October 29, 2009

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     The waterfowl season opener started with good to excellent shooting at Southern California’s public hunting areas on opening day this past Saturday, but the action quickly slowed with more normal early season results by the second shoot day.
     At the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in western Riverside County, hunters had a 2.77 birds-per-hunter average opening day, but the average dropped to 1.3 birds per hunter on Wednesday this week. Greenwing teal and northern shovelers made up the bulk of the bag both shoot days.
     At the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area on the south end of the Salton Sea, the average was 2.72 birds per hunter opening Saturday, but that average quickly dropped to just 1.1 birds on Sunday.
     The Kern National Wildlife Refuge has been open since Oct. 10, and averages have dropped from an incredible five birds per hunter on opening day, down to a respectable two birds per hunter Wednesday this week. Gadwall were the number one bird in the bag here.
     Other very good scores were posted at Raahauge’s Duck Club in Prado Basin and Barrett Lake in San Diego County with 4.4 and 4.1 averages respectively, and mallards made up the bulk of the bag at both locations.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas this past week:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 177 hunters opening Saturday, Oct. 24 who shot 472 ducks and 28 coots for a 2.77 average. The duck bag consisted of 178 greenwing teal, 88 northern shovelers, 56 cinnamon teal, 20 ringnecks, 16 gadwall, 13 wigeon, 12 ruddy ducks, nine mallards, eight redheads, four pintail, one canvasback, and one wood duck. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, there were 124 hunters who shot 150 ducks and 11 coots for a 1.3 average. The duck kill included 58 greenwings, 25 shovelers, 17 wigeon, 12 bufflehead, 10 gadwall, six cinnamons, five redheads, five ruddies, four ringnecks, four pintail, three mallards, and one wood duck. 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 423 hunters on opening Saturday who shot 1,122 ducks, 18 coots, 11 white-front geese, and one Ross’ goose for a 2.72 average. The duck bag was made up of 560 greenwings, 157 pintail, 115 cinnamons, 110 shovelers, 104 mallards, 49 wigeon, 13 gadwall, six redheads, one ruddy, and seven unidentified birds. On Sunday, there were 178 hunters who shot 192 ducks, 10 coots, two white-fronts, and a Ross’ goose for a 1.1 average. The duck take included 86 greenwings, 31 pintail, 19 mallards, 17 cinnamons, 16 shovelers, seven wigeon, four redhead, and three gadwall. 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 35 hunters opening Saturday who shot 33 ducks for a .94 average. The bag was made up of 13 greenwings, 13 cinnamons, five pintail, one wigeon, and one ruddy. On Sunday, there were just five hunters who didn’t shoot a bird. 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 17 hunters opening Saturday who shot a total of 16 ducks, including seven greenwings, two mallards, and 14 birds not identified, for a .94 average. On Sunday, there were nine hunters who shot 14 ducks for a 1.56 average. The bag included five greenwings, two mallards, and seven birds not identified. 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, the season opened Oct. 10. That day, there were 84 hunters who shot 420 ducks for exactly a five bird average. Top birds in the bag were greenwings at 181, gadwall at 62 and mallards at 60. On Oct. 14, 61 hunters shot 197 ducks and two coots for a 3.26 average. Top birds were shovelers at 40, gadwall at 36, and cinnamons at 31. On Oct. 17, there were 55 hunters who shot 127 ducks for a 2.31 average. Top birds in the bag were cinnamons at 25, shovelers at 18, and mallards and greenwings, both at 16. On Oct. 21, there were 54 hunters who shot 85 ducks and six coots for a 1.69 average, including 20 shovelers, 15 greenwings, and 14 pintail. On Oct. 28, there were 54 hunters who shot 107 ducks, four coots, and one snow goose for a 2.07 average. The duck bag included 41 gadwall, 17 ringnecks, 19 shovelers, 10 mallards, four cinnamons, three greenwings, three ruddies, two wigeon, two pintail, two redheads, two bufflehead, one canvasback, and one wood duck. 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 41 hunters at BARRETT LAKE opening Saturday who shot 168 ducks and one white-front goose for a 4.12 average. The bag was made up of 88 mallards, 44 ringnecks, nine gadwall, nine wigeon, eight greenwings, four ruddies, two pintail, two bufflehead, one redhead, and one shoveler. On Wednesday this week, there were 38 hunters who shot 40 ducks and three white-front geese for a 1.13 average. The duck bag consisted of 11 mallards, eight greenwings, eight ruddies, six ringnecks, three gadwall, two pintail, and two redheads. 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 103 hunters over the opening Saturday and Sunday who shot 449 ducks and four white-front geese for a 4.4 average. The duck bag consisted of 109 mallards, 98 cinnamon teal, 74 wigeon, 59 greenwings, 54 gadwall, 28 shovelers, nine ruddies, six redheads, two pintail, and two wood ducks. 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 - 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.