November 5, 2009

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     In spite of balmy weather over the past week, waterfowl hunters at the two most popular public hunting areas in Southern California continued to see decent early season hunting with averages about 1 1/2 birds per hunter at both San Jacinto Wildlife Area and the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area.
     The Kern National Wildlife Refuge in the southern San Joaquin Valley had averages right at two birds per hunters, while Barrett Lake in San Diego County and Raahauge’s in Prado Basin were also about 1 1/2 birds per hunter.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas this past week:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 124 hunters on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 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. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were 110 hunters who shot 155 ducks, nine coots, two cackling geese and one white-front goose for a 1.55 average. The duck bag was made up of 51 ringnecks, 36 wigeon, 20 northern shovelers, 10 greenwing teal, nine mallards, nine gadwall, six redheads, six ruddies, four bufflehead, three cinnamon teal, 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 122 hunters Wednesday, Oct. 28, who shot 283 ducks, nine coots, and seven white-front geese for a 2.45 average. The duck bag included 61 shovelers, 58 greenwings, 52 pintail, 42 wigeon, 34 mallards, 17 gadwall, six cinnamons, five redheads, four ringnecks, two ruddies, one bluewing teal, and one Mexican tree duck. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were 116 hunters who shot 169 ducks, five coots, and two white-front geese for a 1.52 average. The duck take consisted of 56 shovelers, 32 pintail, 26 greenwings, 20 wigeon, 18 mallards, eight gadwall, three cinnamons, three bufflehead, one redhead, one ringneck, and one ruddy. On Sunday, Nov. 1, there were 62 hunters who 16 ducks for a .26 average. The bag was made up of five pintail, four shovelers, three greenwings, two wigeon, one gadwall, and one mallard. 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 two hunter Wednesday, Oct. 28, who shot two gadwall, one pintail, and one greenwing for a 2.0 average. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were eight hunters who shot one mallard, a greenwing, a shoveler, and a ruddy, for a .5 average. On Sunday, Nov. 1, there were two 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 13 hunters from Monday, Oct. 26 through Sunday, Nov. 1, who shot a total of 14 ducks for a 1.08 average. The bag consisted of nine greenwings, four shovelers, and one cinnamon. 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, there were 54 hunters this past Wednesday, Oct. 28, who shot 107 ducks, four coots, and one snow goose for a 2.07 average. The duck bag was made up of 41 gadwall, 19 shovelers, 17 ringnecks, 10 mallards, four cinnamons, three greenwings, three ruddies, two wigeon, two pintail, two redheads, two bufflehead, one canvasback, and one woodduck. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were 46 hunters who shot 93 ducks and one snow goose for a 2.04 average. The duck kill consisted of 40 gadwall, 14 shovelers, 13 ringnecks, 12 mallards, four greenwings, three wigeon, three redheads, two pintail, one canvasback, and one bufflhead. 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 38 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 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. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were 73 hunters who shot 110 ducks and three white-front geese for a 1.55 average. The duck bag consisted of 44 ruddies, 24 ringnecks, 16 mallards, 13 greenwings, four wigeon, three gadwall, three pintail, two redheads, and one shoveler. 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 60 hunters on Wednesday, Oct. 28 who shot 91 ducks and four speckled geese for a 1.58 average. The duck kill included 23 mallards, 19 gadwall, 17 wigeon, 14 cinnamons, 11 greenwings, four shovelers, two pintail and a wood duck. On Saturday, Oct. 31, there were 27 hunters who shot 69 ducks for a 2.56 average. The bag included 17 gadwall, 12 greenwings, 12 cinnamons, 10 mallards, nine wigeon, thee shovelers, two redheads, two woodducks, one pintail, and one ringneck. On Sunday, Nov. 1, there were 14 hunters who shot 20 ducks for a 1.43 average. The duck take consisted of six mallards, five wigeon, four gadwall, three cinnamons, two greenwings, two redhead, one pintail, one canvasback, and one shoveler. 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.