November 13, 2009

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     The waterfowl hunting has been dismal at most of the public hunting areas in the southern half of the state this past week with local birds either shot out or wising up and new migrants still a big storm or two away.
     Both the San Jacinto Wildlife Area and the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area have seen their hunter average drop below a bird per hunt this week and the weather in immediate future doesn’t seem to offer any hope for improvement.
     Highlights? There was one whitefront goose taken at San Jacinto and two surf scoters were shot at Wister. A few white geese are also starting to trickle in this week at the Salton Sea.
     The Kern National Wildlife Refuge in the southern San Joaquin Valley will reopen this Saturday after the Southern San Joaquin zones mid-season closure and the shooting should be good for the next couple of shoot days for hunters who make this trip.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas this past week:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 105 hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 4 who shot 126 ducks and 35 coots for a 1.55 average. The duck bag consisted of 29 greenwing teal, 29 shovelers, 23 ringnecks, 12 bufflehead, 11 redheads, eight ruddies, five wigeon, five cinnamon teal, three mallards, one gadwall, one canvasback, and one merganser. On Saturday, Nov. 7, there were 122 hunters who shot 107 ducks, seven coots, and one whitefront goose for a .94 average. The duck kill included 19 shovelers, 17 ringnecks, 13 cinnamons, 10 greenwings, 10 wigeon, nine mallards, eight redheads, six bufflehead, five gadwall, three scaup, three canvasbacks, two ruddies, one pintail, and one merganser. 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 72 hunters Wednesday, Nov. 4, who shot 80 ducks and two coots for a 1.14 average. The duck bag included 28 pintail, 18 shovelers, 10 greenwings, eight wigeon, seven mallards, three gadwall, two bluewing teal, two ruddies, one redhead, and one scoter. On Saturday, Nov. 7, there were 223 hunters who shot 102 ducks, 11 snow geese, and four Aleutian Canadian geese for a .52 average. The duck kill consisted of 43 pintail, 18 wigeon, 12 shovelers, 11 greenwings, nine mallards, three gadwall, three cinnamons, one ringneck, one scaup, and one ruddy. On Sunday, Nov. 8, there were 92 hunters who shot 38 ducks and three whitefront geese for a .45 average. The duck bag was made up of 17 pintail, six mallards, four greenwings, three shovelers, three ruddies, two wigeon, two cinnamons, and one scoter. 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 was one hunter on Wednesday, Nov. 4 who shot one bufflehead for a 1.0 average. On Saturday, Nov. 7, there were 17 hunters who shot three shovelers, two bufflehead, and one scaup for a .35 average. On Sunday, there were no hunters. 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 12 hunters from Monday, Nov. 2 through Sunday, Nov. 8 who shot a total of six greenwings and six shovelers for a 1.0 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, reopens Saturday, Nov. 14, after its split season closure for the past two weeks. 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 18 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Nov. 4, who shot 56 ducks for a 3.11 average. The duck bag consisted of 18 ruddies, 13 ringnecks, eight greenwings, five pintail, four mallards, three gadwall, two wigeon, one bufflehead, one shoveler, and one cinnamon. On Saturday, Nov. 7, there were 32 hunters who shot 64 ducks for a 2.03 average. The duck bag included 22 ruddies, 19 ringnecks, eight wigeon, eight greenwings, four scaup, one mallard, one pintail, and one bluewing teal. 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.
     At RAAHAUGE'S DUCK CLUB in PRADO BASIN, there were 16 hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 4, who shot 33 ducks for a 2.06 average. The bag was made up of nine wigeon, seven greenwings, six mallards, five gadwall, three cinnamons, two ringnecks, and one redhead. On Saturday, Nov. 7, there were 27 hunters who shot 61 ducks for a 2.26 average. The duck kill included 16 greewnings, nine wigeon, seven shoveler, seven mallards, six cinnamons, six gadwall, six ringnecks, three scaup, and one wood duck. On Sunday, Nov. 8, there were 19 hunters who shot 26 ducks for a 1.37 average. The bag included seven cinnamons, six wigeon, five greenwings, three ringnecks, two gadwall, two mallards, and one wood duck. 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.

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 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.