Southwest North Dakota Duck Migration Forecast

Drier shortgrass country. Opportunistic water; fishes best right behind a major push.

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

Where Southwest North Dakota is

Southwest North Dakota is drawn from 7 counties in North Dakota: Adams, Bowman, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Slope and Stark. 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 Southwest North Dakota peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around early November. 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 Southwest North Dakota

2 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Weyburn, SK, about 225 miles north and Regina, SK, about 285 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Southwest North Dakota

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KBIS, the National Weather Service radar at Bismarck, about 115 miles east 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 Southwest North Dakota 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 North Dakota

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

West Central North Dakota, about 65 miles north
Northwest North Dakota, about 130 miles north
South Central North Dakota, about 140 miles east
Central North Dakota, about 150 miles northeast
North Central North Dakota, about 165 miles northeast
Southeast North Dakota, about 255 miles east
East Central North Dakota, about 255 miles east
Northeast North Dakota, about 255 miles northeast

Across the state line

Grand River Country, South Dakota, about 75 miles southeast

Live migration map

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