High Plains Playas

Twenty thousand playa basins around Amarillo and Lubbock. A wet autumn makes this some of the best duck ground on the continent and a dry one leaves bare clay.

2.9

Stable / Staging

Pre-Season, Birds Still North

High confidence→ 0.0 last 24hPintails 3.2

Gadwall score, conditions as of Tue, Sep 15, 12:00 PM

Tomorrow's Hunt · Wednesday, Sep 16

High Plains Playas

2.9

Falling 7° vs yesterday

Legal light 7:00 AMSunrise 7:30 AMSunset 7:54 PM🌒 Waxing crescent · 23%

5AM3W · 71°

6AM3NNE · 71°

7AM4NNE · 72°

8AM2NNW · 71°

9AM1SE · 72°

10AM2SE · 73°

11AM5S · 77°

6.7Decoy score · WorkableNear-calm morning: birds will circle high and look hard · Low overcast keeps birds low and honest · Midweek rest: birds have settled since the weekend crowds

Best window: Legal light (7:00 AM) to 10:00 AM

No push wind forecast; first light is the best bet

Held to the season curve: conditions are better than the gadwall numbers here this time of year

Times shown for the region center. Season dates and limits change yearly and by zone: verify with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Water Status

Playas, rice and flooded fields: OpenMarsh, sloughs and timber: OpenReservoirs, bays and the Laguna: Open0 freezing degree-days over the last two weeks (estimated from air temps until the satellite ice feed lands)

Water on the landscape: Water on the landscape is in decent shape (0% of Texas in drought, US Drought Monitor).

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Why this score is moving

Held to the season curve: conditions are better than the gadwall numbers here this time of year
Corn harvest roughly 81% complete, heavy field feed available
Off-season: the main migration window has not opened yet

48-Hour Outlook

Poor

Held to the season curve: conditions are better than the gadwall numbers here this time of year. Corn harvest roughly 81% complete, heavy field feed available. Strongest window: Wed into Thu.

14-Day Score Outlook

Gadwall

Days 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.

Cold front / temp trend16% weight

4.6

Temps falling ~7°F into the next 48h

Wind direction + speed14% weight

4.0

Light or variable winds

Freeze north of region16% weight

1.5

0% of upstream hours below 28°F

Snow advance upstream10% weight

1.5

Little to no snow upstream

Local open water / holding10% weight

9.0

Waters open, birds can stay and feed

Season timing14% weight

0.9

Outside the main migration window

Crop harvest / field feed8% weight

7.6

Corn ~81%, beans ~29% (typical-progress estimate)

Hunter reports12% weight

5.0

No recent hunter reports in this region

North of you

Pro

The 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.

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Radar check

Pro

Last 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.

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Local conditions

91°Fnow

SW 12 mphwind

↓ 12°next 24h, falling

Day	Hi / Lo	Wind
TueSep 15	97° / 71°	S 27 mph
WedSep 16	84° / 71°	SSE 9 mph
ThuSep 17	95° / 71°	SSE 18 mph
FriSep 18	95° / 74°	SSW 20 mph
SatSep 19	95° / 68°	SSW 36 mph
SunSep 20	90° / 69°	SW 21 mph
MonSep 21	91° / 69°	SE 14 mph

Hunter intel

Pro

What 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.

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