Central North Dakota
The heart of the prairie potholes, Chase Lake and Long Lake country. Massive staging numbers in October.
Stable / Staging
Stable Birds / Staging
Pintails score, conditions as of Tue, Sep 15, 12:00 PM
Tomorrow's Hunt · Wednesday, Sep 16
Central North Dakota
Steady temps
Legal light 6:50 AMSunrise 7:20 AMSunset 7:53 PM🌒 Waxing crescent · 23%
Best window: Legal light (6:50 AM) to 10:00 AM
No push wind forecast; first light is the best bet
Northwest winds building to 19 mph
Times shown for the region center. Season dates and limits change yearly and by zone: verify with ND Game and Fish.
Water Status
Water on the landscape: Water on the landscape is in decent shape (0% of North Dakota in drought, US Drought Monitor).
Why this score is moving
- Northwest winds building to 19 mph
48-Hour Outlook
Fair
Northwest winds building to 19 mph. Strongest window: Tue into Wed.
14-Day Score Outlook
PintailsDays 8 through 14 sit beyond the reliable forecast window and lean on season history. Read them as a trend, not a promise.
Inside the model
The score is a weighted blend of the drivers below, each rated 0 to 10 from current conditions. No black box: this is the whole model.
Temps falling ~4°F into the next 48h
NW winds to 19 mph across 14 of the next 48h
0% of upstream hours below 28°F
Little to no snow upstream
Waters open, birds can stay and feed
Shoulder of the migration window
Corn ~0%, beans ~0% (typical-progress estimate)
No recent hunter reports in this region
North of you
ProThe freeze line across the stations upstream of this region, station by station, so you see shallow water locking up before the birds arrive on it.
Radar check
ProLast night's NEXRAD read on whether birds actually moved: how much lifted off after sunset, which way it tracked, and how fast it flew under its own power once the wind at that altitude is subtracted out.
Local conditions
| Day | Hi / Lo | Wind | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| TueSep 15 | 65° / 50° | WNW 31 mph | |
| WedSep 16 | 69° / 44° | SE 19 mph | |
| ThuSep 17 | 68° / 43° | E 16 mph | |
| FriSep 18 | 73° / 54° | ESE 14 mph | |
| SatSep 19 | 70° / 55° | ESE 12 mph | |
| SunSep 20 | 67° / 54° | ESE 10 mph | |
| MonSep 21 | 58° / 50° | ESE 9 mph |
Hunter intel
ProWhat other hunters reported in this region over the last 72 hours: species, how hard they were feeding, and whether the birds looked like new arrivals. Filing your own report is free and counts toward this region's score either way.