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 19, 2007

Weather helping duck and goose
hunters throughout the region

The Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area continues to have very good duck and goose hunting thanks to windy weather and an influx of birds into the Imperial Valley, according to Adolfo Hernandez with the Department of Fish and Game.
Hernandez said there were approximately 45,000 geese in the valley now and the unit was holding about 18,000 ducks. He also noted that northern shoveler and greenwing teal numbers have jumped in the past two weeks (and even more teal have come in early this week) and those increases have been reflected in the hunter bag. Averages were 3 1/2 birds or more per hunter both Wednesday and Saturday this past week, and even the Sunday average was 1 1/2 birds.
At the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, there has been a slow improvement in the hunting with an influx of greenwing teal in the area. The DFG’s Scott Sewell said Mystic Lake was carpeted with birds early this week, indicating that more birds had moved into the San Jacinto Valley. While averages were still less than two birds per hunter this past week, they jumped to 1.93 birds on Saturday, and Sewell said he expected the averages to climb this week.
The public hunting blinds at Mike Raahauge’s Duck Club in Prado Basin are finally opening this weekend. The public ponds at Raahauge’s are now full after a series of problems with the diking that diverted the water out of the Santa Ana River. The cost is $175 for a two-person blind site. Hunting on the private blinds in Prado Basin have been excellent, with many hunters shooting limits on the rainy day last Wednesday.

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

At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 75 hunters this past Wednesday, Dec. 12, who shot 99 ducks and four coots for a 1.37 average. The duck kill consisted of 47 northern shovelers, 14 gadwall, 11 greenwing teal, 10 wigeon, four redheads, three cinnamon teal, three ringnecks, three bufflehead, two scaup, one pintail and one ruddy. On Saturday, Dec. 15, there were 88 hunters who shot 168 ducks, one Canada goose, and one coot for a 1.93 average. The duck bag included 75 shovelers, 34 greenwings, 15 gadwall, 12 bufflehead, 10 ruddies, eight pintail, seven wigeon, four cinnamons, one mallard, one redhead, and one ringneck. 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 120 hunters last Wednesday who shot 382 ducks, 24 snow geese, three Ross’ geese, and two coots for a 3.43 average. The duck bag consisted of 147 greenwings, 104 shovelers, 58 wigeon, 33 pintail, 18 gadwall, nine cinnamon teal, eight mallards, two ringnecks, two scaup, and one canvasback. On Saturday, there were 255 hunters who shot 873 ducks, 101 snow geese, five Ross’ geese, and two coots for a 3.85 average. The duck kill included 434 greenwings, 208 shovelers, 87 pintail, 80 wigeon, 28 gadwall, 18 cinnamons, five scaup, four mallards, four ringnecks, two bufflehead, two ruddies, and one goldeneye. On Sunday, there were 125 hunters who shot 149 ducks, 31 snow geese, and two coots for a 1.46 average. The duck bag was made up of 55 greenwings, 35 shovelers, 21 pintail, 14 wigeon, 13 gadwall, five mallards, five cinnamons, and one redhead. 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 24 hunters last Wednesday who shot 38 snow geese, 32 ducks, and three Ross’ geese for a 3.04 average. The duck bag included 23 shovelers, four greenwings, three pintail, one gadwall, and one scaup. On Saturday, there were 25 hunters who shot 34 snow geese, 14 ducks, and 12 Ross’ geese for a 2.40 average. The duck bag consisted of four shovelers, four greenwings, three cinnamons, two pintail, and one mallard. On Sunday, there were eight hunters who shot four snow geese for a .50 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 16 hunters from Monday through Sunday this past week who shot 21 ducks for a 1.31 average. The duck bag was made up of 10 greenwings, seven shovelers, two cinnamons, one wigeon, and one mallard. 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 91 hunters this past Wednesday who shot 247 ducks for a 2.71 average. The bag was made up of 91 gadwall, 74 shovelers, 17 greenwings, 16 wigeon, 15 cinnamons, 14 mallards, nine bufflehead, six pintail, and five redheads. On Saturday, there were 89 hunters who shot 322 ducks for a 3.62 average. The duck bag included 97 gadwall, 66 shovelers, 34 wigeon, 33 greenwings, 32 cinnamons, 23 mallards, 15 pintail, 14 bufflehead, three bluewing teal, two ringnecks, two ruddies, and one canbasback. 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 38 hunters this past week who shot 71 ducks, including two limits, for a 1.87 average. The bag consisted of 23 ruddies, 16 greenwings, seven scaup, five canvasbacks, five ringnecks, four mallards, three bufflehead, three wigeon, two redheads, one gadwall, one goldeneye, and one pintail. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR there were no hunters this past week. Barrett is now open to waterfowl hunting on each Wednesday and Saturday, and reservations are available only for Wed., Jan. 23. 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, there were 21 hunters last Wednesday with 10 hunters reporting 29 ducks for a 2.90 average. The duck bag consisted of 16 wigeon, six greenwings, three pintail, two mallards, one gadwall, and one shoveler. On Saturday, there were 18 hunters with nine reporting back. They shot 22 ducks for a 2.44 average. The duck bag included nine shovelers, five greenwings, five wigeon, two pintail, and one merganser. 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 kicks off this Saturday, Dec. 22. The duck hunting ponds, destroyed in flooding three winters ago, are now completed and fully-watered. Cost for a two-person blind is $175 and hunting is allowed on a Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday schedule. 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. Hunt results from this past week were not available again. The more recent aerial survey (done Dec. 4) turned up 3,700 Canada geese, 700 snows, 7,000 pintail, 3,400 mallards, 2,600 greenwings, 2,500 wigeon, and a smattering of other ducks with a total waterfowl count of 22,000 birds. There will be another count after Christmas. 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.

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.