December 4, 2009

Even rainy weather didn’t help
duck hunting this past Saturday

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     Waterfowl hunters have continued to see dismal hunting at the public hunting areas throughout Southern California, even when there was an overcast and rainy shoot day this past Saturday. But there is finally hope on the horizon. Major weather is forecast for much of the coming week and reports from Northern California and points north suggest birds are finally moving south.
     San Jacinto Wildlife Area had its first “duck-like” weather this past Saturday, but hunters still only bagged an average of a bird each. The good news is that a Canada goose and a snow goose were taken.
     The Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge finally saw an influx in light geese and that was reflected in the bag, with 20 more geese taken the two weekend shoot days than the previous week. Overall, however the hunting has remained pretty dismal.
     Other public hunting areas were seeing similar hunting results.
     What follows is the area-by-area breakdown for public hunting areas the past two weeks. Results were not available last week because of the Thanksgiving holiday and DFG furlough days:
     At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 106 hunters on Saturday, Nov. 21 who shot 99 ducks, four coots, and one Canada goose for a .98 average. The duck bag consisted of 33 wigeon, 25 northern shovelers, eight ruddy ducks, seven redheads, five bufflehead, five gadwall, five ringneck ducks, three greenwing teal, three mallards, two cinnamon teal, two pintail, and one canvasback. On
Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were 121 hunters who shot 104 ducks, 25 coots, and one snow goose for a 1.07 average. The duck bag included 22 shovelers, 20 wigeon, 17 ruddies, 15 bufflehead, nine gadwall, five pintail, five redheads, five greenwings, three mallards, one canvasback, one cinnamon, and one ringneck. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 123 hunters who shot 126 ducks, five coots, one Canada goose and one snow goose for a 1.08 average. The duck kill was made up of 35 shovelers, 26 wigeon, 17 ruddies, 13 redheads, seven greenwings, six gadwall, six bufflehead, five mallards, five ringnecks, two goldeneye, one cinnamon, and one scaup. The Walker blind sites have been shooting best all season. 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 72 hunters Wednesday, Nov. 18, who shot 50 ducks, five snow geese, and two coots for a .79 average. The duck kill included 15 pintail, 14 wigeon, six shovelers, five greenwings, four ruddies, three mallards, two gadwall, and one scaup. On Saturday, Nov. 21, there were 157 hunters who shot 102 ducks, 15 snow geese, four Ross’ geese, two whitefront geese, two Canada geese, and one coot for a .80 average. The duck bag was made up of 28 pintail, 26 greenwings, nine shovelers, eight wigeon, six mallards, six cinnamons, five redheads, three bufflehead, two scaup, and two goldeneye. On Sunday, Nov. 22, there were 68 hunters who shot 18 ducks, 10 snow geese, one Ross, and one coot for a .44 average. The duck kill consisted of five shovelers, three gadwall, three pintail, three greenwings, two mallards, one wigeon, and one canvasback. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were 91 hunters who shot 56 ducks, six snow geese, one Canada, and one whitefront for a .69 average. The duck kill included 11 shovelers, 10 wigeon, nine greenwings, eight pintail, four gadwall, four cinnamons, four redheads, three mallards, two scaup and one bufflehead. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 162 hunters who shot 174 ducks, 33 snow geese, four Ross’ geese, three whitefront geese, and two coots for a 1.33 average. The duck kill consisted of 37 wigeon, 34 shovelers, 31 greenwings, 29 pintail, 14 gadwall, nine scaup, seven cinnamons, four mallards, four bufflehead, two goldeneye, one redhead, one ringneck, and one ruddy. On Sunday, Nov. 29, there were 78 hunters who shot 27 ducks, six snow geese, and one Ross for a .45 average. The duck bag included 10 wigeon, seven shovelers, five greenwings, three pintail, one mallard, and one 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 nine hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 18 who shot three snow geese and one mallard for a .44 average. On Saturday, Nov. 21, there were 10 hunters who shot two shovelers and one pintail for a .30 average. On Sunday, there were nine hunters who shot one snow goose for a .11 average. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were seven hunters who shot one mallard for a .14 average. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 20 hunters who shot 31 ducks and eight snow geese for a 1.95 average. The duck kill consisted of 11 greenwings, nine shoveler, four cinnamons, two mallards, two ruddies, one gadwall, one redhead, and one canvasback. On Sunday, Nov. 29, there were six hunters who shot one pintail for a .17 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 10 hunters from Monday, Nov. 16 through Sunday, Nov. 22 who shot a total of two shovelers, two wigeon, and one greenwing for a .50 average. From Monday, Nov. 23 through Sunday, Nov. 29, there were 10 hunters who shot 16 ducks for a 1.6 average. The duck kill included seven greenwings, five shovelers, two wigeon, one bufflhead, and one unidentified bird. 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 100 hunters on Saturday, Nov. 21, who shot 173 ducks, three whitefront geese, and one coot for a 1.77 average. The duck kill was made up of 64 gadwall, 57 shovelers, 20 pintail, nine mallards, eight wigeon, four cinnamons, three bufflehead, three ruddies, two redheads, two ringnecks, and one canvasback. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were 93 hunters who shot 167 ducks and 10 coots for a 1.90 average. The duck take included 50 gadwall, 22 shovelers, 19 pintail, 17 mallards, 15 redheads, 14 wigeon, 14 bufflehead, six greenwings, three canvasbacks, three ruddies, two ringnecks, and two cinnamons. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 90 hunters who shot 141 ducks and two coots for a 1.59 average. The duck bag consisted of 44 gadwall, 31 shovelers, 14 mallards, 14 pintail, 12 bufflehead, six ringnecks, six ruddies, five greenwings, four redheads, three wigeon, one cinnamon, and one scaup. 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 11 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Nov. 18, who shot 47 ducks, a whitefront goose, and a Canada goose for a 4.45 average. The duck kill consisted of 19 ringnecks, 10 ruddies, six scaup, four bufflhead, four mallards, two canvasback, one gadwall, and one shoveler. On Saturday, Nov. 21, there were 15 hunters who shot 23 ducks for a 1.53 average. The duck bag included 13 ringnecks, three scaup, three mallards, one canvasback, one goldeneye, one greenwing, and one bluewing teal. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were 17 hunters who shot 41 ducks for a 2.41 average. The duck take consisted of 16 ringnecks, seven ruddies, four scaup, four mallards, four shovelers, three gadwall, one canvasback, one wigeon, and one greenwing. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 19 hunters who shot 24 ducks and one Canada goose for a 1.32 average. The duck kill included eight ringnecks, six mallards, two scaup, two gadwall, two ruddies, two wigeon, one canvasback, and one goldeneye. 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 15 hunters on Wednesday, Nov. 18, who shot 31 ducks for a 1.72 average. The duck kill consisted of eight wigeon, five mallards, five shovelers, four cinnamons, three scaup, two greenwings, two gadwall, and two ringnecks. On Saturday. Nov. 21, there were 21 hunters who shot 43 ducks for a 2.05 average. The duck bag included nine wigeon, six mallards, five shovelers, five cinnamons, four greenwings, four ringnecks, four scaup, three gadwall, one pintail, and one canvasback. On Sunday, Nov. 22, there were five hunters who shot 16 ducks for a 3.2 average. The duck take was made up of three mallards, three wigeon, three cinnamons, two gadwall, two scaup, two greenwings, and one shoveler. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, there were 21 hunters who shot 59 ducks for a 2.81 average. The duck bag included 18 wigeon, nine gadwall, seven mallards, seven cinnamons, six greenwings, four redhead, three ringneck, three shovelers, and two bufflhead. On Saturday, Nov. 28, there were 19 hunters who shot 30 ducks and four Canada geese for a 1.79 average. The duck kill included seven wigeon, five gadwall, five mallards, five shovelers, three scaup, three greenwings, one wood duck, and one canvasback. On Sunday, Nov. 29, there were 13 hunters who shot 25 ducks and one Canada goose for a 2.0 average. 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.

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.