A short list of recent waterfowl podcast episodes worth your drive time this week, with a Mid-South lean: two Arkansas shows, the Mississippi wildlife department's own podcast, and the national migration updates that tell you what's headed down the flyway. Each entry links to the show's official episode page. The notes below are our own short summary of what each show says the episode covers in its published description; go to the episode page for the full show notes and to listen.
Episode dates are the release dates shown on each show's page. All links checked Oct 26, 2026.
Mid-South shows
The Standard Sportsman: "Duck Hunting a Drought"
Released Oct 22, 2026 · Arkansas hosts Brent Birch and Cason Short · Episode page
- Covers the dry fall across Arkansas and much of the Deep South heading into duck season, and the hard choices it leaves hunters and habitat managers.
- Talks about whether to hunt birds as soon as they find pumped water or hold off and manage pressure, and whether high diesel and irrigation costs leave enough water on the ground for the early mallards.
- Asks whether the strengthening El Niño will bring real rain in time. For what NOAA's official outlook says, see our winter outlook article; for hunting dry years, see low water, dry timber.
The Standard Sportsman: "Arkansas...It Just Means More"
Released Oct 15, 2026 · Episode page
- A conversation about what the "Duck Hunting Capital of the World" title means for Arkansas after several tough seasons.
- Covers how duck hunting ties into tourism, farming and small-town economies in the state, and the responsibility the hosts say comes with the title.
Mississippi Outdoors Podcast (MDWFP): "Better Habitat, Better Duck Hunting in Mississippi"
Released Oct 21, 2026 · Season 3, Episode 35 · Episode page
- The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks' own podcast, with Houston Havens of MDWFP, James Callicutt of Mississippi State University Extension and Kevin Nelms of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- Covers wetlands and waterfowl habitat in Mississippi and the outlook for the 2026-27 season.
Mississippi Outdoors Podcast (MDWFP): "Getting Checked by a Game Warden with Lt. Karri Fulton"
Released Oct 14, 2026 · Season 3, Episode 34 · Episode page
- An MDWFP law enforcement lieutenant talks about what to do when a game warden walks up in the woods, on the water or at the boat ramp.
- Timely for opening week on crowded WMAs. Before you go, run through our public-land checklist and your state's waterfowl laws so your license, stamps, HIP and permits are in order.
Migration updates
Ducks Unlimited Podcast: "Great Lakes Migration Update: Divers Arriving, Geese Pushing & What Comes Next"
Released Oct 21, 2026 · Episode page
- DU's Dr. Mike Brasher and Migration Alert editor Jay Anglin talk about the first big migration movement across the Great Lakes.
- Covers how recent storms moved ducks and geese, strong goose flights, more divers showing up, and local mallard production in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana.
- Also looks at what hunters there might expect over the next few weeks.
Ducks Unlimited Podcast: "BONUS: Prairie Migration and Hunting Update"
Released Oct 12, 2026 · Episode page
- Dr. Mike Brasher and DU Migration Alert editor John Pollmann on habitat, migration and hunting across Prairie Canada and the northern U.S.
- The show notes describe good water and strong bird numbers in Prairie Canada, with drier U.S. prairies leaving birds more scattered.
- Covers how cold fronts, snow and north winds could affect migration timing for hunters farther down the flyway, which is us.
The Voice of the Duck Hunter (Delta Waterfowl): "Migration Update, October 16th, 2026"
Released Oct 16, 2026 · Episode page
- A roughly 10-minute weekly check-in with Delta Waterfowl regional directors across the U.S. and Canada.
- Runs flyway by flyway (Pacific, Central, Mississippi, North Dakota and Atlantic) on bird numbers, habitat and weather. The Mississippi Flyway segment is the one to jump to for our part of the country.
Check the rules and the water
Confirm this season’s rules on our state law pages or the agency’s own site, check draw and permit deadlines, and look at today’s river levels on the migration map. Areas can close or flood on short notice.
Public-land history
Duck Season Somewhere: "EP 733. California Public Hunting and Brown Spoon Duck Club Legends"
Released Oct 15, 2026 · Host Ramsey Russell · Episode page
- Guest Aaron Visger looks back on hunting California public areas such as Sutter and Gray Lodge, and learning ducks the hard way.
- Talks about how pressure, technology and changing times reshaped public-land hunting, and whether today's public-land hunters are better or just more efficient. That question applies just as well to a Mid-South WMA on opening weekend.
How we pick episodes
- Released in the last two weeks, with a working official episode page.
- Mid-South shows first, then national migration and public-land shows.
- We link to the episode instead of embedding or reposting it. The summaries are our own short take on each episode's published description, not a transcript or a review. Nobody pays to be included.
Know a Mid-South waterfowl show we should be checking? Tell us.
Dates, rules and prices on this page were last checked Oct 26, 2026. If an agency page and this article disagree, the agency page wins.
See something wrong or out of date? Report a correction.
We hunt public water in the Mid‑South and write from the agencies’ own pages. Every rule, date and fee links to its official source and shows the day we checked it. Where we couldn’t confirm something, we say so.
How we check our facts
