Hunt

Photo © Zach Dosch

Migration Reports

2022 Waterfowl Report

Week of September 26-30

Northeast
   Generally mild conditions have prevailed this past week and not much for duck movement in or out it seems. Great opportunities exist for shooting a mixed bag of ducks on area wetlands throughout the Northeast part of the state. There are still good numbers of blue-winged teal around and starting to see more green-winged teal in mix as well. Solid numbers of gadwall, shovelers, mallards and pintails can be found throughout the area, but scouting is still necessary to pinpoint where they want to be.
   Habitat conditions are good across the board but there are some of the shallower wetlands that continue to lose water and are exposing more mud flats making it difficult to hide. Some field feeding is still occurring mainly on sileage but most of the duck harvest is taking place on the water right now.
   Goose numbers are pretty solid and are still mainly hitting sileage and wheat stubble. With the harvest of soybeans happening by the day, some geese have moved to these fields. I have also seen the geese using the disked up low areas of cropped fields where there were weeds.
   The forecast looks to be pretty stable the next week with fairly warm temperatures and little moisture so crop harvest will be progressing quickly, and I don’t see and big movement of birds happening.

East Central
Conditions across Brookings, Kingsbury, Lake, and Moody counties are similar to last week. We have lost some blue winged teal, but I have seen an increase in green winged teal.
Similar numbers of mallards as last week but I am starting to see some more diversity in puddle ducks. Very few divers observed at this time. Wetlands conditions continue to deteriorate across this area.
Corn and bean harvest is well under way with both ducks and geese observed in recently harvested fields. Long range forecasts look warm and dry, providing excellent field access.
Canada goose numbers in this area are increasing and should continue to build. Expect more migrating Canada geese and white fronts to start filtering in over the next several weeks.

Southeast
No Change
Lower River
Low Plains South Zone is closed
Low Plains Middle Zone-no change from last week. Minimal wetlands made hunting tough and there were reports of many hunters on limited bodies of water.

Pierre area
No Change

West River
No report

Week of September 18-24

Northeast
       Duck numbers in the Northeast look pretty solid for opening weekend. There are still decent numbers of blue-winged teal in the area even though a lot of them have migrated through. Most dabbling ducks can be found in the area and should provide some good action on area wetlands. Some field feeding has been observed in both wheat and sileage fields as well.
   Wetland conditions vary across the area with some drying up while others are full. Depending on where the summer rains hit, water conditions are not uniform so scouting will be key to finding the right spot. Generally, though, decent water levels can be found in the Northeast.
   Canada goose numbers are good, and birds are using wheat, sileage and now bean stubble as these fields are coming out.

East Central
Conditions across Brookings, Kingsbury, Lake, and Moody counties are dry with many semi-permanent wetlands either completely dry or drawing down hard.
This decrease in water depth has made many formerly deep basins attractive to ducks that have seen little use for many years making scouting a key. While this may reduce hunting opportunity this fall, ultimately these prairie wetlands will benefit from draw down and make them more productive for waterfowl once they refill.
Good numbers of blue winged teal and mallards with some other puddle ducks were observed where water is found. Corn and bean harvest has already begun with quite a few sileage fields in the area cut as well.
Canada goose numbers in this area are moderate with local production well below average this year. Expect migrating Canada geese and white fronts to start filtering in over the next several weeks.

Southeast
Canada geese: very poor. Below average numbers, dry conditions with minimal water. Hunters are struggling to find huntable numbers.

Ducks: poor water conditions, but the water that is still around has a fair number of teal on them. If hunters get a pond with some water, they should have a decent hunt this weekend.

Lower River
Low Plains South-Not open yet
Low Plains Middle-Opens Saturday. Pre-season scouting is a must. It will be tough to find sufficient water to hunt, but hunters that do should have success. There is very limited opportunity for Canada goose hunting due to the low water levels.

Pierre area
Central South Dakota has been a little low on duck numbers with a few of the GPA’s holding some small flocks of birds on them.
A small area in Central South Dakota area opens on September 24th for ducks while the majority of central South Dakota will not open until October 8th.
The Canada goose season in unit 1 opened on September 1 and have had a couple reports of some birds being harvested on a couple of GPA’s in Hand and Hyde Counties.
The dry weather has continued to limit the areas where waterfowl are so scouting the area where you are intending to hunt to make sure there is water there is very important.

West River
No report