What Do Texas Weather Changes Mean for Waterfowlers?

Griffen Walden for SPLIT REED

Just about two weeks ago, practically the whole state of Texas was frozen over, even down to the beaches of Galveston. It was all over the news – unmissable. A few days of frozen rain iced the streets, and some areas got nearly a foot of snow directly after, which lasted about a week. Now to someone, especially a duck hunter, from let’s say… North Dakota, that’s nothing – a joke. A foot of snow and a ten-degree day is just called a Tuesday. But Texas, which sports an average of around 50 degrees in January couldn’t have been prepared for it.

Texas’ regular duck season ended with the month of January this year, but goose season was in its swing. Could deep-south freezes become more regular in wintertime, and either way, did those temperatures make waterfowl numbers go up or down this late in the season?

I wrote an article about a month ago regarding weather patterns affecting migration paths – long story short, as it gets warmer, ducks will take the colder flyways south, but not as far. This more than applies to Texas – the new stopping point for many species. The majority of the massive state is central-flyway territory – the flyway that I suggested is seriously starting to eclipse the Mississippi, as more ducks are being bagged in the plains states, and less in the delta due to cooler temps. So off the bat, prospects of Texas waterfowling looking better are there. But if this is going to really improve Texas, in specific, to become more of a waterfowl state, we’re going to need those cold snaps in the late season to keep pushing ducks down through the region, annually.

Because during this cold snap, Texas. Had. Ducks. 

If you look at waterfowl reports for the dates of this year’s freeze on the Ducks Unlimited website, not one isn’t listed as “Peak Numbers,” from anywhere in the Lone Star state. But right before & right after, back to low numbers.

So the cold snap brought birds, but can we count on the cold snaps to become regular or predictable? Unfortunately, the answer is probably not. Generally speaking, as weather

patterns trend warmer, these extreme fronts become less predictable, but more severe when they do happen. It’s most likely that Texas will continue to be average for late-season ducks, and good for February geese, but it’s not probable that it will become a regular or consistent hotspot, like the state of Oklahoma has. Plains states still have the temperatures that many of the Mississippi flyway states don’t, and that up to a few weeks ago, Texas has never had, and wouldn’t be able to maintain.

So all this being said, as always, hunt the cold front – especially if you’re in Texas.