Migration Alert: Winter Weather Shuffles Deck in Central Flyway

With one winter weather system in the rearview mirror and another on the way, cold temperatures and snow continue to impact waterfowl concentrations in the mid-section of the Central Flyway. Here’s a look at hunting opportunities as we hit the home stretch of the regular waterfowl seasons in mid-latitude states.

Mallard numbers at Grand Pass Conservation Area in central Missouri dropped from peak levels with the arrival of winter weather conditions, says Robert Henry, a wildlife biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“I’d guess we have around 150,000 mallards still in this area, and that number is down quite a bit from before the storm,” Henry says, noting that the duck season in Missouri’s Middle Zone is now closed. “The mallards are keeping some holes open and are bouncing back and forth on the Missouri River. Our Canada goose numbers remain very low, however. The geese that we had here moved on after the cold front, and we just haven’t seen any new geese arrive.”

To the west, hunters in central Kansas saw a noticeable migration of both snow geese and lesser Canada geese on the heels of the most recent cold front that delivered freezing temperatures and snow, reports Ben Webster, head guide with Big Kansas Outdoors.

“The adult snow geese are here. There were a few that pushed ahead of the front, but the snows and lessers really pushed hard after the front,” Webster says. “Not many specks around now. They pushed out before the front arrived.”

Waterfowl numbers have also been on the increase in northeastern Oklahoma, with the region experiencing the first real migration of mallards this season.

“The hunting has been a bit better out west, but in this part of the state, it has been dead quiet until this cold front,” says Oklahoma hunter, Bill McCarthy. “Now, we have the ducks. They are here. How long they’ll stick around, I don’t know. We have more snow and cold on the way.”

McCarthy says that smaller waters have iced over, so ducks are turning to lakes and reservoirs to find open water.

“Sunny days have been best. The birds have worked well in the sun. Cloudy, overcast days, they really start to act like late-season birds,” McCarthey says. “Either way, now is the time to get after them. The ducks are finally here.”