Mississippi Duck Season 2026-27: Dates and the Delta
Mississippi runs one statewide duck season in three segments, no zones anywhere. Here are the 2026-27 dates, and what seventeen years of counted birds say about when the mallards actually turn up.
Updated August 24, 2026. Season dates cite the agency sources listed at the bottom of this page.
2026-27 Mississippi duck season
One season, statewide, in three pieces. No duck zones, which makes Mississippi simpler than every neighbour it shares a flyway with.
First segment
November 27-29, 2026
Three days over Thanksgiving weekend. A taste rather than a season, and the aerial surveys say the birds are not really here yet.
Second segment
December 4-6, 2026
Another three days. Numbers are climbing but the state is still at roughly half of what it will hold.
Third segment
December 9, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Fifty-four straight days, and the one that matters. The mallard peak lands inside it, in the first half of January.
The rest of the calendar, and one limit that moves
- September teal: September 19-27, 2026, six a day.
- Youth, veterans and active military: February 6-7, 2027.
- Scaup: one a day through December 17, then two a day from December 18 to January 31. Easy to miss, and it changes mid-season.
- Ducks: six total, no more than four mallards, no more than two of those hens.
Read the full bag limits and the goose dates off the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks rather than any summary, this one included.
Seventeen years of counted birds
MDWFP flies aerial waterfowl surveys across the Delta four times every winter, counting every duck inside a 250-metre strip along east-west transects from the river to the hill line, and has done since 2008. The figures below are their published seventeen-year averages, not ours, and not a forecast. They are what the Delta has actually held.
| Survey | Mallards | All ducks |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-November | 36,484 | 241,907 |
| Mid-December | 114,492 | 487,848 |
| Early January | 213,869 | 659,851 |
| Late January | 208,760 | 666,326 |
Read down the mallard column and the season explains itself. The state opens on roughly a sixth of the mallards it will eventually hold, doubles by mid-December, and doubles again by the first week of January. Then it stops climbing. Early January to late January is essentially flat, which means the back half of the third segment is a plateau rather than a build.
One caution, because it is the mistake this data invites. The most recent single report shows mallards jumping sharply in late January on a hard freeze. Reading that one year would put the peak a fortnight late. The seventeen-year average is the shape; one winter is an anecdote.
What that means region by region
These windows come from the same per-region season curves the live DuckCast forecast runs on, and for Mississippi those curves are fitted to the survey averages above rather than reasoned from latitude. The guide and the product cannot disagree.
The Delta, the hill reservoirs, the Pearl and the southwest
Peak around January 11, prime December 30 to February 1
Coastal marsh
Peak around January 17, and it holds later than anywhere else
Pine belt
Peak around January 14, and it never reaches prime
Most of Mississippi runs on one clock, which is the opposite of a state like Kansas where the marshes and the reservoirs peak six weeks apart. Mississippi is a wintering terminus: it fills as a unit when the country upstream freezes. The two exceptions are the coast, which never locks and therefore still hunts the week the Delta is iced, and the pine belt, which is thin country and never reaches prime on season timing alone.
The bottom of the river
Mississippi fills from the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee, straight down the river. Arkansas is a state DuckCast already scores, and so is Missouri above it, which makes this the bottom of a second chain: Missouri to Arkansas to Mississippi. When the Grand Prairie freezes, this is where those birds land.
DuckCast tracks 8 upstream stations across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee at two latitudes and reads NEXRAD radar after dark to check whether the birds actually flew. Two states north, the same front is the middle of the season. Here it is the last move those birds make.
One honest gap. Radar sits almost on top of the Pearl country, the black prairie and the coast, and the Central Delta, which is the best duck ground in the state, is the weakest covered of the three Delta regions at 154 kilometres from the Jackson radar. Nothing in the network is closer, so we label it distant rather than calling it coverage.
Common questions
What are the Mississippi duck season dates for 2026-27?
Mississippi runs one statewide duck season in three segments: November 27-29, 2026, then December 4-6, 2026, then December 9, 2026 through January 31, 2027. There are no duck zones, so those dates apply everywhere in the state. Youth, veterans and active military days are February 6-7, 2027, and September teal runs September 19-27, 2026. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks publishes all of it, and you should confirm before you hunt.
Does Mississippi have duck zones?
No, and it is unusual in that. Mississippi runs a single statewide season while most of its neighbours split theirs: Kansas has four duck zones, Missouri and Nebraska three each, Arkansas runs segments statewide. For a Mississippi hunter that means one set of dates to remember no matter whether you hunt Tunica or the Pascagoula marsh.
When is the peak of duck season in Mississippi?
The first half of January, and this is the one state where that answer comes from counted birds rather than an estimate. MDWFP flies four aerial waterfowl surveys over the Delta each winter and publishes seventeen-year averages for each survey window. Those averages put mallards at about 36,000 in mid-November, 114,000 in mid-December, 214,000 in early January and 209,000 in late January. In other words the state holds roughly six times as many mallards in January as it does when the season first opens, and the peak is early January followed by a plateau rather than a spike.
Why is the November opener so quiet in Mississippi?
Because the birds genuinely are not there yet. The mid-November survey average is about 36,000 mallards against 214,000 in early January, so the Thanksgiving segment opens on roughly a sixth of the mallards the state will eventually hold. MDWFP says as much itself, noting that Mississippi's November estimates are often not strong indicators of where peak abundance will be. It is a real season and people kill birds in it, particularly gadwall and green-winged teal, which arrive well ahead of the mallards. It is just not the week to judge the year on.
Does the scaup limit change during the Mississippi season?
Yes, and it is easy to miss. The daily scaup limit is one per day from the opener through December 17, then two per day from December 18 through January 31. The overall duck limit is six, including no more than four mallards of which no more than two may be hens. That mallard sublimit is worth flagging for anyone working down the flyway, because Kansas and several Central Flyway states allow five.
Where does Mississippi get its birds from?
The Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee, straight down the river, with the Missouri Bootheel funneling into the top of it. Arkansas and Missouri are both states DuckCast already scores, which makes Mississippi the bottom of a second chain: Missouri to Arkansas to Mississippi. When the Grand Prairie and the Cache bottoms freeze, this is where those birds land. DuckCast watches eight upstream stations across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee at two latitudes for exactly that reason.
Is there radar coverage over the Mississippi Delta?
Partly, and it is worth being straight about which parts. Jackson radar sits 57 kilometres from the Pearl country and 96 from the South Delta timber, Columbus covers the black prairie at 63, and Mobile reaches the coastal marsh at 60. The Central Delta, which is the best duck ground in the state, is the weakest of the three Delta regions at 154 kilometres from Jackson, and nothing in the network is closer. DuckCast labels that distant and treats it as area context rather than a measurement of the air over your hole.
DuckCast forecasts Mississippi nightly
Regional migration scores built from live weather, the upstream freeze line, crop progress and hunter reports, then checked against NEXRAD radar to see whether birds actually moved after dark. Dates tell you when the season is open; the forecast tells you which mornings inside it are worth burning a vacation day on.
Sources
- Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, hunting seasons and bag limits
- MDWFP aerial waterfowl survey reports
- USDA NASS Quick Stats, Mississippi crop progress
Season dates and regulations change, and this page is not a legal reference. Verify with the agency links above before you hunt.