Mattamuskeet and Pungo
Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Beaufort, with Ocracoke: Lake Mattamuskeet, the Pungo farm country, Swan Quarter marsh and the Pamlico and Pungo rivers. The state's top duck county, and its wigeon, pintail, swan and snow goose ground.
Stable / Staging
Stable Birds / Staging
Wood Ducks score, conditions as of Thu, Oct 8, 6:00 PM
Tomorrow's Hunt · Friday, Oct 9
Mattamuskeet and Pungo
Warming 5° vs yesterday
Legal light 5:38 AMSunrise 6:08 AMSunset 5:40 PM🌘 Waning crescent · 4%
Best window: Legal light (5:38 AM) to 10:00 AM
No push wind forecast; first light is the best bet
Corn harvest roughly 88% complete, heavy field feed available
- Dry fall: birds concentrated on remaining water
Season dates · Inland Duck Zone (west of I-95) October 15-17, November 7-28, and December 18, 2026 to January 30, 2027. Coastal Duck Zone (east of I-95) October 23-24, November 7-28, and December 17, 2026 to January 30, 2027. Youth and veteran days December 5, 2026 and February 6, 2027.
Times shown for the region center. Season dates and limits change yearly and by zone: verify with NC Wildlife.
Water Status
Water on the landscape: Dry fall: birds concentrated on remaining water (60% of North Carolina in drought, US Drought Monitor).
Why this score is moving
- Corn harvest roughly 88% complete, heavy field feed available
48-Hour Outlook
Fair
Corn harvest roughly 88% complete, heavy field feed available. Strongest window: Fri into Sat.
14-Day Score Outlook
Wood DucksDays 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.
Warming ~2°F, no push trigger
NW winds to 9 mph across 2 of the next 48h
0% of upstream hours below 28°F
Little to no snow upstream
60% of the state in drought: less water, and birds stacked on what is left
Shoulder of the migration window
Corn ~88%, beans ~15% (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ThuOct 8 | 77° / 52° | SSW 7 mph | |
| FriOct 9 | 79° / 61° | NNE 9 mph | |
| SatOct 10 | 76° / 62° | ENE 15 mph | |
| SunOct 11 | 78° / 71° | SSE 18 mph | |
| MonOct 12 | 76° / 65° | W 13 mph | |
| TueOct 13 | 76° / 61° | WNW 7 mph | |
| WedOct 14 | 81° / 63° | NNW 10 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.