Upstate Lakes Duck Migration Forecast

Where Upstate Lakes is

Upstate Lakes is drawn from 11 counties in South Carolina: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union. 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

• Beaverdam Creek WMA (Anderson County): SCDNR Category I area, hunted by lottery permit.
• Clemson Waterfowl Area (Anderson County): SCDNR Category I lottery area for youth and adult parties.
• Fant's Grove (Anderson and Pickens counties): SCDNR Category II area, open on the days and times SCDNR sets.
• Lake Cunningham (Greenville County): SCDNR Category II area, open on the days and times SCDNR sets.
• Lake Blalock (Spartanburg County): SCDNR Category II area, open on the days and times SCDNR sets.

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 Upstate Lakes peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the wood duck peak here around mid 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 Upstate Lakes

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

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 Upstate Lakes

4 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Asheville, NC, about 70 miles north, Lake Norman, NC, about 105 miles northeast, Knoxville, TN, about 130 miles northwest and Jordan Lake, NC, about 200 miles northeast. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Upstate Lakes

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KGSP, the National Weather Service radar at Greer, about 18 miles north of the region’s weather point. That is close enough for the radar to sample the air over the region itself. 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 Upstate Lakes are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.