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.
 

December 16, 2008

 

More migrants and ‘fowl’ weather could improve this week’s waterfowl counts


By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service


Goose hunting continued to surge at the south end of the Salton Sea this past week, and an increasing number of newly-migrated ducks have kept duck averages pretty good at most of Southern California’s public waterfowl hunting areas over the past week.
The light geese are thick in the Imperial Valley, and the three-day hunter take at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge set a new season high this past week. A total of 187 light geese (along with three Aleutians and two Canadas) were taken at these two hunting areas, and this is significantly better than last week’s 164-bird total.
When you add in the dramatically-improved duck hunting on top of the goose action, Wister and the union tract are shooting particularly good right now. The duck average on Saturday was 2 1/2 birds per hunter, well above last week’s just-over one duck per hunter. The big increase in bag came with new wigeon and northern shovelers, and most hunters are amped up about this Wednesday’s prospects after all the storming early this week.
While the duck average fell at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area from last Wednesday to Saturday, most of the decline was in numbers of greenwing teal. But the average was still about 1 1/2 birds per hunter on Saturday. Refuge staff said more birds were pouring into the wildlife area early this week and this Wednesday’s shoot was expected to improve.
The Kern National Wildlife Refuge also saw a slight downtick between last Wednesday and Saturday, but averages were still better than two birds per hunter on Saturday.
Lake Henshaw also continues to shoot really well, with wigeon still making up the bulk of the bag. Out of 11 hunters reporting back in with their bag, three of those had limits this past week. Billy Zimmer, Orange, had six wigeon and a greenwing teal for his limit on Dec. 10. Steve and Chase Sessions, both Valley Center, each had limits of seven wigeon on Saturday, while Tom Demo, El Cajon, had three wigeon, a mallard, and a greenwing. Adam Thompson, Poway, took two mallards on Saturday.


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


At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 105 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 10, who shot 284 ducks, two Ross’ geese, and two coots for a 2.77 average. The duck take included 162 greenwings, 42 shovelers, 29 wigeon, 22 gadwall, seven cinnamons, five mallards, five scaup, four pintail, three ruddies, two ringnecks, two bufflehead, and one redhead. On Saturday, Dec. 13, there were 137 hunters who shot 178 ducks and seven coots for a 1.35 average. The duck bag consisted of 70 greenwing teal, 27 wigeon, 22 shovelers, 18 gadwall, 15 ruddies, 10 pintail, six mallards, four bufflehead, 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 76 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 10, who shot 127 ducks, 10 snow geese, and one Canada goose for a 1.82 average. The duck bag included 57 wigeon, 26 pintail, 22 greenwings, 15 gadwall, six shovelers, and one mallard. On Saturday, Dec. 13, there were 173 hunters who shot 427 ducks, 52 snow geese, and one Ross’ goose for a 2.77 average. The duck kill consisted of 159 wigeon, 96 shovelers, 60 greenwings, 57 pintail, 27 gadwall, 15 mallards, five cinnamons, three redheads, two goldeneye, two ruddies, and one scaup. On Sunday, Dec. 14, there were 54 hunters who shot 38 ducks, seven snow geese, and three Ross’ geese for a .89 average. The duck bag was made up of 12 wigeon, 11 shovelers, eight greenwings, five gadwall, and two pintail. 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 10 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 10, who shot two pintail, two wigeon, one greenwing teal, and one snow goose for a .60 average. On Saturday, Dec. 13, there were 49 hunters who shot 63 ducks, 46 snow geese and 12 Ross’ geese for a 1.53 average. The duck kill included 24 shovelers, 13 greenwings, seven pintail, five mallards, three gadwall, three scaup, two wigeon, two cinnamons, two bufflehead, one goldeneye, and one ruddy. On Sunday, Dec. 14, there were 23 hunters who shot 46 snow geese, five Ross’ geese, three Aleutian Canada geese, a Canada goose, a pintail, and a gadwall for a 2.48 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 five hunters from Monday, Dec. 8 through Sunday, Dec. 14 who shot one shoveler and two ruddies for a .60 average. 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 92 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 10, who shot 290 ducks and six coots for a 3.22 average. The duck kill consisted of 87 gadwall, 76 shovelers, 43 wigeon, 14 mallards, 12 pintail, eight bufflehead, seven cinnamons, four ruddies, and two redheads. On Saturday, Dec. 13, there were 112 hunters who shot 249 ducks, one coot, and one white-front goose for a 2.24 average. The duck bag included 82 shovelers, 77 gadwall, 23 wigeon, 17 mallards, 17 greenwings, 15 pintails, four bufflehead, two ringnecks, one ruddy, and one merganser. 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 three hunters Wednesday, Dec. 10, with two reporting shooting six wigeon, a gadwall, and a greenwing, including one limit, for a 4.0 average. On Saturday, Dec. 13, there were 13 hunters with nine reporting back in with 27 ducks, including two limits, for a 2.0 average. The duck bag was made up to 21 wigeon, two mallards, two greenwings, and one gadwall. 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 25 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and Saturday, Dec. 13, this past week. They shot a total of 27 ducks for a 1.08 average. The duck bag was made up of nine ringnecks, seven ruddies, five mallards, three scaup, two greenwings, and one bluewing teal. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR there were two hunters Thursday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 14 who shot a single mallards for a .50 average. 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 62 hunters over the three shoot days, Wednesday, Dec. 10, Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14 who shot a total of 270 ducks, 21 coots, and one Canada goose for a 4.71 average. The duck kill consisted of 46 gadwall, 43 wigeon, 27 mallards, 24 cinnamons, 20 scaup, 17 ruddies, 15 redheads, 10 shovelers, eight ringneck, eight greenwings, three pintail, and three 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.

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