Glacial Lakes Duck Migration Forecast

Poinsett, Clear Lake and the Watertown chain. Big natural basins that hold mallards after the small potholes lock up.

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

Where Glacial Lakes is

Glacial Lakes is drawn from 5 counties in South Dakota: Clark, Codington, Deuel, Hamlin and Kingsbury. 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 Glacial Lakes 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 Glacial Lakes

3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Fargo, ND, about 140 miles north, Jamestown, ND, about 155 miles northwest and Grand Forks, ND, about 210 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Glacial Lakes

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KABR, the National Weather Service radar at Aberdeen, about 70 miles northwest 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 Glacial Lakes 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.

Prairie Coteau, about 30 miles north
Mid James Valley, about 60 miles southwest
Sand Lake and the Upper James, about 75 miles northwest
Big Sioux Corridor, about 80 miles south
Lewis and Clark, about 140 miles south
Oahe and the Missouri, about 150 miles west
Grand River Country, about 250 miles west
Cheyenne River and the Hills, about 290 miles west

Live migration map

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