Catahoula and Little River Duck Migration Forecast

Where Catahoula and Little River is

Catahoula and Little River is drawn from 7 parishes in Louisiana: Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides and Winn. 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 Catahoula and Little River peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the pintail peak here around mid December. The timing follows the statewide curve; what differs here is how many birds the model expects, below. 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.

Which birds the model expects in Catahoula and Little River

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in Catahoula and Little River are mallards, blue-winged teal and snow geese. Against the state as a whole, it expects more mallards in Catahoula and Little River and fewer gadwall, green-winged teal and wigeon.

Those weights come from harvest records, survey counts and the kind of water, not from a count taken here each season. They cap how high each species’ score can climb; the weather still has to bring the birds.

What DuckCast watches upstream of Catahoula and Little River

3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: El Dorado, AR, about 120 miles north, Monticello, AR, about 145 miles north and Pine Bluff, AR, about 185 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Catahoula and Little River

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KPOE, the National Weather Service radar at Fort Polk, about 55 miles southwest of the region’s weather point. That puts the radar just outside the region, near enough to see birds lifting off and passing close by. 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 Catahoula and Little River are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.