Louisiana Coverage
Atchafalaya Basin Duck Migration Forecast
The largest river swamp on the continent, from Butte La Rose down to Morgan City. River stage moves the hunting here more than temperature does.
See today’s live scoreAll of LA
Season dates: Louisiana duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where Atchafalaya Basin is
Atchafalaya Basin is drawn from 8 parishes in Louisiana: Assumption, Iberia, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and West Baton Rouge. Those are the parishes its shape on the DuckCast map is built from, so a hunter in any of them reads this region’s score.
When Atchafalaya Basin peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the pintail peak here around mid December. This follows the statewide pintail curve. 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 state wildlife agency, linked below.
What DuckCast watches upstream of Atchafalaya Basin
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Natchez, MS, about 105 miles north, Vicksburg, MS, about 165 miles north and Monticello, AR, about 250 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over Atchafalaya Basin
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KLCH, the National Weather Service radar at Lake Charles, about 100 miles west of the region’s weather point. That is well outside the region, so treat the radar reading as area context rather than a measurement of this ground. Radar sees every bird in the air, not only ducks, so it confirms or questions the score rather than moving it.
Locations stay generalized
Hunter reports for Atchafalaya Basin are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.
Also covered in Louisiana
Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.
- Southwest Rice Prairie, about 50 miles west
- Terrebonne and Lafourche Marsh, about 70 miles southeast
- Southwest Coastal Marsh, about 80 miles west
- Barataria and Delacroix, about 105 miles east
- Catahoula and Little River, about 105 miles north
- Northeast Delta, about 140 miles north
- Ouachita and Boeuf, about 175 miles north
- Red River and Northwest, about 195 miles northwest
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.