The waterfowl report is published each week during the waterfowl hunting season on this site, usually updated on Monday afternoons. 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 at odwriter@earthlink.net.
 

December 05, 2007

Federal refuge continues to crank out
good numbers of light geese for hunters

The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, usually just called the “federal unit” by regular waterfowl hunters on the south end of the Salton Sea, produced just over 100 light geese over its three shoot days this past week with an average of nearly two geese per hunter both Wednesday and Saturday.
On Wednesday, there were 22 hunters on the federal unit who shot 43 light geese, 27 snows and 16 Ross’ geese, for a 1.95 average. On Saturday, 27 hunters shot 34 snows and 19 Ross’ for a 1.96 average.
While the number of geese remains high in the Imperial Valley, very few birds were taken on the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area this past week. A total of just 18 geese, including four honkers shot last Wednesday, were taken over the three shoot days. With few new migrants last week, the birds have been pretty locked up on closed feeding areas at Wister.
At the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, geese also continue to be a bright spot in the hunting here. This past week there were 15 geese taken over the two shoot days, including eight snow geese last Wednesday. The Walker and E-pond blind sites have been best for the geese.
The Cibola National Wildlife Refuge has been very good for ducks on the Island Unit, and Canada goose numbers have jumped to nearly 5,000 birds in the past week. Total take on the Farm Unit fields was 16 birds over the four shoot days.
Lake Henshaw opened to waterfowl hunting this past weekend with a 3 1/2 ducks-per hunter average for those who reported back in on Saturday, and Mike Raahauge’s Duck Club in Prado Basin is expected to open its public blinds by next weekend once the rain projected for the next few days finishes filling the ponds.

What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting this past week:

At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 90 hunters last Wednsday who shot 209 ducks, eight snow geese, one honker, one cackling goose, and four coots for a 2.48 average. The duck bag consisted of 75 shovelers, 41 greenwing teal, 24 gadwall, 20 pintail, 14 wigeon, seven bufflehead, six cinnamon teal, five mallards, four ringnecks, four goldeneye, four ruddies, three redheads, one scaup, and one canvasback. On Saturday, there were 131 hunters who shot 210 ducks, three honkers, and two snow geese for a 1.64 average. The duck bag was made up of 100 shovelers, 44 greenwings, 13 gadwall, 12 cinnamons, nine ruddies, six wigeon, five redheads, five bufflehead, five mallards, three canvasback, three ringnecks, two pintail, two mergansers, 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 95 hunters last Wednesday who shot 361 ducks, five snow geese, and four Canada geese for a 3.89 average. The duck bag consisted of 100 wigeon, 100 greenwing teal, 100 shovelers, 25 pintail, 16 gadwall, nine cinnamon teal, seven mallards, one scaup, one bufflehead, one ruddy duck, and one merganser. On Saturday, there were 211 hunters who shot 808 ducks, 11 coots, five Ross’ geese, and one snow goose for a 3.91 average. The duck kill was made up of 255 shovelers, 206 greenwings, 173 wigeon, 77 pintail, 52 gadwall, 14 cinnamons, 13 mallards, nine scaup, three ringnecks, three goldeneye, one bufflehead, one ruddy, and one merganser. On Sunday, 80 hunters who 128 ducks, two snow geese, one Ross’ goose, and one coot for a 1.65 average. The duck take included 41 shovelers, 31 greenwings, 20 wigeon, 11 gadwall, 10 pintail, six cinnamons, five mallards, two bufflehead, one goldeneye, and one ruddy. 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 22 hunters last Wednesday who shot 28 ducks, 27 snow geese, and 16 Ross’ geese for a 3.23 average. The duck bag included eight greenwings, six pintail, six wigeon, five shovelers, two gadwall, and one cinnamon. On Saturday, there were 27 hunters who shot 62 ducks, 34 snow geese, and 19 Ross’ geese for a 4.26 average. The duck kill was made up of 29 shovelers, 12 pintail, seven wigeon, five mallards, four greenwings, three gadwall, one ringneck, and one bufflehead. On Sunday, there were 18 hunters who shot seven ducks, five snow geese, and one Ross’ goose for a .72 average. The duck bag consisted of five shovelers, one wigeon, and one greenwing. 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 20 hunters from Monday through Sunday this past week who shot 16 ducks for a .80 average. The bag was made up of eight greenwing and eight shovelers. 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, there were 80 hunters last Wednesday who shot 219 ducks and 13 coots for a 2.90 average. The duck bag included 72 shovelers, 71 gadwall, 22 mallards, 14 wigeon, 13 cinnamons, nine bufflehead, seven pintail, four greenwings, three redheads, two ringnecks, and two ruddies. On Saturday, there were 101 hunters who shot 230 ducks for a 2.28 average. The duck kill consisted of 97 gadwall, 61 shovelers, 19 mallards, 11 wigeon, 11 cinnamons, nine greenwings, six pintail, six bufflehead, three redheads, three ringnecks, one canvasback, one goldeneye, one ruddy, and one bluewing teal. 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, BARRETT LAKE had 20 hunters last Wednesday who shot 27 ducks for a 1.35 average. The duck bag included nine ruddies, four gadwall, four mallards, three bufflehead, three canvasback, two pintail, one scaup, and one wigeon. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR, there were no hunters. Both lakes were closed over the weekend because the burned areas were affected by rain. Barrett is now open to waterfowl hunting on each Wednesday and Saturday, and all reservations are filled. Sutherland is open on a Thursday and Sunday schedule. There are still openings for all shoot days. For information on the City Lakes waterfowl program, call (619) 668-2060.
At LAKE HENSHAW, the waterfowl season kicked off this past Saturday. There were 28 total hunters with 11 reporting back in with 38 ducks for a 3.45 average. The bag consisted of 14 wigeon, eight mallards, five shovelers, three pintail, three gadwall, three cinnamon teal, and two greenwings. Hunt days are Wednesdays and Saturdays. The fee is $25 for adult hunters and $10 for juniors. For more information, contact the lake at 760-782-3501.
At MIKE RAAHAUGE’S DUCK CLUB in Prado Basin, the public hunting program is tentatively slated to begin around Dec. 15. The duck hunting ponds, destroyed in flooding three winters ago, are now completed and water was going into the area until a levy washed out. The rain this week should fill the ponds and allow for hunting by next weekend. For information on the public hunting program here, call Raahauge’s at 951-735-7981.
The CIBOLA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE on the Colorado River is a popular spot for goose hunters who set out large spreads of decoys in groomed goose fields. Reservations are issued through a drawing, but there is also a daily waiting line for unfilled blind sites. This past week, there were six honkers taken during the mid-week two day hunt, and a total of 10 honkers taken over the weekend. Honker numbers are really starting to build this week with number between 4,000 and 5,000 birds, up from about 2,500 last week. There are also about 18,000 ducks on the area, and the Island Unit open hunting area has been very good with a number of limits of birds reported this past week, mostly gadwall and teal in the bag. This week’s aerial count was cancelled due to winds. For refuge information, call 928-857-3253 or visit the web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/CibolaNWR/index.html.

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

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