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For waterfowl lovers, the Dakotas are in the heart of America's duck and goose production thanks to the thousands of potholes, sloughs, and streams left behind by the retreat of glaciers. Farther north, the sparsely populated Canadian provinces, also formed by the Ice Age, produce millions more birds, whether ducks: mallards, scaup, teal, redheads, pintails, and canvasbacks; or geese: Canadians, snow, white-fronted, brant, blues, and Ross. Every fall and winter, huge numbers of waterfowl migrate from the northern reaches of Canada and, on their way to the Gulf Coast, stop to feed in the enormous grain fields of South Dakota. The driving force is often temperature. Bitter weather is the catalyst so, in mild winters, the massive migrations begin later in the year (you can track the migrations with the widget above). "Massive" isn't an exaggeration. In December 2012, mild weather in the north delayed some of the birds but with the onset of the winter cold came so many mallards that Field and Stream, reported: From DU: South Dakota Holds 750,000 Mallards That post, as it turns out, was very misleading. Ducks Unlimited actually reported that the 750,000 mallards were the number estimated in only one part of the state: "The most recent survey [December 2012] of waterfowl on the Missouri River had around 750,000 mallards and just over 300,000 Canada geese using those waters in the central part of the state," says Rocco Murano, chief waterfowl biologist with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. [emphasis supplied] . . . There are still a large number of both ducks and geese using the pothole country of eastern South Dakota as well." Bear in mind that the huge numbers of reported birds were those that were still in South Dakota. Millions had already migrated through earlier in the fall. Fact is, waterfowl hunting hasn't been this good for decades. Not only are there enormous numbers of ducks but, in many areas, populations of geese have exploded. The state sets fall waterfall seasons every August. The exact dates and lengths of the season varies by hunting zone of which there are four: High Plains, Low Plains North, Low Plains Middle, and Low Plains South. That said, typically the season begins by late September and ends in mid-December (but some zones can extend to mid-January). Limits also vary annually but, as an example, the 2012 daily/possession limits were: Mallards 5/10 Scaup 3/6 Pintails 2/4 Redheads 2/4 Canvasbacks 1/2 And, though the limits on ducks are very liberal, they pale in comparison to the bag limits for South Dakota geese. Hunters can take up to 15 Canadas a day (30 in possession) in September and 20 "light geese" (snows, blues, Ross) a day (unlimited possession) throughout the entire goose hunting season. Get a great deal and selection on duck and goose decoys
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