Migration Alert: Return of Winter Weather Bodes Well for Late-Season Opportunities

The 2025–26 waterfowl season roller-coaster ride continues in the Great Lakes states with unseasonably warm weather followed by brutal cold. After a major thaw a couple of weeks ago, impressive numbers of ducks and geese pushed northward on strong south winds allowed hunters in the Central and Northern Zones of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, as well as southern Michigan, to cash in on some of the best hunts of the season.

Thankfully for hunters further south, the summerlike conditions have abated, and birds have settled back in their normal winter strongholds for the time being. The southern portions of Indiana and Illinois are chock-full of ducks and geese, benefiting hunters in zones that remain open.

Hunter reports indicate that in many areas, the hunting has been good as it gets. Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings quarterback, hit the jackpot in southern Illinois. “As soon as the football season meetings concluded, I dropped off the family and bags at home and got to spend three days in southern Illinois at our farm,” Wentz explains. “They had a rough few weeks from mid- to late December, but things really ramped up in early January when the weather opened water everywhere, and thousands of birds showed up. I made it down there at just the right time.”

Wentz and crew ended the season with three incredible hunts, “It was everything you’d dream about as a waterfowl hunter—mallards, pintails, and gadwalls filled the sky. The dogs got to do a lot of work, and we all had a blast,” Wentz adds.

The same sort of sentiment was common from others in Illinois and nearby Indiana. And straps weren’t just loaded with mallards, but a very diverse mix of species for this time of year. The consensus around the better part of Illinois and Indiana is excellent numbers of ducks are still present in many areas.

Reports indicate strong numbers of white-fronted and snow geese have also been working their way into the region with good numbers settling into the Illinois River Valley. Josh Osborn, waterbird ecologist at Forbes Biological Station, witnessed plentiful specks and snow geese as well as mallards and black ducks during the most recent aerial inventory of the Illinois River Valley.

“Both snow and white-fronted geese were abundant compared to what we typically observe at this time of year,” Osborn says. “The drastic difference in abundance should come as no surprise, considering the above-average temperatures, lack of snow cover, and strong south winds.”

Indiana hunters are also reporting decent numbers of snows and white-fronted geese in the southern half of the state and pockets of specks in the north. Canada geese have been bouncing back and forth as weather dictates, but many birds have moved well into Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.

Looking ahead, hunters to the south should prepare for a possible influx of new birds as another round of frigid temperatures and snow are in the forecast for the Midwest. This return to winter weather should lock up most water that isn’t moving, spring-fed, or simply too big to freeze quickly, which could push ducks and geese back south again.