January 15, 2009

Kern refuge averaging
four ducks per hunter

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     While the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the San Jacinto Wildlife Area both have been struggling to average two birds per hunter, waterfowlers at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge have been shooting twice as many ducks, with a four-bird per hunter average each of the last three shoot days.
     The lower San Joaquin valley has been socked in with tule fog much of the past two weeks, making for generally good shooting now that a lot of migrants are in the region. While greenwings, gadwall, and shovelers are making up the bulk of the kill, there have been a lot of pintail and big diving ducks in the bag.
     At San Jacinto, pintail have made up a bigger portion of the bag thanks to the two-bird limit and decent numbers of the big birds. They are generally third on the list behind shovelers and greenwings, and most of them are being taken from the B-Pond blinds.
     Wister has slipped into its end-of-the-season blues with the snow geese locked on the closed feeding fields and not venturing into the public hunting areas very much. There have not been many days in the past month where the average has hit two birds per hunter.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas the most recent shoot days, with the most recent shoot day listed first:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 136 hunters on Wednesday, Jan. 13 who shot 233 ducks and three coots for a 1.74 average. The duck bag consisted of 129 greenwing teal, 28 northern shovelers, 25 pintail, 21 gadwall, eight ruddy ducks, seven mallards, five bufflehead, two wigeon, two scaup, two redhead, two cinnamon teal, one canvasback, and one ringneck. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 124 hunters who shot 249 ducks and 21 coots for a 2.18 average. The duck kill included 72 shovelers, 66 greenwings, 31 gadwall, 30 pintail, 23 ruddies, five mallards, four bufflehead, three redheads, two cinnamons, and one ringneck. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, there were 108 hunters who shot 207 ducks for a 1.92 average. The bag was made up of 81 greenwings, 58 shovelers, 29 pintail, 13 wigeon, nine, gadwall, eight bufflehead, four ruddies, three ringnecks, one canvasback, and one redhead. On Saturday, Jan. 2, there were 134 hunters who shot 195 ducks for a 1.46 average. The duck take included 98 shovelers, 23 pintail, 18 greenwings, 12 bufflehead, 11 wigeon, 10 ruddies, eight redheads, five cinnamons, five gadwall, three canvasback, and two mallards. San Jacinto is open to waterfowl and pheasant hunting through the state reservation system or a daily drawing for remaining sites after all reservation holders are admitted to the area. Refills are also permitted until 2 p.m. Shoot days are Wednesday and Saturday for waterfowl, and Mondays for pheasants during the pheasant season. For more information, contact the wildlife area at 951-928-0580.
     At the WISTER UNIT of the IMPERIAL WILDLIFE AREA on the Salton Sea, there were 135 hunters on Sunday, Jan. 10, who shot 79 ducks and four snow geese for a .61 average. The duck bag was made up of 30 greenwings, 12 shovelers, 11 pintail, nine wigeon, six gadwall, four cinnamons, three mallards, and one ruddy. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 265 hunters who shot 409 ducks, 15 coots, and 15 snow geese for a 1.60 average. The duck tag included 171 greenwings, 71 wigeon, 61 shovelers, 51 pintail, 18 gadwall, 10 mallards, 10 cinnamons, three ruddies, one scaup, and one bufflehead. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, there were 135 hunters who shot 273 ducks, four coots, three snow geese, and one Canada goose for a 2.05 average. The duck kill consisted of 99 greenwings, 73 shovelers, 44 pintails, 18 gadwall, 12 wigeon, five mallards, four cinnamons, three bufflehead, three ruddies, two scaup, and two ringnecks. Wister is open to waterfowl hunting through the state reservation system and a daily drawing for sites after all reservation holders are admitted to the area. Refills are permitted. Shoot days are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. For more information, contact the unit at 760-359-0577.
     At the SONNY BONO-SALTON SEA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, there were 18 hunters on Sunday, Jan. 10, who shot four snow geese and two cinnamons for a .33 average. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 37 hunters who shot 30 greenwings, 22 shovelers, three gadwall, two cinnamons, two coots, one mallard, one snow goose, and one Ross’ goose for a 1.62 average. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, there were 11 hunters who shot three snow geese, one greenwing, one cinnamon, and one shoveler for a .55 average. The refuge is managed as part of the Wister Unit. For more information, contact the Wister Unit at 760-359-0577.
     At the FINNEY-RAMER UNIT of the IMPERIAL WILDLIFE AREA on the Alamo River south of the Salton Sea, there were a total of 15 hunters from Monday, Jan. 4 through Sunday, Jan. 10 who shot a total of 12 greenwings, eight shovelers, three mallards, and one cinnamon for a 1.60 average. Finney-Ramer is open to hunters seven days a week under a self-registration and self-reporting system. For more information, contact the Wister Unit at 760-359-0577.
     At the KERN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, in the Southern San Joaquin hunting zone, there were 120 hunters on Wednesday, Jan. 13, who shot 470 ducks for a 3.92 average. The duck kill consisted of 143 shovelers, 112 gadwall, 83 greenwings, 33 pintail, 32 wigeon, 28 cinnamons, 16 redheads, 14 mallards, four ringnecks, three scaup, one bufflehead, one ruddy. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 143 hunters who shot 555 ducks and one whitefront goose for a 3.89 average. The duck bag included 142 greenwing, 99 shovelers, 99 gadwall, 52 pintail, 45 redheads, 40 wigeon, 24 mallards, 12 bufflehead, 10 ringnecks, four ruddies, two scaup, and one merganser. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, there were 109 hunters who shot 478 ducks for a 4.39 average. The take was made up of 116 greenwings, 101 gadwall, 93 shovelers, 68 pintail, 43 wigeon, 19 mallards, 15 redheads, nine cinnamons, seven ringnecks, three canvasback, two scaup, one bufflehead, and one ruddy. Kern is open to waterfowl hunting through the state reservation system or a daily drawing for remaining sites after all reservation holders are admitted to the area. Refills are also permitted throughout the shoot day. Shoot days are Wednesday and Saturday. For more information, call 661-725-2767 or the comprehensive hunter's hotline at 661-725-6504, normally updated after each hunt day.
     At the SAN DIEGO CITY LAKES, there were 20 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Jan. 6, who shot 47 ducks for a 2.35 average. The bag included 33 ruddies, eight ringnecks, two scaup, one bufflehead, one gadwall, one pintail, and one wigeon. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 31 hunters who shot 65 ducks for a 2.10 average. The duck bag consisted of 37 ruddies, 15 ringnecks, four gadwall, three canvasback, two bufflehead, one scaup, one goldeneye, one wigeon, and one redhead. For more information and to request a hunting information packet, hunters should call the lake’s office at 619-668-2050 or e-mail ssmith@sandiego.gov.
     LAKE HENSHAW is open to public hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The fee is $25 per hunter per day ($10 for juniors) with boat rentals $35. Hunters can also launch their own boats for a $5 fee and a $5 quagga mussel washdown charge. For more information, contact Lake Henshaw at 760-782-3501.
     At RAAHAUGE'S DUCK CLUB in PRADO BASIN, there were nine hunters on Sunday, Jan. 10, who shot 23 ducks for a 2.56 average. The bag was made up of four greenwings, four gadwall, three cinnamons, three wigeon, three mallards, three pintails, two shovelers, and one ringneck. On Saturday, Jan. 9, there were 25 hunters who shot 67 ducks for a 2.68 average. The duck kill consisted of 14 gadwall, 11 greenwings, nine wigeon, seven ringnecks, six mallards, five cinnamons, four shovelers, two redheads, and two canvasback. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, there were 21 hunters who shot 90 ducks and one Canada goose for a 4.33 average. The duck take included 19 gadwall, 14 greenwings, 13 shovelers, 12 wigeon, 11 mallards, nine cinnamons, four pintail, four ringnecks, and four redheads. Public blinds are available for $200 per day for a two-person blind. An adult with a junior hunter is just $100. All reservations must be made in advance by telephone. No walk-ons this year for the public blinds. For information, call Raahauge’s at 951-735-7981.

January 31, 2009 - Brandon and Amber Mendoza, both San Bernardino, with a cinnamon teal and ruddy duck they shot at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area on the youth waterfowl day.

January 31, 2009 - Billy and Bill Lindenberg, Ontario, with Billy's bag of two greenwings, one cinnamon teal, and a bufflehead on the juniorwaterfowl hunting day at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.

January 31, 2009 - Chad Bloxhan, 14, of Brea shows of his female bufflehead he shot on the junior waterfowl hunting day at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.

January 31, 2009 - Emily Thomas and her dad Mike, both San Jacinto, show off Emily's bag of a big gadwall and three greenwing teal taken from blind site E-1 at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area on the junior waterfowl hunt day.

January 31, 2009 - San Jacinto Wildlife Area's junior waterfowl hunt drew 69 junior hunters, filling 50 of the area's 52 blind sites. This is the highest number of junior hunters participating in this hunt ever and more than double last year's record turnout.