Cackling geese aren’t much larger than a mallard, but come late November in northwest Oregon, these diminutive, wary geese offer some big-time waterfowling fun.

When our team strikes out in a prime Stuttgart-area field, some newly flooded timber delivers the type of fast-paced mallard hunting action avid waterfowlers see mostly in dreams.

Stonington, Maine, is best known for its legendary lobster harvest, and also, to avid waterfowlers, for its concentration of Common Eiders. The handsome, distinctively marked birds remain one of the sport’s undisputed bucket-list trophies.

A wide variety of ducks. A couple species of geese. Western Oklahoma may be best known for its deer and turkey hunting, but come December, the varied terrain of this Central Flyway sleeper state becomes a migrating waterfowl mecca.