Missouri River Duck Migration Forecast

DeSoto Bend and Boyer Chute north through the Knox County bottoms. The last open water in the east most winters.

Season dates: Nebraska duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing

Where Missouri River is

Missouri River is drawn from 14 counties in Nebraska: Burt, Cedar, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Douglas, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Sarpy, Stanton, Thurston, Washington and Wayne. 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 Missouri River peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around early November. Missouri River carries its own mallard timing rather than the statewide curve, because the season here runs on a different clock from the rest of the state. 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 Missouri River

3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Sioux Falls, SD, about 115 miles north, Mitchell, SD, about 150 miles northwest and Watertown, SD, about 210 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Missouri River

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KOAX, the National Weather Service radar at Omaha, about 40 miles south 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 Missouri River 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 Nebraska

Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.

Lower Platte and Salt Valley, about 70 miles south
Rainwater Basin, about 120 miles southwest
Niobrara Country, about 140 miles west
Central Platte, about 150 miles southwest
Republican Valley, about 190 miles southwest
Sandhills Lakes, about 245 miles west
North Platte and McConaughy, about 260 miles west
Panhandle, about 360 miles west

Across the state line

Lewis and Clark, South Dakota, about 90 miles northwest

Live migration map

Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with Nebraska Game and Parks. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.