Georgia Duck Migration Forecast

Where GA birds come from

Georgia's wood ducks and divers come down from Tennessee and the Carolinas, and southwest Georgia also draws from the Mississippi Flyway. Cold and ice to the north is what pushes them into the swamps and onto the lakes.

DuckCast watches Tennessee and the Carolinas for the freeze and snow that start birds moving, then reads NEXRAD after dark to see whether they actually flew. The upstream picture is why a score can rise here before anything changes in your own sky.

The 9 regions we score in Georgia

Every region gets its own daily score. Reports are generalized to the region, so nobody burns your spot.

• North Georgia Mountains and Lake Lanier

  Lanier, Allatoona, Carters and the mountain lakes, the Coosa and Etowah, and the beaver ponds. Mostly wood ducks on creeks and ponds; the northwest is thin duck country.

• Atlanta and West Point Lake

  West Point Lake and the Glovers Creek ponds down the Chattahoochee, plus creek and beaver pond wood ducks; most metro water is closed to hunting.

• Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill

  The Savannah River border lakes, a stopover for ring-necks and divers, with wood ducks back in the creek arms and Phinizy Swamp at Augusta.

• Middle Georgia Lakes

  Oconee, Sinclair, Jackson and Juliette, with ring-necks and scaup on the lakes and wood ducks at Dan Denton, Bond Swamp and the Oconee bottoms.

• Lake Eufaula, Blackshear and Albany

  Walter F. George and Blackshear, the Flint and Chattahoochee bottoms and the farm country around Albany. Eufaula refuge's Georgia blinds were mostly wood ducks, with ring-necks in January.

• Altamaha and Ogeechee River Swamps

  Where the Ocmulgee and Oconee make the Altamaha, the Ogeechee and the Savannah above the tide: river swamps, beaver ponds and Carolina bays. Wood ducks, and river level makes or breaks it.

• Lake Seminole and the Lower Flint

  Lake Seminole and the lower Flint: Georgia's biggest inland gathering of divers, ring-necks and canvasbacks, with gadwall and teal, and wood ducks in the creeks and timber.

• Okefenokee and the Satilla

  The Satilla, St. Marys and Alapaha, cypress bays and Banks Lake. Both refuges are closed to ducks, so it is Grand Bay, Paradise and the private swamps.

• The Coast and Altamaha Delta

  The old rice-field ponds at Butler Island, Champney and the Savannah refuge, plus marsh and sounds. Teal and ring-necks in the impoundments, and a six to seven foot tide runs everything.

Common questions about Georgia

When does the duck migration peak in Georgia?

DuckCast's season model puts the wood duck peak in Georgia around early December. That is a modelled typical curve, not a prediction for any single year: the actual push depends on cold fronts and freeze-up upstream, which is what the daily score tracks. Always confirm season dates with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division.

Where do Georgia's ducks come from?

Georgia's wood ducks and divers come down from Tennessee and the Carolinas, and southwest Georgia also draws from the Mississippi Flyway. Cold and ice to the north is what pushes them into the swamps and onto the lakes. DuckCast reads conditions across Tennessee and the Carolinas and watches for the freeze that pushes birds south, so a GA hunter sees the push building before it arrives.

Which parts of Georgia does DuckCast cover?

All 9 regions: North Georgia Mountains and Lake Lanier, Atlanta and West Point Lake, Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill, Middle Georgia Lakes, Lake Eufaula, Blackshear and Albany, Altamaha and Ogeechee River Swamps, Lake Seminole and the Lower Flint, Okefenokee and the Satilla, The Coast and Altamaha Delta. Each gets its own daily score. Locations are always region-level; DuckCast never collects or shows exact hunting spots.

Does DuckCast use weather radar in Georgia?

Yes. DuckCast decodes raw NEXRAD Level II volumes from the 6 National Weather Service radar sites covering Georgia, and reads how much bird mass lifted off after sunset and which way it tracked. Separately, 7 upstream weather stations across Tennessee and the Carolinas feed the freeze line; those are weather reports, not radar. Radar sees every bird in the air, not just ducks, so read it as evidence that a migration happened rather than a duck count.

When is the best time to duck hunt in Georgia?

For wood duck, the modelled peak in Georgia falls around early December, and the strongest hunting is usually the weeks on either side of it. Inside that window the best mornings follow a cold front with a hard freeze across Tennessee and the Carolinas and a north wind behind it, which is exactly what the daily GA score measures. Season dates are set by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, and the peak is a modelled typical year rather than a promise about this one.

Where can I find a Georgia waterfowl report?

Georgia DNR publishes the official Georgia regulations and, during the season, survey counts and reports, so start there for anything legal. DuckCast adds a daily migration score for each of the 9 GA regions, built from live weather, the freeze across Tennessee and the Carolinas, crop progress and hunter reports, and each morning it reads NEXRAD radar to say whether birds actually moved over the region after dark. Hunter reports filed in the app are generalized to the region, never to a spot.