February 3, 2009

Imperial Valley special

light goose season allows

16 more days of hunting

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

There is a special 16-day white goose hunting season on private property in the northern end of Imperial County starting Feb. 14 and continuing through March 1. With around 25,000 light geese using this portion of the Imperial Valley, the hunt is designed to reduce crop depredation by the geese. The limit is six light geese per day with 12 in possession after the first day of this special season
None of the public hunting areas are open during this special hunt, but most of the birds are moving off the federal and state areas because much of the green feed is already gone on the refuges.
Hunters should check the regulations for the exact zone boundaries (map available online at this address: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations/ImperialGooseCorrection.pdf) in the northern end of the valley.
Guide Myron Fortin said that unless the farm fields are posted or recently planted, most of the private ground is open to hunting. Many of the green fields are leased by hunting clubs and Wilderness Unlimited and are posted, but hunters who do some scouting are likely to find places where they can set decoys or pass shoot birds in the zone. Fortin, who is booking spots on posted pass shooting fields, said he is almost entirely sold out for the short season. (Fortin can be reached at 760-951-0809.)
Fortin said hunters need to take care not to trample crops or damage irrigation rows, pick up shell casings and trash, and not leave remains of cleaned birds on roadsides. As with dove season, more and more property in the valley gets posted each year because the area farmers get frustrated by the trash and damage caused by careless hunters.
“We’re unique down here. If it’s not posted, you can pretty much hunt it,” said Fortin. “But hunters need to respect the farmers fields or we’ll lose this opportunity.”
For more information, hunters can contact the staff at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area at 760-359-0577.

Junior waterfowl hunt a huge success
at Southern California’s public areas

The San Jacinto Wildlife Area had its highest junior hunter turnout ever for the special junior waterfowl hunting day at this public hunting area in western Riverside County near Lake Perris.
“This is more than double the number of kids we had here last year,” said Scott Sewell, the area manager for the Department of Fish and Game, of the 69 junior hunters.
Wildlife Area staff and hunter volunteers fed the kids a pancake breakfast at 3 a.m. before hunting and barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs for the kids, volunteers, and families at noon when over 200 people were present.
The kids ended up shooting more ducks and with a better average than on the last day of the regular season (when adult hunters could shoot) at San Jacinto. The 69 juniors shot 124 ducks and four coots for nearly two birds each, while the average was barely over a bird per hunter on Saturday, Jan. 24, the last day of the regular season.
And many of the kids were first-time hunters. Brothers Tim LeBlanc and Justin Weber, both of San Jacinto, had four birds each -- four redheads, three greenwing teal, and a cinnamon teal -- at the noon break and were going to go back out for the afternoon to try for more. While both were avid recreational shooters, it was their first time hunting.
Emily Thomas hunted with her dad Mike and only nodded to questions about the hunting. Had she ever hunted ducks before? She shook her head with eyes wide. Did you have fun? With a big grin, her head bobbed up and down. She was holding a big gadwall and three greenwings that she’d shot. You must be a pretty good shooter? Her eyes sparkled and she gave a few short, quick nods and a little, not-so-modest smile.
“This is way cool,” said Sewell. “All the dads and volunteers are saying the same thing, ‘This is better than hunting on my own.’ Everyone had a great time.”
Similar hunts also took place at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge, Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the adjoining Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. At Kern, the 53 junior hunters had a terrific shoot, averaging nearly three ducks each on the Saturday hunt, while the 53 juniors at Wister and the Union Tract on Saturday, Jan. 31, shot 52 ducks and 34 light geese for a 1.6 average. On the Sunday hunt, the 28 juniors shot 23 ducks and 16 light geese for a 1.4 average.

What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for special junior waterfowl hunt on Jan. 31-Feb. 1:

At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 69 junior hunters on Saturday, Jan. 31 who shot 124 ducks and four coots for a 1.86 average The duck bag included 56 greenwing teal, 23 shovelers, 12 redheads, 10 bufflehead, eight cinnamon teal, five gadwall, four ruddies, two mallards, two pintail, and two ringnecks. During the season, 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 or visit the web site at www.sjwa.info.
At the WISTER UNIT of the IMPERIAL WILDLIFE AREA on the Salton Sea, there were 40 junior hunters on Saturday, Jan. 31, who shot 44 ducks and 15 snow geese for a 1.48 average. The duck bag included 11 pintail, nine wigeon, seven greenwings, six gadwall, five shovelers, four mallards, and two scaup. On Sunday, Feb. 1, there were 22 junior hunters who shot seven snow geese, six shovelers, four mallards, four pintail, four greenwings, and four cinnamons for a 1.32 average. During the season, 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 13 junior hunters on Saturday, Jan. 31, who shot 17 snow geese, three pintail, three shovelers, two Ross’ geese, and two greenwings for a 1.93 average. On Sunday, Feb. 1, there were six junior hunters who shot seven Ross’ geese, two snow geese, and one shoveler for a 1.67 average. During the season, the refuge is managed as part of the Wister Unit. For more information, contact the Wister Unit at 760-359-0577.
At the KERN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, there were 53 junior hunters on Saturday, Jan. 31, who shot 146 ducks for a 2.75 average. The duck kill consisted of 53 greenwings, 31 shovelers, 30 cinnamons, 17 gadwall, six wigeon, four mallards, four pintail, and one bufflehead. During the season, 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.

Hunters who would like to contribute information and photographs to this report should e-mail the information to Jim Matthews at odwriter@verizon.net.

The waterfowl report is copyrighted and any use or reposting of the report, or portions of the report, is prohibited without written permission. Posting of links to the fish report on the Outdoor News Service web site is allowed.
 

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 junior waterfowl 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.