Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill Duck Migration Forecast

Where Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill is

Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill is drawn from 14 counties in Georgia: Banks, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Richmond, Stephens, Taliaferro, Warren and Wilkes. 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.

Public ground with waterfowl hunting

• Clarks Hill WMA East (McDuffie, Wilkes and Lincoln counties): A 10,224-acre WMA where Georgia DNR lists waterfowl among the game.
• Clarks Hill WMA West (McDuffie, Wilkes and Warren counties): Georgia DNR lists waterfowl hunting on this tract.
• Phinizy Swamp WMA (Richmond County): About 1,500 acres, mostly flooded timber, at Augusta.
• Fishing Creek WMA: A 2,900-acre WMA with waterfowl impoundments.
• Lake Hartwell (Hart, Franklin and Stephens counties): A Corps of Engineers lake open in the statewide season; Georgia DNR calls the border lakes a stopover for ducks bound for the coast.

Seasons, permits, draws and open days change from year to year, so check the state wildlife agency’s rules, linked below, before you go.

When Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the wood duck peak here around early December. The timing follows the statewide curve; what differs here is how many birds the model expects, below. 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.

Which birds the model expects in Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill are wood ducks, Canada geese and mallards. Against the state as a whole, it expects more mallards in Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill and fewer blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and wood ducks.

Those weights come from harvest records, survey counts and the kind of water, not from a count taken here each season. They cap how high each species’ score can climb; the weather still has to bring the birds.

What DuckCast watches upstream of Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill

4 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Asheville, NC, about 120 miles north, Knoxville, TN, about 160 miles northwest, Lake Norman, NC, about 165 miles northeast and Hiwassee Refuge, TN, about 165 miles northwest. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KGSP, the National Weather Service radar at Greer, about 75 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 Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.