2026 Duck Breeding Survey: The Numbers Are In

Chance GMeteorologist Chance Gotsch breaks down what the strongest El Niño since 1950 means for the 2026–27 duck season. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has it at a greater than 90% chance of going "very strong." Chance reads the seasonal outlook maps — warmer across the Great Lakes, the Dakotas and western Canada, drier through Missouri, Arkansas and the Atlantic Flyway — and answers what every waterfowler is asking: does El Niño stall the duck migration? Also in this episode: why snow moves mallards and cold doesn't, how to read wind direction straight off a pressure system, what barometric pressure actually tells you, why your weather app is solid on temperature and unreliable on rain, and how to spot a clickbait polar vortex forecast. Chance's show: Chance of Storms Outdoors on First Alert 4 (also on Roku, FireTV and AppleTV)Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, the conservation group Chance asked us to link For more, follow us on:Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Tyler dig into the numbers the US Fish & Wildlife Service just dropped: the 2026 Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey. Mallards, teal, and pintail are all down from last year, but the pond count is up 14% and North Dakota broods jumped 55% — so what does it actually mean for this fall's hunting? Plus: a recap of the Waterfowl Hunters Expo in Oshkosh (including a fan-girl moment with retriever training legends Pat Burns and Mike Lardy), a debate on whether hunting regulations should change, and a heat-safety reminder for anyone still chasing teal this week. Follow Upduck: Instagram Facebook YouTube TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tyler flies solo this week (Matt's out) to talk pheasant season with Anne Byers: an NRCS employee, Osceola County Conservation Board member, and a landowner who's spent 25+ years managing 200 acres of her family's Iowa ground specifically for pheasants. They dig into what this year's pheasant numbers are actually looking like across Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota (spoiler: the signs point to another strong season), the exact habitat mix Anne plants to hold birds through winter and protect nesting hens in spring, how she handles predator control and invasive trees on her property, and why she'd rather protect pheasant season than deer season these days. Plus: her annual public-land camping trips to the South Dakota grasslands for sharptails and prairie chickens, the Mossberg 500 she won at a Ducks Unlimited banquet 20 years ago, and — yes — the pack goats that carry her birds out of the field. Guest: Anne Byers — Anne Byers Instagram (dogs, hunting, and the goats). For Osceola County and other Iowa county conservation area info, check out My County Parks Follow the Upduck Podcast: Instagram Facebook YouTube TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most duck hunters never test the one thing that decides whether their shot connects: the shell. This week Tyler and Matt sit down with Ryan, co-founder of Pattern Pros, to talk about why patterning your shotgun matters as much for waterfowl as it does for turkey season — how a few dollars and twenty minutes at 20/30/40 yards can save you money on shells, put more birds in the bag, and mean fewer crippled ducks for your dog to chase down. Ryan breaks down point of aim vs. point of impact, walks through Pattern Pros' variety boxes and new choke tube rental program, and makes the case that applies to waterfowl, upland, turkey, and rifle hunters alike: just pattern it. Pattern Pros: https://patternprosusa.com — use code DUCK10 for 10% off Pattern Pros on Facebook: Pattern Pros USA Pattern Pros on Instagram: @patternpros Upduck Podcast: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upduckco/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590597988664 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@upduck0 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC49KFQlhl8bxs-i_CYUxI3A Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duck season is closing in fast — is your retriever actually ready? On this episode of the Upduck Podcast, Tyler breaks down the training advice pulled straight from three professional gun dog trainers to get your dog field-ready before opening day. We cover conditioning your dog physically for long days in the blind, locking in obedience and steadiness around gunfire, running real marked retrieves (not just backyard bumpers), building mock hunt scenarios that mimic the real thing, and sharpening memory work for multiple falls. Whether you're running a young pup on its first season or tuning up a veteran retriever, these are the fundamentals the pros actually use. Check out the following links for even more content: Instagram Facebook Youtube More About the Upduck Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Heidel, executive director of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, joins the UpDuck Podcast to preview the 2026 Waterfowl Hunters Expo and explain how WWA supports Wisconsin ducks and duck hunters. Brad shares his path through the conservation industry, the three pillars guiding WWA's work and what hunters can expect at this year's expo—including retriever demonstrations, calling contests, firearms you can try before buying, seminars, youth activities, vendors and wild-game cooking. The Waterfowl Hunters Expo takes place August 21–22 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Learn more at ⁠waterfowlhuntersexpo.com⁠ and support the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association at ⁠wisducks.org⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when you hunt upland birds with both flushing Labs and a pointing dog? Coleton Johnson of Prairie Upland joins the Upduck Podcast to share how a fully trained British Lab from a Catholic priest introduced his family to bird hunting—and eventually led them to an unconventional team of British Labs and a German wirehaired pointer. We discuss how the dogs work together, hunting pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and ruffed grouse across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the habitat challenges facing Canada’s upland birds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff returns to the Upduck Podcast to catch up on everything that has happened since stepping away from the show. He shares updates from Shot Shell Hunting, the improvements he has made to his waterfowl and turkey decoy motion systems, and why he traded his long-tail mud motor for a surface drive. Then the conversation takes an unexpected turn as Jeff explains his plan to hunt ducks and geese with a compound bow, flu-flu arrows, and oversized broadheads. The guys also discuss new puppies, aging gun dogs, retriever training, hunting-season plans, and the chaos of balancing work, family, dogs, and the outdoors. Check out the following links for even more content: Instagram Facebook Youtube More About the Upduck Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Southern Flight Podcast host Robby Nelson joins the Upduck Podcast to talk Southern duck hunting, waterfowl travel, changing migration patterns, habitat loss, flooded corn, and the growing criticism of conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl. Robby shares how he became a duck hunter, why Southern hunters are seeing fewer birds, and why habitat loss, warmer winters, hunting pressure, and changing agriculture cannot be reduced to one convenient villain. They also discuss social media, unrealistic hunting expectations, respect for wildlife, and the responsibility waterfowl creators have to the next generation. We also talked a lot about this wonderful organization: Second Chance Flight Check out the following links for even more content: Instagram Facebook Youtube More About the Upduck Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wisconsin’s new waterfowl hunting framework is officially set for 2026–2030. Tyler sits down with Wisconsin DNR Game Bird Ecologist Taylor Finger to break down what duck and goose hunters need to know heading into the coming seasons. They cover the return of the Mississippi River Canada goose opener to the regular duck opener, what stayed the same across Wisconsin’s north, south, and open-water zones, how bag limits can still change within the five-year framework, the outlook for teal season, and why hunter feedback matters long before the next framework is built. To get in touch with Taylor, you can reach out to him via email: [email protected] Check out the following links for even more content: Instagram Facebook Youtube More About the Upduck Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices