South Dakota Coverage
Cheyenne River and the Hills Duck Migration Forecast
Belle Fourche, the northern Hills and the Cheyenne breaks. The driest ground DuckCast scores, hunted on impoundments rather than marsh.
See today’s live scoreAll of SD
Season dates: South Dakota duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where Cheyenne River and the Hills is
Cheyenne River and the Hills is drawn from 11 counties in South Dakota: Bennett, Custer, Fall River, Haakon, Jackson, Jones, Lawrence, Mellette, Oglala Lakota, Pennington and Todd. 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 Cheyenne River and the Hills peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around mid November. Cheyenne River and the Hills 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 Cheyenne River and the Hills
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Dickinson, ND, about 185 miles north, Bismarck, ND, about 210 miles northeast and Williston, ND, about 275 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over Cheyenne River and the Hills
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KUDX, the National Weather Service radar at Rapid City, about 10 miles southeast of the region’s weather point. That is close enough for the radar to sample the air over the region itself. 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 Cheyenne River and the Hills 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 South Dakota
Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.
- Grand River Country, about 95 miles north
- Oahe and the Missouri, about 140 miles east
- Mid James Valley, about 235 miles east
- Sand Lake and the Upper James, about 245 miles northeast
- Glacial Lakes, about 290 miles east
- Lewis and Clark, about 290 miles east
- Prairie Coteau, about 290 miles east
- Big Sioux Corridor, about 310 miles east
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with SD Game, Fish and Parks. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.