Missouri Coverage
West Central and the Osage Duck Migration Forecast
Four Rivers, Schell-Osage, Montrose and the upper arms of Truman. Freeze-thaw country that stays huntable later than the north and swings hard week to week.
See today’s live scoreAll of MO
Season dates: Missouri duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where West Central and the Osage is
West Central and the Osage is drawn from 13 counties in Missouri: Barton, Bates, Benton, Camden, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Jackson, Johnson, Morgan, St. Clair and Vernon. Those are the counties its shape on the DuckCast map is built from, so a hunter in any of them reads this region’s score.
When West Central and the Osage peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around early December. This follows the statewide mallard 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 West Central and the Osage
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Riverton, IA, about 195 miles northwest, Missouri Valley, IA, about 255 miles northwest and Carroll, IA, about 270 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over West Central and the Osage
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KEAX, the National Weather Service radar at Kansas City, about 45 miles northwest 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 West Central and the Osage 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 Missouri
Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.
- Missouri River Valley, about 65 miles northeast
- The Ozarks, about 100 miles southeast
- North Missouri, about 105 miles north
- Northwest Missouri, about 130 miles northwest
- Northeast and the Upper Mississippi, about 145 miles northeast
- The Confluence, about 165 miles east
- Mingo Basin, about 205 miles east
- The Bootheel, about 250 miles southeast
Across the state line
- East Central Lakes, Kansas, about 90 miles west
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with Missouri Department of Conservation. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.