Mattamuskeet and Pungo Duck Migration Forecast

Where Mattamuskeet and Pungo is

Mattamuskeet and Pungo is drawn from 4 counties in North Carolina: Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington. 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

• Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde County): Permit-only waterfowl hunting from blinds on a lake averaging two feet deep; wigeon, gadwall, green-winged teal, pintail, black duck and tundra swan.
• Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde County): 6,120 acres of marsh open to waterfowl hunting on Great Island and both sides of Juniper Bay; no open-water hunting.
• Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington counties): Duck, goose and swan hunting on designated areas; waterfowl hunting is closed on the Pungo Unit.
• Gull Rock Game Land (Hyde County): Includes the E. Merle Edwards (Loop Road) waterfowl impoundment.
• J. Morgan Futch Game Land (Tyrrell County): Permit hunting; NCWRC lists wood duck, green-winged teal, ring-necked duck and tundra swan.

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 Mattamuskeet and Pungo peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the green-winged teal peak here around late 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 Mattamuskeet and Pungo

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in Mattamuskeet and Pungo are wigeon, green-winged teal and pintails. Against the state as a whole, it expects more pintails, wigeon, snow geese, gadwall, black ducks and Canada geese in Mattamuskeet and Pungo and fewer mallards, wood ducks and scoters.

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 Mattamuskeet and Pungo

6 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Back Bay, VA, about 80 miles northeast, Hog Island, VA, about 110 miles north, Chincoteague, VA, about 175 miles north, Blackwater, MD, about 195 miles north, Prime Hook, DE, about 235 miles north and Susquehanna Flats, MD, about 270 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Mattamuskeet and Pungo

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KMHX, the National Weather Service radar at Newport, about 60 miles south of the region’s weather point. That puts the radar just outside the region, near enough to see birds lifting off and passing close by. 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 Mattamuskeet and Pungo are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.