December 23, 2008

Rainy Wednesday gives

San Jacinto best shoot

day of waterfowl season

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

The first rainy-weather shoot day of the season at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area gave hunters who braved the deluge and long walks to shooting areas the best hunter averages of the waterfowl season last Wednesday. The 108 hunters Dec. 17 shot 395 ducks and a coot for a 3.67 average, with greenwing teal (132) and spoonies (111) making up the bulk of the bag.
The average dropped back down to just over a duck per hunter on Saturday, Dec. 20, at San Jacinto.
The unsettled, rainy weather also helped hunters at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area achieve nearly four-duck averages last Wednesday and winds on Saturday kept the averages over three birds per hunter.
Meanwhile, the light goose harvest at Wister and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge dropped from a season high of 187 two week ago to just 111 this past week (and there was also one honker taken) between the two hunt areas. New migrants have dropped to a trickle and the resident birds are wising up to hunters.
The windy, cloudy, rainy weather also improved the shoot at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Henshaw last Wednesday. At Kern, the averages jumped up to just a click over 3 1/2 birds per hunter, but the averages fell a full bird on Saturday when conditions weren’t as conductive to duck hunting. A Henshaw, the average of hunters reporting back to the store was four birds per hunter Wednesday but then dropped to under a bird on Saturday.

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

At the SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA, there were 108 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 17, who shot 395 ducks and a coot for a 3.67 average, the best hunt day of the season. The duck bag was made up of 132 greenwing teal, 111 norther shovelers, 53 American wigeon, 41 gadwall, 13 bufflehead, 12 cinnamon teal, 10 mallards, seven redheads, seven ruddies, six pintail, two ringnecks, and one scaup. On Saturday, Dec. 20, there were 133 hunters who shot 148 ducks and 14 coots for a 1.22 average. The duck kill included 38 wigeon, 33 shovelers, 24 greenwings, 18 gadwall, 10 bufflehead, nine ruddies, four pintail, three mallards, three redheads, one ringneck, one scaup, and one wood ducks. 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 84 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 17, who shot 314 ducks, four snow geese, and two coots for a 3.79 average. The duck bag consisted of 139 shovelers, 74 wigeon, 61 greenwings, 15 pintail, 13 gadwall, five cinnamons, two mallards, two scaup, one redhead, one ringneck, and one ruddy. On Saturday, Dec. 20, there were 182 hunters who shot 555 ducks, 33 snow geese, and one Ross’ goose for a 3.24 average. The duck bag was made up of 160 shovelers, 134 wigeon, 115 greenwings, 50 pintail, 37 gadwall, 15 scaup, 13 cinnamons, seven bufflehead, six ruddies, five mallards, four redheads, and one ringneck. On Sunday, Dec. 21, there were 91 hunters who shot 167 ducks and 15 snow geese for a 2.0 average. The duck bag included 69 wigeon, 36 shovelers, 19 pintail, 15 greenwings, 10 gadwall, eight mallards, six scaup, three bufflehead, and one cinnamon. 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 13 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 17, who shot five snow geese, three shovelers, a greenwing, and a wigeon for a .77 average. On Saturday, Dec. 20, there were 33 hunters who shot 41 ducks, 10 snow geese, and one Canada goose for a 1.58 average. The duck kill consisted of 24 shovelers, six greenwings, five pintail, two ringnecks, one mallard, one gadwall, one wigeon, and one redhead. On Sunday, Dec. 21, there were 26 hunters who shot 26 snow geese, 17 Ross geese, five mallards, three pintail, and a greenwing for a 2.0 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 four hunters from Monday, Dec. 15 through Sunday, Dec. 21 who shot four ruddies, two bufflehead, one greenwing, and one wigeon for a 2.0 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 122 hunters on Wednesday, Dec. 17, who shot 432 ducks for a 3.54 average. The bag included 160 greenwings, 132 shovelers, 56 gadwall, 36 wigeon, 19 mallards, 11 cinnamons, 10 pintail, four bufflehead, two ringnecks, one redhead, and one hooded merganser. On Saturday, Dec. 20, there were 114 hunters who shot 279 ducks for a 2.45 average. The duck kill consisted of 79 shovelers, 65 gadwall, 46 greenwings, 40 wigeon, 22 pintail, 14 mallards, six cinnamons, three ringnecks, two redheads, one bufflehead, and one ruddy. 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 15 hunters Wednesday, Dec. 17, with eight reporting taking 32 ducks, including two limits, for a 4.0 average. The duck bag was made up of 17 wigeon, 10 greenwings, three gadwall, one mallard, and one cinnamon. On Saturday, there were 31 hunters with 16 reporting back in with just 11 ducks and one Canada goose for a .75 average. The duck kill included four mallards, four wigeon, 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 32 hunters at BARRETT LAKE on Wednesday, Dec. 17, and Saturday, Dec. 20, this past week. They shot a total of 49 ducks for a 1.53 average. The duck bag was made up of 18 ruddies, 15 ringnecks, 10 scaup, four bufflehead, one mallard, and one wigeon. At SUTHERLAND RESERVOIR there were no hunters either Thursday, Dec. 18, and Sunday, Dec. 22. 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 50 hunters over the three shoot days, Wednesday, Dec. 17, Saturday, Dec. 20, and Sunday, Dec. 21 who shot a total of 174 ducks and four coots for a 3.56 average. The bag consisted of 26 gadwall, 25 wigeon, 23 mallards, 18 cinnamons, 15 shovelers, 15 greenwings, 12 ringnecks, nine ruddies, eight bufflehead, seven scaup, five pintail, five wood ducks, three bluewing teal, and three redheads. 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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