waterfowl numbers in this corner of Missouri can be found at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge near Mound City, where the most recent survey of habitat showed an estimated 300,000 ducks, including over 120,000 mallards.

“We had decent numbers of ducks before that storm hit the Dakotas, but our numbers have really grown in the weeks since,” explains Tony Vandemore with Habitat Flats near Sumner.

With the increase in duck numbers in northwest Missouri has also come the arrival of more seasonal weather conditions, Vandemore says. Mild temperatures in late October and early November made it difficult to pattern waterfowl, but that has changed with cooler temperatures and even the arrival of the season’s first snowflakes. Now, the challenge for hunters is deciding which species of duck to target.

“Our mallard numbers are really good, but man there are still a lot of green-winged teal, gadwall and other ducks around,” says Vandemore. “Things are looking pretty good right now. Water levels are where they need to be and there’s plenty of food around. Overall, a strong season so far.”