Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Duck hunting is fair to good in the Panhandle, though outfitters have said they have lost the numbers they had a month ago. An abundance of playa lakes have given birds plenty of wintering habitat.  Divers have been harvested on reservoirs.  Goose hunters have enjoyed steady shoots for Canadas, though goose numbers are down as well. Best hunts have come over wheat and corn near Etter, Dumas and Spearman. A few snow geese have been mixed with the darks. Peanut and bean fields around Abilene and Lubbock have held nice concentrations of dark geese. Pheasant shoots have been solid, as have sandhill cranes. Prospects are good.

North Zone Duck: The second-split opener was much better than the initial opener in late October. Many hunters reported good shoots on mallards and wood ducks in sloughs and rivers that are holding water. Many more mallards have shown with the cold weather. Many hunters reported what little bit of water is available is full of ducks. Caddo Lake and Lake O’Pines were good for divers, gadwalls and a few mallards. The Sulphur River was good for mallards, gadwalls and redheads. Lake Fork and Toledo Bend saw good shoots for mallards, canvasbacks, divers and gadwalls. Hunting around the zone boundaries of IH-10 was fair to good for shovelers, pintails and gadwalls. Many hunters around the coast have not seen as many teal as in past years. The entire region needs a soaking rain to fill sloughs, backwaters and reservoir levels. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Duck: The second-split opener saw mixed results; however, the coast remains the duck hotspot in Texas. Prairie hunters saw large groups of decoying pintails, but noticeably absent were large groups of green-winged teal. Gadwall numbers have not lived up to past year’s expectations. The coast is very dry and many ponds have evaporated to dust. Only those with access to water wells have been able to keep water. Hence, available water has held lots of ducks. Bay hunters enjoyed limits to near-limits near Port O’Connor, Rockport, Port Aransas and Port Mansfield. Hunters have reaped the rewards of a 2-bird pintail bag to go along with the already 2-bird redhead bag. Goose hunters have seen solid decoying action from a large juvenile snow goose flock. Dry conditions have many goose concentrations heading to water by mid-morning due to their inability to water in feeding fields.  More flocks of Canada geese have moved to the coastal prairies with the recent cold fronts. Sandhill crane hunters get their first crack at the large gray birds Dec. 18.  Reminder: hunters must possess the free sandhill crane permit to hunt. The bag limit is 2 cranes per man per day.  Prospects are good.