Southwest River Bottoms
St. Catherine Creek, the Homochitto and the old river chutes below Natchez. Last Mississippi River ground before Louisiana.
Stable / Staging
Stable Birds / Staging
Gadwall score, conditions as of Mon, Nov 2, 3:00 PM
Tomorrow's Hunt · Tuesday, Nov 3
Southwest River Bottoms
Steady temps
Legal light 5:52 AMSunrise 6:22 AMSunset 5:14 PM🌗 Last quarter · 40%
Best window: Legal light (5:52 AM) to 10:00 AM
No push wind forecast; first light is the best bet
Corn harvest roughly 99% complete, heavy field feed available
- Dry fall: birds concentrated on remaining water
Season dates · November 27-29, 2026, December 4-6, 2026, then December 9, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Youth, veterans and active military days February 6-7, 2027.
Times shown for the region center. Season dates and limits change yearly and by zone: verify with Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Water Status
Water on the landscape: Dry fall: birds concentrated on remaining water (88% of Mississippi in drought, US Drought Monitor).
Why this score is moving
- Corn harvest roughly 99% complete, heavy field feed available
48-Hour Outlook
Fair
Corn harvest roughly 99% complete, heavy field feed available. Strongest window: Tue into Wed.
14-Day Score Outlook
GadwallDays 8 through 14 sit beyond the reliable forecast window and lean on season history. Read them as a trend, not a promise.
Inside the model
The score is a weighted blend of the drivers below, each rated 0 to 10 from current conditions. No black box: this is the whole model.
Temps falling ~3°F into the next 48h
NW winds to 9 mph across 1 of the next 48h
0% of upstream hours below 28°F
Little to no snow upstream
88% of the state in drought: less water, and birds stacked on what is left
Outside the main migration window
Corn ~99%, beans ~95% (typical-progress estimate)
No reports in the last 72h, so this factor is not counted
North of you
ProThe freeze line across the stations upstream of this region, station by station, so you see shallow water locking up before the birds arrive on it.
Radar check
ProLast night's NEXRAD read on whether birds actually moved: how much lifted off after sunset, which way it tracked, and how fast it flew under its own power once the wind at that altitude is subtracted out.
Local conditions
| Day | Hi / Lo | Wind | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| MonNov 2 | 78° / 68° | SE 11 mph | |
| TueNov 3 | 83° / 65° | SSE 12 mph | |
| WedNov 4 | 76° / 59° | NW 9 mph | |
| ThuNov 5 | 81° / 56° | W 5 mph | |
| FriNov 6 | 77° / 61° | N 5 mph | |
| SatNov 7 | 73° / 56° | NNE 6 mph | |
| SunNov 8 | 74° / 50° | NW 9 mph |
Hunter intel
ProWhat other hunters reported in this region over the last 72 hours: species, how hard they were feeding, and whether the birds looked like new arrivals. Filing your own report is free and counts toward this region's score either way.