Red River and Northwest Duck Migration Forecast

Where Red River and Northwest is

Red River and Northwest is drawn from 9 parishes in Louisiana: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Vernon and Webster. 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 Red River and Northwest 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 Red River and Northwest

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

3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Texarkana, TX, about 80 miles north, El Dorado, AR, about 85 miles northeast and Pine Bluff, AR, about 160 miles northeast. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Red River and Northwest

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KSHV, the National Weather Service radar at Shreveport, about 18 miles northwest of the region’s weather point. That is close enough for the radar to sample the air over the region itself. 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 Red River and Northwest are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.