(Ok, I lied…but this just might be the last post on SoCalHunt’s page)
John Rowe from Lake Perris advised me today that the Lake Perris waterfowl hunting program is on again for the 23/24 season. The following changes will apply.
Hunting will be on Sundays instead of Wednesdays.
There will be 8 hunting spots instead of 9.
6 of the spots will be based on the annual lottery as was done last year.
There will be 2 walk-up spots available each hunt day and those, along with any no-shows for the reservations, will be given out via an in-person sweatline lottery.
Hunting will be every Sunday during the season except for December 24th (Christmas Eve) there will be no hunting.
(not a change) Hunting will be from legal shoot time until noon.
As for details of the drawing for reservations, John advised that the updated information should be up on the Lake Perris hunting page after July 1st. Check the below link to the Lake Perris hunting page after that date to get the details.
San Jacinto Wildlife Area staff has set the dates for this year’s volunteer workday / blind brush-up days. The first one will be Saturday, July 22nd and the second will be Saturday, August 19th. Meet at the San Jacinto Checkstand Parking Lot at 6:30 am.
July 22nd the main goals will be to clean water control boxes and remake some blinds. If anyone would like to donate 4’ hogg wire they would appreciate it. As always palm fronds are needed so if you have access to palm fronds bring them along. Just make sure if they are the kind with the wader ripping thorns that you strip off the thorns first. It will be hot so please bring water and sunscreen. Other items that will come in handy are shovels, weed whackers, gloves, and eye protection.
The August 19th workday will be primarily to Build Mistic Lake Blinds and touch up other blinds in the area. (See July 22nd above for what to bring).
Hopefully, there’s a good turnout as, obviously, the more people the less work for each individual and more can be accomplished. If you have any questions, contact Carlos Gutierrez at San Jacinto Wildlife Area at 951-590-0131.
(Personal note here – this will more than likely be the last post on SoCalHunt. Hope everybody has a great 23/24 waterfowl season. Stay safe, respect your fellow hunters, and above all have fun!)
The San Jacinto Wildlife Area Staff advised that the first volunteer workday for the upcoming season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 8th. This workday will be primarily for cleaning up the blinds and the general hunting areas around them. The SJ Staff advised that volunteers should meet at the check station at 6:30 AM and anyone coming out to volunteer should bring waders, mud boots, gloves, and trash grabbers if you have them. If not, you can still assist in areas that are not flooded.
Hopefully, there will be a good turnout so that we can get a good start on preparing the blinds and hunting area for the next waterfowl season.
If you have any questions, contact Carlos Gutierrez at the San Jacinto headquarters at (951) 590-0131.
The San Jacinto Wildlife Area Staff advised that the first volunteer workday for the upcoming season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area will be Saturday, March 25th. This workday will be primarily for cleaning up the blinds and the general hunting areas around them. The SJ Staff advised that volunteers should meet at the check station at 6:30 AM and anyone coming out to volunteer should bring waders, mud boots, gloves, and trash grabbers if you have them. If not, you can still assist in areas that are not flooded.
Hopefully, there will be a good turnout so that we can get a good start on preparing the blinds and hunting area for the next waterfowl season.
If you have any questions, contact Carlos Gutierrez at the San Jacinto headquarters at (951) 590-0131.
(SoCalHunt is still on the way out but since it’s still up you may see a post or two like this before it’s gone).
Well, with the end of the 2022/2023 waterfowl season and the posting of the seasons ending stats for the hunting areas that SoCalHunt covers, I have decided to call it a day, so to speak, as far as SoCalHunt goes. I hope everyone has found some value, or at least some enjoyment, in the content of the SoCalHunt website and blog over the years.
The main reason I started SoCalHunt, to be honest, was as a way to get some accurate information on the local Southern California waterfowl hunting scene for myself and my hunting buddies. The original focus was exclusively on the San Jacinto Wildlife Area. I was frustrated that I had to wait to read reports in the Western Outdoor News that were a week old to tell me what was going on at SJWA. I mean W.O.N. is a great little outdoor activity newspaper but I’ve heard it said that W.O.N. also stands for Week Old News. Over the years I expanded to cover more of the Southern California waterfowl hunting areas such as Wister WA, Kern NWR, and even Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR and Lake Perris State Recreation Area this past season.
Another reason I started SoCalHunt was that, as a secondary hobby connected to hunting, I enjoyed taking photographs of wildlife, wildlife areas, and outdoor scenery, and the SoCalHunt website and blog would be a good way to display some of my images. If you’ve looked at the SoCalHunt website and blog over the years maybe you’ve enjoyed the photography too. I think I do at least a fair job with the camera.
The third reason, which ultimately became the most important reason in my opinion, was to assist my fellow hunters and encourage more hunters to join our ranks. I think we all know that hunters are a small minority of the population and the more people we can recruit into hunting the more political power we can muster to protect hunting and firearms rights within a state that makes no secret of its dislike of our sport and especially the firearms we utilize in that sport. I’m sure for every hunter that reads this there are at least a dozen non-hunting friends, relatives, and even acquaintances that would support the sport and support our 2A rights because they know a hunter. One of the keys to this is the recruitment and retention of young people to the sport of hunting. San Jacinto Wildlife Area has a Junior Hunt program second to none and is probably responsible for many of the now adult hunters that frequent SJWA and other wildlife areas in the Southern California Area. I hope SoCalHunt had at least a small part in the promotion of San Jacinto’s junior hunt program.
Another aspect to SoCalHunt was as a way to assist Tom Trakes and his staff at San Jacinto with announcements regarding volunteer work days, special events, just general miscellaneous announcements, and any other information they wanted disseminated to the hunting public. A favorite of mine was the promotion of the annual toy drive put on by the SJWA staff. It was always very gratifying to see how generous the hunting community was when supporting the toy drive for the kids.
The one thing SoCalHunt was never meant to be was a way to make money, and it never has been. I’ve occasionally had people accuse me of directing people to the SoCalHunt website and blog as a way to get “clicks” and earn money. Well, not true. I have never made a dime off of SoCalHunt, I’ve never charged anyone for access to the website or blog or any of the information or maps and downloads on the website, and I’ve never taken on any sponsors. In fact, it has cost me probably a few hundred dollars each year, but it isn’t really a lot and I’ve considered it more of a “hobby”, especially in the past few years. I mean, who doesn’t invest at least a little money in their hobbies? When compared to what most of us invest in waterfowl hunting it was a drop in the bucket.
So, why am I bailing out? Why quit? Well, the main reason is, if things go according to plan, I will soon be living about 2,300 miles away from Southern California. And while I could, technically, still do the weekly duck counts from there other things will be occupying a lot of my time soon. There are other reasons, which I won’t bore you with, that have intervened over the last couple of years. You’ve probably noticed the lack of hunting reports on the SoCalHunt blog over the last couple of years. The slogging through the mud kind of Southern California Wildlife Area duck hunting we do here has become difficult for me is all I’ll say. I’m not looking for sympathy just mentioning it as more of an apology for the lack of hunting reports that last couple of seasons. I’m hoping, in my soon-to-be new and different environment to continue some type of waterfowl hunting but it won’t be like how we do it here. In fact, most of my hunting will probably focus on antlered critters more than feathered ones with webbed feet.
Which brings me to this. Does anybody want to take over? If anybody is willing to pick up the gauntlet and grab the SoCalHunt steering wheel let me know. I’ll give you what info I can to get you started. Just let me know. I might even make a post or two before I leave if anything really important comes up, I’ll probably even post soon about selling some of my hunting gear that won’t work in the new location (or that will cost more to move than if I just bought new when I get there), so keep an eye out for that. However, this past season is it for me as far as the bird counts go. By the time there are any new bird counts I’ll be a long time outta here. In the meantime, I’ll leave the website, blog, and Facebook page up for a while in case anybody wants to go over them for whatever value they might be to someone.
So, you might see a post or two after this on SoCalHunt but pretty much consider this a final “formal” goodbye for SoCalHunt. I hope you found SoCalHunt useful or at least somewhat entertaining. Good luck in your future hunts, stay safe, respect your fellow hunters, and enjoy yourself. Thanks again.
The end of the 2022/2023 waterfowl season at the Kern National Wildlife Area revealed some interesting stats for the number of birds checked in and the per hunter average take.
Last season I did not do a comparison with the prior season as Kern had a delayed opening for the 21/22 season. For the 22/23 season, although Kear’s opener was delayed again due to water issues, it was the same delay as the 21/22 season so a fair comparison can be made.
1019 adult and 55 junior hunters (1074 hunters total) harvested a total of 1491 Northern Shovelers, 99 Mallards, 468 Gadwall, 296 Widgeon, 213 Pintail, 933 Green Wing Teal, 31 Cinnamon Teal, 23 Redheads, 13 Canvasbacks, 36 Ring Necks, 4 Scaup, 103 Bufflehead, 4 Goldeneye, 3 Blue Wing Teal, 1 Merganser, and 15 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there was also 1 Canada Goose, 5 Snow Geese, and 14 White Fronted Geese taken at Kern this season. 21 Coots were also checked in for the 2022/2023 season at Kern. This figured out to a total of 3853 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, 3874 waterfowl taken for the season. The per hunter average take for 2022/2023 season came out to 3.59 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots added in, 3.61 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 49 more adult hunters this season over last and there were 10 fewer junior hunters for a total of 39 more hunters accommodated in the 2022/2023 season compared to the 2021/2022 season. (This includes the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt weekend and the Veteran/Active Duty Military personnel for the special military post-season hunt). As for the birds, I’ll list them with a plus by the number or a minus by the number to indicate how many more or less of each type of bird was bagged this season over last.
There were -323 Northern Shovelers, +30 Mallards, +147 Gadwall, -119 Widgeon, -117 Pintail, +146 Green Wing Teal, +43 Cinnamon Teal, -24 Redheads, +4 Canvasbacks, +15 Ring Necks, +3 Scaup, +1 Merganser (0 last season), +2 Bufflehead, +3 Goldeneyes, -1 Blue Wing Teal, and -1 Ruddy Duck. As for the Geese numbers, there were +1 Canada Goose (0 last season), +4 Snow Geese, and +8 White Front Geese.
There was also +6 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of -250 Ducks and Geese taken and, with the Coots included, -244 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were -0.37 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, -0.37 waterfowl this season over last season.
So, there you have it, the year-long stats for the Kern National Wildlife Refuge. Kern started off a little slow this season once it was opened but ending up with some great averages the latter part of the season. Hopefully, next season won’t have a delayed opener. Hopefully, Kern will get the water they need for a regular opener and the breeding populations will do their thing up north and we’ll get the weather needed to drive the duck south early in the season and things will improve next season.
The average waterfowl take at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt resulted in an outstanding average for our Military Heroes. Shovelers took the first position for number of birds checked in with Green Wing Teal found in the second spot. The Kern NWR Staff reported that the results for the Military Vet/Active Duty Hunt on Saturday, 2/11/23 were as follows:
17 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters came away with 35 Shovelers, 12 Gadwall, 4 Widgeon, 5 Pintail, 17 Green Wing Teal, 9 Cinnamon Teal, and 2 Bufflehead. 2 Greater White Fronted Geese were taken by Vets/Active Duty Personnel at Kern on Saturday. No Coots were downed by Vets/Active Duty Personnel at Kern on Saturday. This worked out to an average harvest of 4.94 Ducks per hunter or, with the Geese consided in the total, 5.06 waterfowl for each Hunter. Out of 13 reservations cards issued 2 came in on time to claim their hunting spot.
So, there you have it, the final hunt of the 2022/2023 season for the Kern National Wildlife Refuge. Congratulations to all the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters who participated in the harvest.
Watch here for the Kern National Wildlife Refuge season long stats report soon.
The end of the 2022/2023 season at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area revealed the following stats for the number of birds taken and the hunter averages.
5232 adult and 243 junior hunters (5475 hunters total) checked in a total of 1030 Northern Shovelers, 263 Mallards, 699 Gadwall, 402 Widgeon, 1537 Pintail, 4835 Green Wing Teal, 2334 Cinnamon Teal, 18 Redheads, 14 Canvasbacks, 232 Ring Necks, 30 Scaup, 316 Bufflehead, 14 Goldeneyes, 37 Blue Wing Teal, 0 Wood Ducks, 3 Surf Scooters, 13 Mergansers, 1 Mexican Mallard, and 272 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were 2 Aleutian Geese, 1 Cackling Goose, 4 Canada Geese, 8 Ross’ Geese, 616 Snow Geese, and 13 White Front Geese bagged at Wister this season. 188 Coots were checked in for the 2022/2023 season. This worked out to a total of 12244 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots added in, 12432 waterfowl. The per hunter average take for 2022/2023 figured out to 2.24 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots included, 2.27 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 7 fewer adult hunters this season over last and there were 46 fewer junior hunters for a total of 53 fewer hunters accommodated in the 2022/2023 season compared to the 2021/2022 season. (This includes the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt weekend and the Veteran/Active Duty Military personnel for the special military post-season hunt). As for the birds, I’ll list them with a plus by the number or a minus by the number to indicate how many more or less of each type of bird was bagged this season over last.
There were -620 Northern Shovelers, +47 Mallards, +19 Gadwall, -382 Widgeon, +90 Pintail, +1544 Green Wing Teal, +1063 Cinnamon Teal, -16 Redheads, -9 Canvasbacks, +42 Ring Necks, -9 Scaup, +1 Mexican Mallard (0 last season), -1 Bufflehead, -3 Goldeneyes, -2 Wood Ducks (0 this season), +7 Blue Wing Teal, +4 Mergansers, +3 Surf Scooters, and -59 Ruddy Ducks. As for the Geese numbers, there were +2 Aleutian Geese (0 last season), +1 Cackling Goose, -12 Canada Geese, +5 Ross’ Geese, +135 Snow Geese, and +2 White Front Geese.
There was also +14 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of +1393 Ducks and Geese taken and, with the Coots included, +1407 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were +0.28 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, +0.28 waterfowl this season over last season.
So, this season shows a decrease in some of the species of waterfowl taken, yet an increase in others, some very substantially. Of the species that showed a decrease, only Shovelers and Widgeon showed any substantial decrease with all the others only slightly decreasing. However, many of the species that showed an increase had quite a substantial increase. Also, the stats show a very slight drop-off in hunters utilizing Wister this season compared to last, but it was so small it was negligible, so hunter numbers were virtually the same as last season. Hopefully, we’ll get some weather up north early next season to drive the birds south. Also hopefully, we’ll have a large breeding population this year and more birds migrating down next season. Hope everyone has a great 23/24 waterfowl season.
The end of the 2022/2023 season at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge revealed the following stats for the number of birds taken and the hunter averages.
397 adult and 11 junior hunters (408 hunters total) checked in a total of 71 Northern Shovelers, 17 Mallards, 33 Gadwall, 7 Widgeon, 41 Pintail, 255 Green Wing Teal, 59 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Ring Necks, 2 Bufflehead, 2 Blue Wing Teal, 1 Merganser, and 5 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were 5 Ross’ Geese, 271 Snow Geese, and 2 White Front Geese bagged at Sonny Bono this season. 7 Coots were checked in for the 2022/2023 season. This worked out to a total of 773 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots added in, 780 waterfowl. The per hunter average take for 2022/2023 figured out to 1.89 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots included, 1.91 waterfowl per hunter.
This is where I would usually compare this season’s counts and averages and the + or – on the number of each species taken this season compared to last season but due to fact that this is the first season SoCaHunt has reported on Sonny Bono’s results, obviously we have no stats from last year to compare to.
So, there you have it, the year-long stats for the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. Hopefully, next season is even better. All we need now is for the breeding populations up north to do their thing and hopefully we’ll get the weather needed to drive the birds south early in the season and things will improve next season.
The post season Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area resulted in a great average for the Hunters on Saturday. Shovelers were the most numerous bird taken with Green Wing Teal holding the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the waterfowl take for the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt on Saturday, 2/11/23, were as follows:
48 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters checked in with 71 Shovelers, 6 Mallards, 18 Gadwall, 13 Widgeon, 26 Pintail, 50 Green Wing Teal, 37 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Canvasback, 5 Bufflehead, and 7 Ruddy Ducks. No Geese were downed by the Hunters on Saturday. The Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters also checked in 1 Coot on Saturday. This came out to an average bag of 4.88 Ducks per gun or, with the Coot included, 4.90 waterfowl per person. Out of 100 reservations issued, 20 arrived on time for their spot.
The average harvest of waterfowl for Sunday, the second day of the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt weekend, at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area produced another great average. Shovelers held the first spot for number of birds taken with Cinnamon Teal taking over the second position. The Wister Staff reported the waterfowl take for the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt on Sunday, 2/12/23 were as follows:
40 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters took home 38 Shovelers, 1 Mallard, 8 Gadwall, 7 Widgeon, 16 Pintail, 31 Green Wing Teal, 32 Cinnamon Teal, and 4 Ruddy Ducks. There were no Geese harvested by the Hunters on Sunday. No Coots were taken on Sunday. This figured out to an average harvest of 3.43 ducks per Hunter and, of course, with no Geese or Coots to include in the total, 3.43 waterfowl per gun. Out of 100 reservations issued 17 showed up to claim their spot.
With that, the 2022/2023 Waterfowl Season at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area is in the books. Watch for SoCalHunt’s Season-Long Stats report for Wister coming here soon.
The post season Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge resulted in a good average for the Hunters on Saturday. Snow Geese were found in first place for most birds taken with Shovelers and Green Wing Teal tied in the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the waterfowl take for the Sonny Bono Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt on Saturday, 2/11/23, were as follows:
6 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters checked in with 4 Shovelers, and 4 Green Wing Teal. 5 Snow Geese were checked in by the Hunters on Saturday. No Coots were bagged on Saturday. This came out to an average of 1.33 Ducks per hunter or, with the Geese added in, 2.17 waterfowl per person. Reservations are done through the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and can be used for either Wister or Sonny Bono. Out of 100 reservations issued, 20 arrived on time for their spot.
The average harvest of waterfowl for Sunday, the second day of the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt weekend, at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge produced great average take. Snow Geese and Shovelers tied for first place for number of birds taken with Cinnamon Teal found in the second position. The Wister Staff reported the waterfowl take for the Sonny Bono Military Vets/Active Duty Hunt on Sunday, 2/12/23 were as follows:
3 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters took home 6 Shovelers, 2 Gadwall, 4 Green Wing Teal, and 5 Cinnamon Teal. 6 Snow Geese were brought into the check station by the Hunters on Sunday. No Coots were checked in on Sunday. This figured out to an average harvest of 5.67 Ducks per person or, with the Geese added into the count, 7.67 waterfowl per gun. Reservations are done through the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and can be used for either Wister or Sonny Bono. Out of 100 reservations issued 17 arrived on time to claim their hunting spot.
So, that’s it for the 2022/2023 Waterfowl Season at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. Watch for SoCalHunt’s Season-Long Stats report for Sonny Bono coming here soon.
The conclusion of the 2022/2023 waterfowl season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area showed some interesting stats for the number of birds harvested and the per hunter averages.
4313 adult and 238 junior hunters (4551 hunters total) harvested a total of 2734 Northern Shovelers, 198 Mallards, 823 Gadwall, 683 Widgeon, 364 Pintail, 2800 Green Wing Teal, 683 Cinnamon Teal, 30 Redheads, 26 Canvasbacks, 470 Ring Necks, 21 Scaup, 314 Bufflehead, 15 Goldeneye, 6 Wood Ducks, 12 Blue Wing Teal, 8 Mergansers, 1 Whistling Duck, and 432 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were also 1 Aleutian Goose, 3 Cackling Geese, 9 Canada Geese, 3 Ross’ Goose, 19 Snow Geese, and 18 White Front Geese taken at San Jacinto this season. 349 Coots were also checked in for the 2022/2023 season at SJ. This figured out to a total of 9673 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, 10022 waterfowl taken for the season. The per gun average take for 2022/2023 season came out to 2.13 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots added in, 2.20 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 31 more adult hunters this season over last and there were 65 fewer junior hunters for a total of 34 fewer hunters accommodated in 2022/2023 season compared to the 2021/2022 season. (This includes the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt and the Veteran/Active Duty Military personnel for the special military post-season hunt). As for the birds, I’ll list them with a plus by the number or a minus by the number to indicate how many more or less of each type of bird was bagged this season over last.
There were -99 Northern Shovelers, -57 Mallards, +88 Gadwall, +247 Widgeon, +58 Pintail, +462 Green Wing Teal, +296 Cinnamon Teal, -11 Redheads, -5 Canvasbacks, +231 Ring Necks, +4 Scaup, +23 Bufflehead, -20 Goldeneye, +6 Wood Ducks, +8 Blue Wing Teal, -9 Mergansers, +1 Whistling Duck (0 last season), and +124 Ruddy Ducks.
For the Goose numbers there were -1 Aleutian Goose, +1 Cackling Goose, +1 Canada Goose, +2 Ross’ Geese, +9 Snow Geese, and +17 White Front Geese.
There were also +46 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of +1374 Ducks and Geese taken compared to last season and, with the Coots included, +1420 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were +0.32 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, +0.32 waterfowl this season over last season.
In contrast to last season, these numbers show overall an upward trend in general although some species’ take was up and others were down over last season. There were also slightly more adult hunters but slightly fewer junior hunters this season than last which resulted in a slight decrease in total hunters utilizing San Jacinto. The per hunter average take showed those hunters taking more birds, showing an increase in the per hunter average. Hopefully, we’ll get some good rains between now and the end of our rainy season to continue refilling Mystic Lake which got a start with our recent rains, and we’ll get some well-timed weather up north early next season to send the birds down to us. We can also optimistically hope there will be a great spring hatch up north and the numbers will rise for the 2023/2024 season.
San Jacinto Wildlife Area’s Veteran/Active Duty Military Hunt on Saturday, February 11th, resulted in a great average harvest for our Military Heroes participating. Shovelers were the number one bird checked in by the Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters with Green Wing Teal in the second position. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl take for the Veteran/Active Duty Military Hunt on Saturday, 2/11/23, was as follows:
91 Military Vets/Active Duty Hunters came away with 188 Northern Shovelers, 4 Mallards, 27 Gadwall, 8 Widgeon, 34 Pintail, 88 Green Wing Teal, 61 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Redhead, 4 Ring Necks,1 Scaup, 8 Bufflehead, and 13 Ruddy Ducks. 4 Canada Geese were bagged by the Hunters on Saturday. 9 Coots were checked in by the Veteran/Active Duty Military Hunters on Saturday. This worked out to an average harvest of 4.80 Ducks per hunter or, with the Geese and Coots considered in the total, a 4.95 waterfowl average for each gun. Tom advised that out of 52 reservations issued 25 showed up in time to claim their hunting spot.
So, that completes the 2022/2023 Waterfowl Season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Watch for SoCalHunt’s San Jacinto season long stats report here soon.
On a side note, today’s Veteran/Active Duty Military hunt was the last hunt day in the long career of Tom Trakes. Tom has worked for the Department of Fish and Wildlife for 29 years and anybody that know Tom knows the SJWA will not be the same without him. The DFW has some big shoes to fill at San Jacinto and, hopefully they can find someone with at least half the dedication and customer service that Tom has. I’m sure everyone will join me in wishing Tom a great retirement.
(Don’t forget to check the photos at the bottom of this page – Click on the picture for a full-sized image)
The San Jacinto Wildlife Area end of the season Junior Waterfowl Hunt/Event was, as always, an outstanding event and the Junior Hunters in attendance enjoyed very good waterfowl hunting. Besides the hunting, of course, the pre-hunt pancake breakfast and the lunch event/prize giveaway was again outstanding also. Many great prizes were given out at the lunch giveaway at mid-day.
This year a great breakfast of sausage and pancakes was provided to the Junior Hunters and their adults. Jay Shaw manned the sausage grill for the breakfast. Angelo’s Burgers in Marino Valley and others donated most of the breakfast fare.
After a quick breakfast, the Juniors and their accompanying adults headed out to their assigned hunting spots to get set up and await the blast of the starting time horn to signal the start of another fabulous Junior hunt. The hunting was good this year and some of the Junior Hunters even scored limits.
At lunchtime, of course, everyone assembled back at the Check Station workshop for lunch and the prize giveaway. Lunch was great, consisting of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, 13 pork butts for pulled pork sandwiches (donated by John Ross of Dee’z Boy’z BBQ in Hemet), chips, and topped off by a couple of cakes from Tom Trakes’ daughter. The hamburgers and hotdogs were cooked on a grill manned by the SJWA crew of Shane, Ricky, and James. Tom would also like to thank Toni of Quail Forever for volunteering not only at the Junior hunt event but at other events, like the SJ Junior Pheasant hunt and the SJ Woman’s Pheasant hunt, to name a few, throughout the year.
There was a great deal of support for this year’s Junior Hunt and most of the Junior Hunters received at least two prizes each, some even came away with three! The prizes ranged from gun cases, decoys, fishing rods, blind bags, gift cards, and other assorted hunting and outdoor gear. Needless to say, all the junior hunters went away happy. There were several “Grand Prizes”. A shotgun donated by Blue Collar was one of the grand prizes and a rifle donated by Kyle Tibbets of Turners Outdoorsman was another. Tom Trakes, who I think we all know is retiring from SJWA in a few short days, also donated a shotgun as a grand prize this year. Tom’s shotgun was won by a young man named Tucker who had just obtained his first hunting license the day before the Junior hunt. What a way to start a hunting career.
After the lunch and prize giveaway, many of the Junior Hunters, if they hadn’t already limited out, went back to their blinds to finish their day’s hunting.
The Junior Hunt was, as it always is, an outstanding event for our Junior Hunters, the future of our sport. It is vital to keep our Junior Hunters interested and involved in waterfowl hunting and the San Jacinto Wildlife Area’s Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt is a great way to keep them interested. Every year I hear adult hunters reminiscing about their days participating in the SJWA Junior Hunt, and even some that are now bringing their kids to carry on the tradition.
Tom told me he’d like to thank, as well as I would myself, everyone who donated prizes, food, labor or anything else towards this event. We all should also thank the San Jacinto crew for going the extra mile to help make this event happen we all appreciate all your hard work.
Tom also asked me to extend a special thanks to Sportsman’s Warehouse in Murrieta for donating a shotgun and some other prizes for a raffle to raise money for the Junior hunt event. Also, thanks to Bass Pro for donating a shotgun for an additional raffle to raise even more money for the Junior hunt event. Toni from Quail Forever also donated a shotgun which was included in the Bass Pro raffle to raise even more for the cause. All the money raised in these raffles went to buy prizes for the junior hunters.
So, the 29th Annual San Jacinto Junior Waterfowl Hunt is in the books. Check out the pictures below, which are only a small sample of this great event. Of course, due to space, there’s no way to post every picture but the below images should give you a really good idea of how this superb event for our Junior Hunters went down.
I’ve tried to mention everyone who donated items or volunteered to work the event. There were so many great sponsors and so many that supported the Junior Hunt event with prizes, assistance, and food that I’m sure I’ve missed a few so please forgive me and know that it wasn’t intentional.
As a final note on this report. As I’ve mentioned above (and unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months) you probably know that Tom Trakes will be retiring from San Jacinto and the Department of Fish and Wildlife in a few short days. The Junior hunt event gave Tom a chance to say goodbye to a lot of kids and also many adults that he has helped over the years a SJWA. The DFW has some big shoes to be filled at San Jacinto and I’m sure I speak for all when I say Tom will be missed.
On another note regarding Tom’s retirement. There is a retirement party planned for Tom on Saturday March 18th at 4 pm. If you intend to go, PLEASE RSVP using the link below. They need to get a count by February 18th so they know how much food to buy. Click the link below to get the location and further details and to RSVP if you’re going…
The waterfowl average bag at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge Junior Hunt resulted in a great average for the Junior Hunters in attendance. Shovelers appeared in first position for number of birds bagged with Green Wing Teal taking the second spot. The Kern NWR Staff reported that the results for the Junior Hunt on Saturday, 2/4/23 were as follows:
27 junior hunters took home 41 Shovelers, 6 Gadwall, 4 Widgeon, 6 Pintail, 20 Green Wing Teal, 11 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Ring Neck, 1 Scaup, and 2 Bufflehead. 2 Greater White Fronted Geese were checked in by the Junior Hunters at Kern on Saturday. No Coots were downed by the Juniors on Saturday. This figured out to an average take of 3.41 Ducks per Junior Hunter or, with the Geese figured into the total, 3.48 waterfowl for each Junior Hunter. There was no information given on reservation cards issued or claimed.
If you’re a Veteran or an Active-Duty Military Member you have one more chance at Kern this season. The after season Veteran/Active Duty Military hunt which will be held on Saturday, February 11th at Kern NWR. Hopefully, our Vets and Active Duty Heroes will take advantage of this opportunity. Here’s hoping our Vets and Active Duty have a great hunt! If you don’t have a reservation for the Vets/Military Hunt you can still get in on the sweatline drawing, just like any regular hunt day, by showing up at the Kern Hunter Check Station on the Refuge 2 ½ hours before local shoot time and the “sweat line” drawing is performed 2 hours before shoot time, the day of the hunt, also at the Refuge Hunter Check Station. Additional information may be obtained by calling Kern’s office at (661) 725-2767.And, of course, thanks for your service.
The Junior Waterfowl Hunt weekend at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area yielded a good average bag for the Junior Hunters in attendance on Saturday. Green Wing Teal were found in the first position for most birds bagged with Shovelers holding the second position. The Wister Staff reported that the waterfowl take for the Junior Hunt on Saturday, 2/4/23, was as follows:
24 Junior Hunters came away with 12 Shovelers, 10 Mallards, 1 Gadwall, 1 Widgeon, 5 Pintail, 13 Green Wing Teal, 5 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Bufflehead, and 4 Ruddy Ducks. No Geese or Coots were bagged by the Junior Hunters on Saturday. This came out to an average bag of 2.21 Ducks per Junior Hunter and, of course, with no Geese or Coots to add to the total, 2.21 waterfowl per Junior Hunter. Out of 104 reservation cards issued to the Junior Hunters 12 arrived on time to claim their spot.
The average harvest of waterfowl for Sunday, the second day of the Junior Hunt weekend, at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area dropped a bit from Saturday’s average. Coots came in at the first position for most numerous bird taken with Green Wing Teal dropping back to the second spot. The Wister Staff reported the waterfowl harvest for the Junior Hunt on Sunday, 2/5/23 was as follows:
15 Junior Hunters bagged 4 Shovelers, 2 Mallards, 2 Gadwall, 5 Widgeon, 1 Pintail, 6 Green Wing Teal, and 4 Cinnamon Teal. No Geese were checked in at the Junior Hunt on Sunday. 8 Coots were taken by the Junior hunters on Sunday. 4 Snipe were also reported taken by the Junior Hunters. This worked out to an average take of 1.60 Ducks per Junior Hunter or, with the Coots included, 2.13 waterfowl per Junior Hunter. Out of 104 reservation cards issued to the Junior Hunters 8 showed up on time to get their spot.
If you’re a Veteran or an Active Duty Military Member you have two more chance this season. The after-season Veteran/Active Duty Military hunt, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday, February 11th and 12th at Wister. Hopefully, our Vets and Active Duty Heroes will take advantage of this opportunity. Here’s hoping our Vets and Active Duty have a great hunt! If you don’t have a reservation for the Vets/Military Hunt you can still get in on the sweatline drawing, just like any regular hunt day, by showing up at Wister to get in on the drawing by 10:30 PM the night before. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweat line” spots given out after that. For more information, contact the staff at Wister Staff at 760-359-0577. And, of course, thanks for your service.
The Junior Waterfowl Hunt weekend at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge yielded an awesome average bag for the Junior Hunter participating on Saturday. Shovelers held the first position for the most birds checked in with Ruddy Ducks found in the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the waterfowl take for the Junior Hunt at Sonny Bono on Saturday, 2/4/23, was as follows:
1 Junior Hunter took home 4 Shovelers, and 3 Ruddy Ducks. No Geese or Coots were taken by the Sonny Bono Junior Hunter on Saturday. This came out to an average take of 7.00 Ducks per Junior Hunter and, of course, with no Geese or Coots to include in the total, 7.00 waterfowl for the Junior Hunter. Reservations are done through the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area and can be used for either Wister or Sonny Bono. Out of 104 reservation cards issued to the Junior Hunters 12 came in on time to get their spot.
No Junior Hunters utilized the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, the second day of the Junior Hunt weekend.
If you’re a Veteran or an Active Duty Military Member you have two more chances to hunt Sonny Bono this season. The after-season Veteran/Active Duty Military hunt, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday, February 11th and 12th at Sonny Bono. Hopefully, our Vets and Active Duty Heroes will take advantage of this opportunity. Here’s hoping our Vets and Active Duty have a great hunt! If you don’t have a reservation for the Vets/Military Hunt you can still get in on the sweatline drawing, just like any regular hunt day, by showing up at Wister to get in on the drawing by 10:30 PM the night before. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweat line” spots given out after that. For more information, contact the staff at Wister Staff at 760-359-0577. And, of course, thanks for your service.
San Jacinto Wildlife Area’s 29th Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt on Saturday, February 4th, resulted in a very good average bag for the Junior Hunters in participating. Shovelers were the number one bird taken by the Junior Hunters with Green Wing Teal found in the second spot. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl harvest for the Junior Hunt on Saturday, 2/4/23, was as follows:
74 junior hunters came away with 85 Northern Shovelers, 2 Mallards, 6 Gadwall, 1 Widgeon, 6 Pintail, 62 Green Wing Teal, 26 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Ring Necks, 9 Bufflehead, and 4 Ruddy Ducks. No Geese were bagged by the Junior Hunt on Saturday. There were also 3 Coots checked in by the Junior Hunters on Saturday. This figured out to an average bag of 2.74 Ducks per Junior Hunter or, with the Coots included in the total, a 2.78 waterfowl average for each Junior Hunter. Tom advised that out of 50 reservations issued 21 of the Junior Hunters showed up on time to get their spot.
Ok, that’s it for the Junior Hunters for the 2022/2023 season. If you’re a Veteran or an Active Duty Military Member you also have one more chance this season. The after season Veteran/Active Duty Military hunt, which will be held next Saturday, February 11th at San Jacinto. Hopefully our Vets and Active Duty Heroes will take advantage of this opportunity. Here’s hoping our Vets and Active Duty have a great hunt! If you don’t have a reservation for the Vets/Military Hunt you can still get in on the sweatline drawing, just like any regular hunt day, by showing up at SJ at 3 AM to get your name in on the sweatline drawing. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580. And, to all our Vets and Active Duty, thank you for your service.
The end of the 2022/2023 waterfowl season at the Lake Perris State Recreation Area revealed some interesting stats for the number of birds checked in and the per-hunter average take. Mallards were way out in front for most numerous bird checked in with Gadwall taking the second spot. The totals for the 2022/2023 Waterfowl Season at Lake Perris were as follows:
21 hunters harvested a total of 7 Northern Shovelers, 68 Mallards, 16 Gadwall, 7 Widgeon, 5 Pintail, 4 Green Wing Teal, 2 Cinnamon Teal, 4 Redheads, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 1 Merganser, and 6 Ducks only identified as “Other”. There were no Geese taken at Lake Perris this season. 4 Coots were also checked in for the 2022/2023 season at Lake Perris. This figured out to a total of 122 Ducks and, with the Coots included, 126 waterfowl taken for the season. The per hunter average take for the 2022/2023 season came out to 1.01 Ducks per hunter or, with the Coots added in, 1.04 waterfowl per hunter.
This is where I would usually compare this season’s counts and averages and the + or – on the number of each species taken this season compared to last season but due to fact that this is the first season in 17 years at Lake Perris, obviously there are no stats from last year to compare to.
So, there you have it, the year-long stats for the Lake Perris State Recreation Area. Overall Lake Perris had poor averages most of the season. Hopefully, for next season some adjustments can be made at Lake Perris, perhaps in hunting areas and hunting buoy locations, to hopefully improve the results over this season. All we need now is for the breeding populations up north to do their thing and hopefully we’ll get the weather needed to drive the birds south early in the season and things will improve next season.
The average waterfowl bag for the boat hunters at Lake Perris nosedived as compared to last Wednesday’s average. Mergansers (actually Merganser) were (was) found in first position for number of birds harvested with no other birds taken so no second spot. John Rowe of Lake Perris reported that the results for Wednesday, 1/25/23 were as follows:
7 hunters checked in with 1 Merganser. No Geese or Coots were taken by the Lake Perris boat hunters. This came out to an average bag of 0.14 Ducks per gun and, of course, with no Geese or Coots to add to the total, 0.14 waterfowl per person. Out of 9 reservations issued 3 boats showed up on time to claim their spot.
So, that’s it for Lake Perris’ first waterfowl season in 17 years. If the same rules apply next season Lake Perris will be open to waterfowl hunting every Wednesday until noon. Hunting will be done from BOATS ONLY and the drawing for the season’s hunting spots will likely occur sometime in early August. Most likely there will again be no “sweat line” or alternates on the day of the hunt next season. Also likely is that there will be (9) boat in buoy locations each Wednesday that will be awarded by early August lottery. For details on how to get in on the drawing for next season, the boat requirements, and other info for the Lake Perris waterfowl hunting program go to:
SoCalHunt 
You must be logged in to post a comment.