South Dakota Coverage
Oahe and the Missouri Duck Migration Forecast
Pierre up through Gettysburg and Mobridge. Reservoir water that stays open long after the prairie is hard, though it is the one region no radar reaches.
See today’s live scoreAll of SD
Season dates: South Dakota duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where Oahe and the Missouri is
Oahe and the Missouri is drawn from 10 counties in South Dakota: Brule, Buffalo, Gregory, Hughes, Lyman, Potter, Stanley, Sully, Tripp and Walworth. 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 Oahe and the Missouri peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around mid November. Oahe and the Missouri 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 Oahe and the Missouri
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Bismarck, ND, about 155 miles north, Jamestown, ND, about 175 miles northeast and Minot, ND, about 255 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over Oahe and the Missouri
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KABR, the National Weather Service radar at Aberdeen, about 105 miles northeast 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 Oahe and the Missouri 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.
- Mid James Valley, about 95 miles east
- Sand Lake and the Upper James, about 110 miles northeast
- Grand River Country, about 120 miles northwest
- Cheyenne River and the Hills, about 140 miles west
- Glacial Lakes, about 150 miles east
- Prairie Coteau, about 150 miles east
- Big Sioux Corridor, about 175 miles east
- Lewis and Clark, about 180 miles southeast
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with SD Game, Fish and Parks. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.