This weekly outlook is updated each week during the waterfowl hunting season. It is compiled from state and federal wildlife manager reports and waterfowl surveys from across Minnesota.
Weekly conservation officer reports also contain information about waterfowl hunter success.
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Weekly reports
Updated at 10:14 AM CDT on Friday, October 31, 2025
- Statewide
Habitat conditions across the state are generally in good shape. However, a few locations that didn't receive rain this week are starting to dry out. Statewide we are seeing much of the same as last week: most areas have not seen any new movement, but a few have. The front bringing colder air Thursday and Friday may also bring some new birds with it. The general theme seems to be those who are scouting are shooting more birds. Good luck and stay sade for those who venture out this week!
- Central
- Cambridge
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Mille Lacs WMA
Habitat: Habitat conditions are in overall good shape Water levels are average to low for this time of year. Access to ponds and wetlands remains good.
Migration: Locals remain the majority of birds present in the area but they have responded to pressure by seeking out refuges. Species consist primarily of mallards and wood ducks with slight increase in ring-necks and other species. No significant influx of new birds has been observed.
Weather: A wetter cooling trend has moved in recently. Mornings have been cool but warming up by afternoons. Water levels continue to drop with the overall lack of significant precipitation but access remains good.
Activity: Hunter success remains low. Bag checks on local waters showed very few birds per group. Harvest will likely remain low until we see an influx of migrants.
- North Metro/Carlos Avery WMA
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Sauk Rapids
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- North Central
- Aitkin
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Brainerd
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Grand Rapids
Habitat: Water levels continue to drop with drought conditions despite recent light scattered precipitation events. Access has been reported to be limited in areas due to lower water levels and dense stands of windfallen wild rice stalks. There is still good cover in most area with still good patches of rice stalks still standing.
Migration: Weather has been stale as of late and not pushing many new birds into the region. Hunters that have found recent success, report seeing some good numbers of ring-necks as well as a mixed bag of Pintails, Wigeon, and Gadwall. Mallards are still a major part of the harvest but have been tough to decoy. Hopefully with the next cold front hitting before the weekend additional new birds arrive.
Weather: With rain in the beginning of the week follow by a cold front arriving Wednesday thru Friday we're hoping a new flush of birds arrive into the region. Couple of shots of rain Thursday and Sunday. Winds are out of the NNW till Sunday adjusting S before going to a WNW wind early next week. Highs ranging from low 40's to 50's and the low temps getting down to freezing at night.
Activity: Hunting pressure has been low on area lakes. Scouting has been key to success and the with the current forecasts, hopefully some new birds move into the region. Most common ducks harvested as of late have been mallards, ring-necks, wigeon, gadwall and pintails.
- Park Rapids
Habitat: Water levels are still very low. Still no sign of any skim ice this late in the season. Crop harvest continues to progress and regular corn harvest is well over 50% complete.
Migration: We picked up some more Canda geese this week and a few mid-season migrants, but duck numbers remain quite low. Need a significant cold front and freezing temperatures to push birds into the area.
Weather: Temperatures remain more seasonal with some precipation and lighter winds through the weekend. Drought conditions persist with no significant rains lately.
Activity: Although reports are limited, most duck hunters are still struggling to find birds. Goose hunting continues to be more consistent and productive.
- Northeast
- Cloquet
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Tower
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Northwest
- Baudette/Lake of the Woods
Migration: More birds are showing up every day, particularly geese. Many fields and backwaters off the rainy river and lake of the woods are currently holding geese. There are even some snow geese around.
Weather: Weather looks like it will stay around the mid 40's for highs and around 30 for a low for the next 10 days. There are no stong northerly winds forcasted so I expect migration to be slow still.
Activity: Reports of the few people that have been out have been good. Not much action on divers yet on the big water.
- Roseau River WMA
Habitat: Private fields, ditches, and the WMA pools are still full from the previous rain events in the county. Large areas of standing sheetwater have provided habitat for many waterfowl species off the WMA on surrounding private property. Roseau Lake is full and the basin is filled from the increased river flow.
Migration: Waterfowl numbers remain fairly low across the unit and few newer birds arrived since last week.
Weather: RRWMA received approximately 1.75 inches of rain since last week's report, adding to the saturated conditions across the unit. Future forecasts include low chances of rain over the weekend. Friday is predicted to have low North winds and then increase and shift directions by Sunday. The following week calls for windier conditions and West winds; Monday has gusts around 28 mph. Temperatures are hovering in the 40s and 30s across the week and weekend, and Friday night has a predicted low below freezing.
Activity: Hunter harvest success remained relatively low, similar to last week. More hunter activity occurred during the weekend compared to the weekdays. There was 1.1 ducks per hunter (dph) and 0.1 geese per hunter (gph) over the week, and 1.2 dph and 0 gph this past weekend. Waterfowl harvest mainly consisted of mallards and other dabbling species like wigeon and blue and green winged teal. Hunters harvested diving species like ring necked duck and golden eye but in fewer numbers. Pool 2 dike repairs are complete for the year, but hunters are encouraged to remain aware while driving on the road. Please visit the RRWMA website. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wmas/detail_report.html?id=wma0900600 for more updates.
- Thief Lake WMA
Habitat: Another 1.2"" of rain in the past week has brought the lake level up about 2 inches to just above our normal fall target level, which is about 8 inches lower than last year on opener. Accesses on the south side of the lake are a bit shallow and the camping pull-offs are very soft and muddy. Bullrush cover is mostly tall and dense. Submerged weeds are very thick in places and outboard motors may struggle. Some corn was cut 3 weeks ago, but it will take some drying weather for harvest to resume.
Migration: We did not get a goose count this week. Duck numbers remain low as of Wednesday evening. Wigeon and ringnecks have remained the 2 most harvested birds over the past week, with redheads in 3rd. A few greenwings are being taken.
Weather: We received 1.2"" of rain in the past week. There was a little skim ice Wednesday morning, but the coldest night in the long-term forecast is 28 next Tuesday. South winds Wednesday will shift west overnight and north on Thursday before turning back out of the south Saturday night and Sunday. Highs around 50 and lows just above freezing are expected most days of the long term forecast, with chances of rain low as of now.
Activity: Hunting pressure has been low. 18 vehicles hunted the lake last Friday. 19 hunters checked averaged 1.68 ducks each. Only 22 vehicles were counted on Saturday. The 26 hunters checked averaged just 1.31 ducks each. Participation dropped to 11 vehicles on Monday. 14 hunters averaged 2.64 ducks each, but success was highly variable. Two parties with lots of experience on the lake averaged 0.5 ducks each. Some parties report afternoon success, targetting areas where stale birds are observed leaving the refuge that particular day. Ringnecks, wigeon, and redheads remain the top 3 birds bagged.
- Thief River Falls
Habitat: The area has received significant rain in the past couple weeks, increasing the amount of surface water on the landscape. Access in areas may be a little muddy. Soybean harvest wrapped up a couple weeks ago and most small grain and soybean fields have been worked. Corn harvest is starting to wrap up. Still have some scattered standing fields and lots of fields with corn stubble.
Migration: We are noticing increases in geese, but only slight increase in a few areas of ducks. Some divers noted in the Fosston area of Polk county. There are some ducks out there, but will need to plan on spending time scouting areas.
Weather: Forecast for the weekend is for highs in the low 40s on Saturday and mid-50s on Sunday. Nights will be around 30-35 degrees. There is a slight chance of rain on Friday, but nothing in forecast for the weekend. Winds on Saturday will be 5-10 mph out of the west, turning south towards evening. Winds pick up on Sunday with sustained southwest/west winds 15-20 mph and gusts to near 30 mph.
Activity: No reports
- Southeast
- Owatonna
Habitat: Marshes have good habitat conditions. River levels are low as is normal for the fall season. With some exceptions, most shallow lakes are also near seasonal norms or trending low. Habitat conditions in shallow lakes are variable. Many lakes have fair to poor habitat due to high water and deleterious fishes. Access is challenging at Rice Lake (Steele County) and Buffalo Lake (Waseca County) due to managed drawdowns. Scouting is recommended. Row crop harvest is more than 90% complete and fall tillage is picking up.
Migration: Migrant Canada geese and coots have been filtering in but no major movements were noted. Most ducks and geese are are patterned on areas of safety.
Weather: Prevailing conditions have been seasonal with periods of sun and rain with no major weather fronts. Total precipitation for the week has been about 1/2-inch.
Activity: Waterfowl hunting activity was low to moderate. Most reports suggest limited success. Green-winged teal, late wood ducks and a few divers including ring-necks and canvasbacks are showing up in the bag. Mid-week hunting activity has been vry light.
- Rochester
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Southwest
- Appleton
Habitat: Crop harvest wrapping up including much of the tillage. Conditions good for field hunting. We've had just enough rains to maintain sheet water in lower spots.
Migration: Definite shift in species since last report with many of the mid-season birds like gadwall, wigeon and shoveler moving on, but much greater numbers of mallards and divers - although they seem to be localized and not wide spread. Still fair numbers of green wings around. Goose numbers are disappointing but starting to build.
Weather: Not quite as mild as it had been, but still above normal temps. Looks like we'll settle into some cooler temps and northerly winds,albeit light. Highs in the 50's and lows in the 30's.
Activity: Field hunting activity picking up, but still very localized, as is the water hunting. Good concentrations of birds but successful hunters are looking at a lot of empty basins and fields before finding the jackpots.
- Lac qui Parle WMA
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Marshall
Habitat: Most wetlands and shallow lakes are in good condition, but water levels continue to recede. Soybean harvest is completed and corn harvest is nearing 90% done. Tillage continues although was slowed some due to rain showers. Corn stubble fields are providing hunting opportunities.
Migration: Some minor duck migration noted as temps cooled. A greater number and diversity of species including some divers are in the area. We are yet to see any significant push regarding waterfowl migration.
Weather: Cooler temps are expected on Saturday with light NW winds. Warmer weather arrives on Sunday with gusty winds out of the SW. The first week of November looks to be consistent in the mid to upper 50's.
Activity: Waterfowl hunting activity has been light with a slight uptick in activity on the weekends. Reports have been mixed with below average success rates for this time of year. Mild weather has impacted activity and success.
- New London
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- New Ulm/Redwood Falls
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- Slayton/Talcot Lake
Habitat: Water levels on area lakes getting lower due to lack of moisture. Many seasonal wetlands dry now.
Migration: No new influx of ducks. There are geese in the area, but not huge numbers.
Weather: Received about a half inch of rain this week.
Activity: Hunting pressure still very low. Scouting is key.
- Swan Lake
Habitat: Habitat looks great on swan still, there has been some die-off of cattails which has thinned out some of the cattail stands throughout the lake. Water levels have risen slightly since the last report due to rains earlier this week. Soybean harvest seems to have been mostly wrapped up and about 75% of corn is out giving plenty of places to feed in fields.
Migration: There seems to have been a small push of divers into the area since the last report 2 weeks ago. Notably there have been larger groups of Canvasbacks, Redheads and Ring-necks seen on Swan. Most teal have moved out, while Wood Ducks are still be harvested in most of the area.
Weather: Weather conditions continue to be seasonably normal. This week is looking to be mostly cloudy and wet with northerly winds up until the weekend. There is a slight chance of snow flurries early Friday morning giving way to rain. This weekend looks to be partly sunny with winds switching to west or southerly winds.
Activity: Hunters on Swan have been averaging 2 ducks per party/boat, this is down from previous years at this time. Off of Swan Lake hunting has been subpar as well. Overall hunting has been slow with the lack of birds in the area. Hopefully the cooler weather here and in Canada bring some new birds and new opportunities for hunters.
- Windom
Habitat: No report.
Migration: No report.
Weather: No report.
Activity: No report.
- West Central
- Detroit Lakes
Habitat: We received 0.5-1” of rain this week, just enough to dampen the ground. Wetlands and lakes remain low and wld rice beds are deteriorating rapidly. Corn harvest is 50% complete or so, with tillage not far behind.
Migration: Seeing some new birds noted in the area the last few days, mainly an uptick in ringneck numbers along with some mallards. A few buffleheads have been noted also. Puddle duck numbers are extremely low in the area though, very few gadwall, widgeon, or green-winged teal around. Duck numbers remain low compared to recent years, but at least we are smattering of birds around this week. Goose numbers are starting to build; numbers aren’t great but there are birds around. Swans on every wetland it seems.
Weather: Forecast for this weekend is cooling temps with north winds thru Saturday, then a warmup with south winds and 50s on Sunday. Have had a couple good freezes this week. No ice to speak of though.
Activity: Hunting was poor last weekend as bird numbers have been largely stagnant since opener. Definitely more birds around going into this weekend. Hunters that are spending more time scouting than hunting are having decent success the last few days on mainly ringnecks. Last weekend before the Firearms Deer Season beings, good luck hunting everyone.
- Fergus Falls/Lake Christina
Habitat: Habitat remains unchanged even after some rain earlier this week. Lake Christina plants remain in good shape, even though water clarity is poor. Soybean harvest is nearly complete, and corn harvest continues.
Migration: Little to no migration noted this week. The landscape still seems mostly without ducks, though a few more Canada geese are in the area. Canvasback numbers are likely at peak on Lake Christina right now - you'll find them mixed in with the thousands of coots.
Weather: The weather has turned cooler with frost in the mornings. Some much needed rain earlier this week helped knock down the dust, but probably didn't do much for wetlands that are gaining mudflats.
Activity: Hunters were afield last week, but success just hasn't been what we would expect this year. Mallards, ringnecks, gadwall, and canvasbacks have been in the bag.
- Glenwood
Habitat: No Change for wetlands from last report ""Water levels are high on most of the wetlands creating deep water/poor habitat conditions on the larger basins. At the same time we are seeing sheet water in fields and flooded areas around wetlands creating shallow water feeding conditions for ducks. Making the ducks that are here spread out."" Crop harvest is all but complete with most fields have been worked.
Migration: Again I was hoping for some significant duck movement with finally getting some northwest winds, it seems a few ducks did move into the area but not in the numbers I was hoping for and they seemed to be concentrated on specific water bodies. I did see a decent increase in goose numbers.
Weather: It has continued to be warm and dry with south winds that changed briefly Tuesday and forecasted until Saturday with ""cooler"" temps and a northwest winds but it is forecasted to warm back up and winds will switch back to the south Saturday.
Activity: I feel like a broken record with more of the same on this one also, pheasants are getting most of the attention but almost nothing for ducks or duck hunters.