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 at odwriter@charter.net.
 

December 11, 2008

 

Finally more migrant

waterfowl moving into

Southern California’s

public hunting areas


By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service


While goose hunting has improved at the south end of the Salton Sea, the duck hunting picture at all of Southern California’s public waterfowl hunting has still been well below average for this time of year. But it appears the northern migrants are finally starting to filter into the region in better numbers.
The bright spot this past week was that the light geese are now at the south end of the Salton Sea in very good numbers. During the last week of hunting there were a total of 164 snow and Ross geese taken at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, the highest three-day total so far this season. During the same three days, duck hunting was pretty dismal, however.
Meanwhile, hunters at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in western Riverside County were also seeing pretty dismal duck hunting with averages of a bird per hunter the norm for the past three weeks. That average has taken jumps each of the past two shoot days, with nearly two birds per hunter on Saturday and then nearly three birds per hunter on Wednesday.
“We had a dozen limits shot by lunch in the morning,” said Scott Sewell with the Department of Fish and Game at San Jacinto. “There were a lot of birds shot in the morning, and it seems like just about everywhere shot well. We had a double limit come out of Marsh A, and all of the blinds facing Mystic Lake almost all had limits.”
The greenwing teal bag tells the story at San Jacinto. Last Wednesday (Dec. 3), there were just 19 greenwings in the bag and the hunter average was right at a bird per hunter. Then on Saturday, hunters shot 95 greenwings and the average was 1.7 birds per hunter. On Wednesday this week, there were 162 teal taken and the overall average was 2.7.
The Kern National Wildlife Refuge saw a similar jump in hunting success. On Saturday, the average was 1 1/2 birds per hunter, but by Wednesday this week, it had doubled to just over three birds per hunter. The big increases came in gadwall, wigeon, and shovelers as new migrants swelled refuge bird numbers.
In San Diego County, Lake Henshaw has been a pleasant surprise since the opener Nov. 29, with wigeon making up the entire reported bag this past week. On Saturday, limits of wigeon were reported by Forest Viehman, Bonsall, Dheyne Heyer, Carlsbad, and Chase Sessions, Valley Center.


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


At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 112 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 3, who shot 102 ducks and 15 coots for a 1.05 average. The duck bag was made up of 19 greenwing teal, 18 wigeon, 18 gadwall, 13 shoveler, 11 ruddies, seven mallards, six bufflehead, four ringnecks, three redheads, two scaup, and one pintail. On Saturday, Dec. 6, there were 128 hunters who shot 214 ducks and 10 coots for a 1.75 average. The duck kill included 95 greenwings, 49 wigeon, 35 shovelers, 11 gadwall, 11 ruddies, five bufflehead, two mallards, two cinnamon teal, two redheads, one pintail, and one goldeneye. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, there were 105 hunters who shot 284 ducks, two Ross’ geese, and two coots for a 2.77 average. The duck take included 162 greenwings, 42 shovelers, 29 wigeon, 22 gadwall, seven cinnamons, five mallards, five scaup, four pintail, three ruddies, two ringnecks, two bufflehead, and one redhead. 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 58 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 3, who shot 45 ducks and eight snow geese for a .91 average. The duck bag included 13 pintail, 12 wigeon, five mallards, five shovelers, three gadwall, three greenwings, three cinnamons, and one redhead. On Saturday, Dec. 6, there were 122 hunters who shot 117 ducks, 58 snow geese, and one Canada goose for a 1.44 average. The duck kill consisted of 30 pintail, 29 wigeon, 22 greenwings, 16 mallards, seven cinnamons, six gadwall, four scaup, and one ruddy. On Sunday, Dec. 7, there were 54 hunters who shot 24 ducks and 16 snow geese for a .74 average. The duck bag was made up of eight pintail, seven cinnamons, four wigeon, four greenwings, three mallards, one gadwall, and one shoveler. 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 12 hunters Wednesday, Dec. 3, who shot 44 snow geese, seven Ross’ geese, and three mallards for a 5.0 average. On Saturday, Dec. 6, there were 20 hunters who shot eight snow geese, two Ross’ geese, and two mallards for a .95 average. On Sunday, Dec. 7, there were five hunters who shot 11 snow geese for a 2.20 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 was a total of one hunter from Monday, Dec. 1 through Sunday, Dec. 7 who shot one greenwing and one ruddy for a 2.0 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, there were no results available from Wednesday, Dec. 3. On Saturday, Dec. 6, there were 122 hunters who shot 186 ducks, 14 coots, and four whitefront geese for a 1.67 average. The duck bag included 51 gadwall, 40 shovelers, 30 cinnamons, 22 greenwings, 14 mallards, 12 wigeon, eight pintail, four bufflehead, three redheads, one ringneck, and one goldeneye. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, there were 92 hunters who shot 290 ducks and six coots for a 3.22 average. The duck kill consisted of 87 gadwall, 76 shovelers, 43 wigeon, 14 mallards, 12 pintail, eight bufflehead, seven cinnamons, four ruddies, and two redheads. 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 LAKE HENSHAW, there were just four hunters Wednesday, Dec. 3, who shot four wigeon for a 1.33 average. On Saturday, Dec. 6, there were 12 hunters with nine reporting back in with 26 wigeon, including three limits, for a 2.89 average. 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 the SAN DIEGO CITY LAKES, there were a total of 37 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 6, this past week. They shot a total of 68 ducks and a coot for a 1.86 average. The duck bag was made up of 34 ruddies, 25 ringnecks, three scaup, one bufflehead, one gadwall, one mallard, one pintail, one wigeon, and one hooded merganser. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR there wwere just two hunters Thursday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 7 who shot three ruddy ducks for a 1.50 average. Reservations are still available for Barrett for all Wednesday shoot days from November through January and for all shoot days at Sutherland. 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 40 hunters over the three shoot days, Wednesday, Dec. 3, Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7 who shot a total of 151 ducks, 11 coots, and two Canada geese for a 4.1 average. The duck bag included 36 mallards, 31 greenwings, 25 wigeon, 14 cinnamons, nine bufflehad, eight shovelers, eight gadwall, eight wood ducks, four ringnecks, one ruddy, one redhead, and one scaup. 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.

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