The waterfowl report is published each week during the waterfowl hunting season on this site. We encourage hunters to send photographs and updated information to augment this report. Our goal is to make this report the most comprehensive waterfowl hunting report available for Southern California hunters -- with all of the information in a single place. Updates, photographs, and comments should be e-mailed to Jim Matthews atodwriter@charter.net.

 

November 19, 2009

Salton Sea holding 10
percent of light geese
it usually has by now

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service


     Waterfowl hunters are seeing dismal hunting throughout Southern California’s public hunting areas with most migratory birds holding well to the north.
     “It’s slow, slow, slow, slow. Everywhere,” said Scott Sewell, refuge manager for both the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the San Jacinto Wildlife Area. “We need some weather to push the birds off their feeding areas to the north.”
     Sewell said that a survey this week at Wister showed there were just between 800 and 1,000 light geese on the unit.
     “Usually by mid-November, there are eight to 10,000 geese at Wister,” said Sewell. “We’ve got tons of green feed for them when they do show up.”
     The duck numbers also remain very low and that is reflected in the hunter bag. A year ago this same week, the hunter averages at both Wister and San Jacinto were about 50 percent higher than what they were this year, with San Jacinto hunters averaging about a bird or less and Wister hunters at a half a bird on shoot days this past week.
     While this is traditionally the slowest part of the waterfowl hunting season, the warmer-than-normal weather has made this year even worse than normal. The current storm fronts moving through the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies may finally start moving birds south.
     The Kern National Wildlife Refuge in the southern San Joaquin Valley reopened this past Saturday with nearly three-bird per hunter averages and the shooting stayed good through this Wednesday’s hunt with a 2.67 average.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas this past week:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 152 hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 11 who shot 124 ducks and 38 coots for a 1.07 average. The duck kill included 21 greenwing teal, 20 bufflehead, 18 ringnecks, 15 northern shovelers, eight gadwall, eight cinnamon teal, eight redheads, eight ruddy ducks, six mallards, five wigeon, three canvasback, two scaup, one bluewing teal, and one wood ducks. On Saturday, Nov. 14, there were 121 hunters who shot 93 ducks and 25 coots for a .96 average. The duck bag consisted of 21 cinnamons, 13 shovelers, 13 ruddies, 10 greenwings, seven wigeon, seven redheads, six bufflehead, six mallards, three canvasback, three gadwall, two bluewing teal, one ringneck, and one scaup. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, there were 102 hunters who shot 103 ducks and seven coots for a 1.08 average. The duck bag was made up of 18 shovelers, 15 bufflehead, 15 redheads, 11 wigeon, 11 greenwings, 11 ruddies, seven cinnamons, six mallards, five gadwall, one canvasback, one pintail, one ringneck, and one scaup. 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 114 hunters Wednesday, Nov. 11, who shot 56 ducks, nine coots, and four snow geese for a .53 average. The duck bag included 20 pintail, seven greenwings, five wigeon, three gadwall, three shovelers, three ruddies, two scaup, one mallards, one cinnamon, one redhead, and one bluewing teal. On Saturday, Nov. 14, there were 139 hunters who shot 108 ducks and one snow goose for a .79 average. The duck kill consisted of 38 pintail, 22 wigeon, 15 shovelers, 11 greenwings, six mallards, five gadwall, five cinnamons, two redheads, two scaup, one bufflehead, and one bluewing. On Sunday, Nov. 15, there were 87 hunters who shot 36 ducks, nine snow geese, and nine coots for a .52 average. The duck bag was made up of 10 ruddies, eight pintail, six gadwall, five wigeon, two shovelers, two scaup, one greenwing, and one cinnamon. 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 seven hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 11 who shot one ruddy for a .14 average. On Saturday, Nov. 14, there were 22 hunters who shot three mallards, two snow geese, two greenwings, and one cinnamon for a .36 average. On Sunday, there were 13 hunters who shot one gadwall for a .08 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 13 hunters from Monday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 15 who shot a total of four shovelers and three greenwings for a .54 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 94 hunters when the split season reopened Saturday, Nov. 14, who shot 246 ducks, 20 coots, and two white-front geese for a 2.85 average. The duck kill included 85 shovelers, 61 gadwall, 26 pintail, 25 mallards, 12 redheads, nine buffleheads, seven greenwings, six ringnecks, five canvasback, five cinnamons, four wigeon, and one bluewing. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, there were 86 hunters who shot 230 ducks for a 2.67 average. The duck bag consisted of 75 gadwall, 41 shovelers, 32 pintail, 24 mallards, 12 ringnecks, 11 wigeon, 11 redheads, seven greenwings, seven bufflehead, six cinnamons, and four canvasback. 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 10 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Nov. 11, who shot 20 ducks for a 2.0 average. The bag was made up of 11 ringnecks, four ruddies, three greenwings, one mallard, and one shoveler. On Saturday, Nov. 14, there were 22 hunters who shot 34 ducks for a 1.55 average. The duck kill included 11 ruddies, nine ringnecks, six bufflehead, two scaup, two mallards, two greenwing, one canvasback, and one wigeon. 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 18 hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 11, who shot 24 ducks for a 2.18 average. The bag was made up of seven mallards, six cinnamons, three greenwings, three scaup, two wigeon, and two ringnecks. On Saturday, Nov. 14, there were 26 hunters who shot 42 ducks for a 1.62 average. The duck kill consisted of seven greenwings, six gadwall, six cinnamons, five mallards, four shovelers, four wigeon, three scaup, three bufflehead, two ringnecks one ruddy, and one merganser. On Sunday, Nov. 15, there were nine hunters who shot 19 ducks for a 2.11 average. The duck bag included four cinnamons, three gadwall, three mallards, two greenwings, two shovelers, two ringneck, two scaup, and one wigeon. 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 - Tyler McIntosh (left) and Tanner Newbry, both Yucapia, hold up ducks they shot during the youth hunting day at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. McIntosh had two shovelers, a cinnamonl, and a ruddy. Newbry had a redhead and three greenwings.
 

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.