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.
 

January 08, 2009

 

Waterfowl hunting results
improve as season nears end


By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service


Hunting results across Southern California public waterfowl areas has continued very good, with many limits reported on Wednesday this week (Jan. 7) at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area where the average was over three birds per hunter, in spite of the bluebird weather.
“We pounded ‘em yesterday,” said Scott Sewell, area manager on Thursday. “There were a lot of limits first thing in the morning, but hunting pressure was off and we even had some open blind sites.”
This past Saturday and last Wednesday, the hunter average was over two birds per hunter those two shoot days at San Jacinto. Over the last three shoot days, greenwing teal (353 total) have been the top bird in the bag, followed closely by northern shovelers (306) and gadwall (87).
Sewell said San Jacinto was averaging nearly two birds per hunter for the whole season, better than the past several years at this point in the season, even with more hunters participating in the hunting program here.
“I think we’re doing good things for the birds and for the hunters here,” said Sewell.
At the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, few new migrants have come in over the past weeks, but the hunter average held up this Wednesday with just over 2 1/2 birds per hunter (274 ducks and 17 geese). While only 17 light geese were taken Wednesday at Wister, this is up from Saturday’s bag of just six geese, but down from last Wednesday’s taken of 20 birds.
Adolfo Hernandez at Wister said there are still a lot of birds on the two areas and that winds are forecast for this weekend, which usually leads to very good hunting.
The Kern National Wildlife Refuge hunters have continued to see very good shooting. The average on Saturday was a whopping 4 1/2 birds per hunter. Last Wednesday and this Wednesday the average was closer to three birds, still very good hunting.
Public hunters at Lake Henshaw have been inconsistent in reporting back in with their bird take, but for those coming back to the store to check in the average has dwindled in recent weeks to about two birds per hunter or under. Jeff Von Urff of Santa Ysabel reported back in with four mallards last Wednesday and Mike Vint of El Cajon had a goldeneye. On Saturday, Kyle Lovelace, Wildomar, had five wigeon.
At Raahauge’s in Prado Basin, hunters have been consistently averaging over three birds each.


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


At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 130 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 31, who shot 298 ducks, three coots, and one Canada goose for a 2.32 average. The duck kill consisted of 116 greenwing teal, 83 northern shovelers, 27 bufflehead, 23 gadwall, 20 ruddies, 10 American wigeon, nine mallards, three pintail, two cinnamon teal, two redheads, one ringneck, one scaup, and one merganser. On Saturday, Jan. 3, there were 136 hunters who shot 287 ducks three coots, and a snow goose for a 2.14 average. The duck bag was made up of 109 greenwing teal, 103 shovelers, 30 gadwall, 10 bufflehead, nine wigeon, nine ruddies, five pintail, five ringnecks, two mallards, two redheads, two cinnamons, and one scaup. On Wednesday, Jan. 7, there were 107 hunters who shot 329 ducks and six coots for a 3.13 average. The duck take included 128 greenwings, 120 shovelers, 34 gadwall, 14 ruddies, seven pintail, six wigeon, six bufflehead, five cinnamons, four mallards, two ringnecks, two scaup, 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 193 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 31, who shot 508 ducks, 26 snow geese, and 17 coots for a 2.85 average. The duck bag included 182 greenwings, 136 shovelers, 96 wigeon, 35 pintail, 28 cinnamons, 12 ruddies, 10 gadwall, eight mallards, and one bufflehead. On Saturday, Jan. 3, there were 264 hunters who shot 690 ducks, 30 snow geese, three Ross’ geese, and one Canada goose for a 2.75 average. The duck kill consisted of 333 greenwings, 158 wigeon, 93 pintail, 40 shovelers, 21 gadwall, 17 cinnamons, 16 ruddies, eight mallards, two goldeneye, one bufflehead, and one merganser. On Sunday, Jan. 4, there were 87 hunters who shot 98 ducks, 13 snow geese, and one Ross’ goose for a 1.29 average. The duck bag was made up of 29 shovelers, 24 greenwings, 17 pintail, 17 wigeon, six cinnamons, four gadwall, and one ruddy. Complete results from Wednesday, Jan. 7, will be in the next report. 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 20 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 31, who shot 40 ducks, 14 snow geese, and six Ross’ geese for a 3.00 average. The duck kill included 13 shovelers, nine pintail, eight greenwings, five wigeon, four gadwall, and one cinnamon. On Saturday, Jan. 3, there were 46 hunters who shot 104 ducks, five Ross’ geese, and one snow goose for a 2.39 average. The duck bag was made up of 39 greenwings, 26 shovelers, 13 wigeon, seven cinnamons, seven ruddies, six pintail, five gadwall, and one mallard. On Sunday, Jan. 4, there were 30 hunters who shot 29 ducks, six Ross’ geese, and two snow geese for a 1.23 average. The duck kill consisted of 14 shovelers, five greenwings, five pintail, three wigeon, one gadwall, and one cinnamon. 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 no hunters from Monday, Dec. 29 through Sunday, Jan. 4. 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 131 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 31, who shot 439 ducks and two coots for a 3.37 average. The duck bag included 164 greenwings, 101 gadwall, 58 shovelers, 48 wigeon, 21 cinnamons, 14 mallards, 11 redheads, 11 pintail, six bufflehead, three ruddies, one scaup, and one wood duck. On Saturday, Jan. 3, there were 151 hunters who shot 688 ducks and two coots for a 4.57 average. The duck kill consisted of 293 greenwing teal, 143 gadwall, 110 shovelers, 48 wigeon, 31 cinnamons, 25 pintail, 15 mallards, 13 redheads, four ringnecks, two scaup, two wood ducks, one bufflehead, and one ruddy. On Wednesday, Jan. 7, there were 145 hunters who shot 424 ducks for a 2.92 average. The duck take was made up of 134 greenwings, 92 shovelers, 87 gadwall, 26 pintail, 25 wigeon, seven mallards, four redheads, three ringnecks, two bufflehad, 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 LAKE HENSHAW, there were 12 hunters Wednesday, Dec. 31, with four reporting taking five mallards, one goldeneye, one shoveler, and one merganser for a 2.00 average. On Saturday, Jan. 3, there were 37 hunters with 16 reporting back in with 23 ducks and one coot for a 1.50 average. The duck bag was made up of 13 wigeon, four greenwings, two gadwall, one cinnamon, one pintail, one bufflehead, and one merganser. 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 43 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Dec. 31, and Saturday, Jan. 3, this past week. They shot a total of 70 ducks and a coot for a 1.65 average. The duck take included 23 ringnecks, 17 ruddies, 10 scaup, nine mallards, three bufflehead, three wigeon, two gadwall, one shoveler, one greenwing, and one cinnamon. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR there were no hunters Sunday, Jan. 4. 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 58 hunters over the three shoot days, Wednesday, Dec. 31, Saturday, Jan. 3, and Sunday, Jan. 4 who shot a total of 192 ducks for a 3.31 average. The bag consisted of 38 greenwings, 27 cinnamons, 25 shovelers, 23 mallards, 22 wigeon, 13 gadwall, 11 pintail, 11 ringnecks, eight scaup, seven bufflehead, and four ruddies. 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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