SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/31/11

SoCalHunt hit San Jacinto Wildlife Area once again for an afternoon refill hunt. Upon our arrival at the check station there appeared to be a smaller than average number of hunters waiting to refill. We put our names on the refill list and began the wait for a blind.

As the time went by hunters from the morning reservations and sweatline trickled in to check in their birds and leave. This process seemed unusually slow today as, for some reason, the morning hunters were staying out in their blinds, despite the fact that it was over 70 degrees with bluebird conditions and, judging by the amount of shooting we could hear, hunting was slow. As the morning hunters came in one by one some had decent straps, some only had a bird or two and some even came in empty-handed. It appeared, judging by the hunters we saw coming in, the bird or two and the empty handed hunters were far more common then the ones with decent straps. We were far enough down the refill list that when a good blind checked in someone ahead of us took it and after waiting about 2 ½ hours we decided to take a blind that no one ahead of us wanted, just to get out and do some hunting before we ran out of time.

When we got to our blind we set our decoys and set up our gear and settled in to wait on the ducks….and wait…and wait…

We were dealing with bluebird conditions and a light wind of about 10 miles an hour. We were hoping that would be enough to get the ducks moving but as it turned out, it wasn’t.

After about 2 hours a group of teal flew by and I swung on the trailing bird and shot just as the tip of my barrel hit the glare of the late afternoon sun. Well, guess what? Of course since all I could see was the sun I missed. Maybe an hour later a spoony drake flew by and I wasn’t able to connect on that bird either. Well, that was it. Only two opportunities and I couldn’t make it happen. We saw maybe a total of 15 ducks in the approximately 4 hours we hunted this afternoon and I’m talking about from the two I shot at to as far as we could see around us. They just weren’t flying this afternoon. I’m guessing they were sitting on Mystic Lake getting a suntan today. Well, at least the sunset was worth it, as it usually is at San Jacinto.

So, not too successful of an afternoon refill. I think back to near this date last season and we were walking out from the check station, wading / hiking for an hour through a foot and a half of water covering the refuge roads, hunting in the rain and (usually) shooting at least a few birds. Just shows you that conditions and results can vary widely but, of course, we do call it hunting, not shooting (of course I don’t miss the long hikes). We’ll be back again soon. We can only go up from here I guess. Oh, and Happy New Year!

SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/28/11

SoCalHunt was fortunate enough this morning to be checking in at San Jacinto Wildlife Area with a low reservation number. My first reservation draw of the year. I had about four blinds in mind for my pick and one of those was still available when my turn came at the check station counter. Tom checked my partner and I in and we headed out to our blind assignment.

Because we were on a low reservation number we had plenty of time to set up our blind and place our decoys. When we were done we still had over an hour and a half before legal shooting time.

About 8 minutes before legal shoot time someone to the south of us opened up and the ducks we had sitting amongst our decoys departed for parts unknown.

A little editorial comment here:
I just marvel at the selfishness of some. They are so desperate to bag a duck that they are willing to ruin what is, at times, the best opportunity of the day for their surrounding fellow hunters by shooting early. If everyone would cooperate and wait for legal shoot time the refuge average would likely go up substantially as everyone on the refuge would have an opportunity to bag a bird or two at start time instead of just those that are willing to violate the law and shoot early.

Okay, off the soapbox now…

After start time we had a few quick opportunities and muffed the first few. A short time later my partner winged a spoony hen, which sailed into the field east of us. I headed over to the field quickly to attempt to find the bird and after a short search I saw what appeared to be an extra large dirt clod sitting in the field. It turned out to be the spoony hen, trying to blend in with the background, and I quickly collected her and added her to the bag.

Just before sunrise a flock of speckled belly geese, likely the same geese I had seen last Saturday, fly by us, out of range of course. They circled into the same field as I saw them circle into on Saturday, between Marsh X and the B / C ponds. The sunrise, a few moments later, was typical San Jacinto gold.

As the day progressed we had a few more birds come by and missed most of these, either with our shots or just plain missed seeing them come in until it was too late. My partner did connect with a shoveler drake but we failed to see where he dropped and couldn’t find him. Not long after that the specks we had seen earlier got airborne again and passed by us at about 100 yards. They circled the field just to the east of us a couple times and set down there to feed. We now had about 35 or 40 geese sitting in a field just about 100 yards from our blind!

The geese fed on the green shoots in the field and leapfrogged back and forth across the field. We held off shooting on several ducks that came by while the geese were in the field hoping that we might have a chance to bag one (or more) of the geese when they departed. When the geese were at the far end of the field, perhaps 200 yards away, a neighboring blind shot at some ducks and it seemed to have no effect on the specks so we decided that we could risk some duck hunting while waiting to see what the geese would do, as long as they were at the far end of the field. My partner was soon able to drop a beautiful drake green wing teal that buzzed the decoys and we added him to the bag.

As we watched the geese we saw the drake spoony my partner had splashed earlier, that we had been unable to locate, climb out of our pond and walk over the dike into the field full of geese. Normally one of us would just go collect the wounded bird but we didn’t want to risk spooking the geese so we kept track of the spoony as he waddled across the field. A short time later the geese decided to depart and headed out, directly away from us of course, giving us no opportunity for a shot. My partner went out in the now empty field to look for the shoveler and, as he approached the brush at the far end of the field a hawk flew up, scattering feathers as he flew away. He looked at the spot the hawk had just vacated and there was the shoveler. The hawk had apparently just dispatched it and my partner had disturbed his lunch. He collected the duck and included it in our bag. We always hate to wing and loose a duck and it was kind of nice to recover one we had thought we had lost.

We continued hunting and about 11:30 am the wind came up, blowing at about 10 to 15 miles an hour, which got the ducks moving again. We flubbed a few more shots and I was finally able to connect on a hen spoony that was to only bird that showed any real interest in the decoys today. A short time later it seemed that the ducks quit flying and we decided to call it a day. We collected our four ducks and packed up our gear for the trip home.

So, another nice day at San Jacinto. We had a real close opportunity at some nice speckled belly geese. Although that didn’t work out in the end it was exciting to see these geese close up. We’ll be back again soon.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/28/11

The per gun average take for Wednesday jumped up again, compared to last Saturday’s average, at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Wednesday, 12/28/11, was as follows:

138 adult and 11 junior hunters checked in with 111 Northern Shovelers, 4 Wigeon, 11 Canvasbacks, 4 Cinnamon Teal, 38 Gadwall, 198 Green Wing Teal, 5 Mallards, 1 Merganser, 23 Pintail, 1 Redhead and 10 Ruddy Ducks. There were no geese taken at San Jacinto on Wednesday. 10 coot were also bagged on Wednesday. This figured out to a per hunter average of 2.79 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 26 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/24/11

This Christmas Eve morning SoCalHunt was once again at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for the sweatline draw. This time I was doing a solo morning hunt (hopefully anyway, if the sweatline draw was kind) as everyone else I usually hunt with was working or had other obligations today. The crowd seemed a little lighter then usual and I was fortunate enough to be drawn early. I picked my spot and headed out to set up.

Once at the blind I set out the decoys, set up my gear in the blind and waited for start time. Today was pretty unique as I didn’t hear anyone shoot early, however that may have been because there wasn’t anything to shoot at. The sky was clear and the winds were calm and there were ducks here and there but not in the numbers you would expect at this point in the season. As the sun rose higher it didn’t reveal the numbers of birds I would have liked to have seen.

I had a couple of opportunities not long after start time but missed them both. About
7:30 am a shoveler hen came right into the decoys and I fired at her. She turned and flew away, seemingly untouched, but after flying about 100 yards she suddenly folded up and crashed in the pond. That made for a long retrieve, especially since I had to cross a real soft mud bank that normally wouldn’t be a problem if the birds would drop in, or just outside, the decoys instead of flying 100 yards first.

I put the spoony on the strap and then sat back and waited for more ducks to appear. While I was waiting a flock of geese began to circle over the fields to the south of the B & C ponds, looking like they wanted to land, which it appeared they finally did. I don’t know when they left or how they got out of there as I didn’t see them leave and, as far as I know, no one bagged a goose today. (sorry about the blurry close up picture but I was trying to get a shot with a long lens in low light.)

As the clocked ticked away I had one more chance when a drake shoveler landed just outside my decoys. I stood up and he jumped but I was off and missed him clean. I did see a few more birds but they wanted into the far corner of the pond I was on, an area where there is no blind, and as they came and went they didn’t present a shot to anyone in that pond. It did sound like the hunters in the area of the G pond or maybe Marsh y & z were getting some consistent shooting but that’s just a guess by the shots I was hearing throughout the day. At about 11:30 I decided to call it a day. I picked up and took my lone duck home.

Well, a little slow for me today, but at least I got an opportunity to get out and still be home in time for Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to all!

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/24/11

Saturday’s per hunter average rebounded somewhat from Wednesday’s season low average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Saturday, 12/24/11, was as follows:

125 adult and 7 junior hunters checked in with 93 Northern Shovelers, 1 Bufflehead, 4 Cinnamon Teal, 34 Gadwall, 99 Green Wing Teal, 3 Mallards, 21 Pintail, 3 Redheads and 4 Ruddy Ducks. There were no geese bagged on the refuge on Saturday. 3 coot were included in the count on Saturday. This figured out to a per hunter average of 2.01 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 21 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/21/11

SoCalHunt headed to San Jacinto Wildlife Area to try another afternoon refill hunt. We arrived at about 10:00 am and there appeared to be a lot of hunters waiting to refill. When we put our names in we saw we were way down on the refill list. We checked the board and I noticed that one of my favorite blinds was available. Since no one wanted that blind, and we were far enough down the refill list that I didn’t think we could do better, we decided to give it a try.

My hunting partner today brought his dog along and we were hoping for a decent afternoon shoot so we could get the dog some retrieving work. After setting our decoys and setting up the blind we settled in hoping for the birds to come pouring in. It was a dead calm bluebird day and after a couple hours of seeing nothing flying hope was fading. At least we had some beautiful views with the mountains in the background covered in snow.

After a while a pair of teal flashed by the blind and I knocked the trailing bird down with one shot. She hit the water swimming and headed for the shoreline brush and tules only about five feet away. My partner sent his Springer over to the area but after about 10 minutes of searching and kicking numerous coots out of the brush and tules the teal eluded the search.

About an hour or so later another pair of teal came by and I dropped another one. She crashed behind some shoreline tules to the west of where the first bird went down and the search was on again. Once more the bird was able to escape, despite the dog’s efforts, and we were still empty handed. Very disappointing to loose two ducks in a row like that, especially since we even had the assistance of a well-trained dog today. Unfortunately the sun set and those were the only two opportunities we had today.

Even though my shooting was 100%, dropping two birds with two shots, we still weren’t able to put them in the bag. Well, that’s why it’s called hunting and not shooting. Disappointing, but we’ll be back and hopefully do better the next time.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/21/11

This Wednesday’s average waterfowl take took a nose-dive from Saturday’s average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Hunting under blue-bird skies resulted in the lowest average of the season so far. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Wednesday, 12/21/11, was as follows:

153 adult and 10 junior hunters checked in with 92 Northern Shovelers, 1 Wigeon, 3 Bufflehead, 1 Canvasback, 7 Cinnamon Teal, 35 Gadwall, 40 Green Wing Teal, 5 Mallards, 27 Pintail and 15 Ruddy Ducks. There was a single snow goose taken on the refuge on Wednesday. No coot were reported in the count on Wednesday. This figured out to a per gun average of 1.39 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 22 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/17/11

Saturday’s per gun bird average went down just a tick in comparison to this past Wednesday’s average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Saturday, 12/17/11, was as follows:

135 adult and 11 junior hunters checked in with 147 Northern Shovelers, 5 Wigeon, 2 Bufflehead, 2 Canvasbacks, 6 Cinnamon Teal, 49 Gadwall, 91 Green Wing Teal, 10 Mallards, 1 Merganser, 34 Pintail, 1 Red Head, 2 Ring Necks, 1 Scaup and 1 Ruddy Duck. There were no geese taken on the refuge on Saturday. 9 coot were also included in the count on Saturday. This figured out to a per gun average of 2.47 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 28 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/17/11

SoCalHunt was back at San Jacinto Wildlife Area, present and accounted for at 0300 this morning, coffee in hand, awaiting another sweatline draw. Once the lucky reservation holders were taken care of the infamous bucket with the red lid came out and our names went in (along with a bunch of otheres).

Jesse started shouting the names out the window of the check station and we were lucky enough to be called out fairly early in the drawing. It seemed that a lot of the reservation holders had shown up but we were early enough out of the bucket to still be able to pick a decent spot.

We drove out to our parking area and made the hike out to our blind. We set out our decoys, set up our blind and still had about 45 minutes left to wait until start time. Our blind was on an island and although the island was fairly dry the actual blind had a depression, likely from years of use, which had held some of the rain water from earlier in the week and the floor of the blind was a muddy mess so we had to be careful how we set out our gear in the blind.

Not long after start time a duck swung in low over the decoys but we were unable to do our part and the bird flew away unharmed. A short time later a nice green wing drake swooped in and I dropped him in the decoys. Shortly after that a spoony hen came in and we both fired three shots at her, it appeared she was hit and she turned towards the blind and flew right over us, I was able to shuck one more shell into the shotgun as she flew over and made a hurried shot to try to knock her down but missed. She ended up sailing about 150 yards into the field behind our blind and crashing into an embankment. My partner made the long retrieve and, fortunately there wasn’t much vegetation in this particular field so he was able to easily find the bird.

On a side note, today’s sunrise was spectacular, which isn’t unusual for San Jacinto, with the sun reflecting off the numerous broken clouds in the sky. In fact the sunrise even tinted the clouds in the western sky pink behind the green Bernasconi Hills. Once again, the sunrise was worth the trip just by its self.

As the day progressed the wind would come up, blowing about 15 miles an hour for short periods of time, and then backing off to about 5 miles an hour, but it was never consistent and was never really enough to move the ducks off of Mystic Lake. We were seeing ducks off and on all day. There were periods of time where none were seen flying for fifteen minutes to a half hour and then for several minutes we’d see one bird after another, and several pairs and small groups also, flying. As the day went along we had several ducks decoy, just like they’re supposed to, and we were able to bag several more, and, of course miss a few too. At one point we had a group of about eight mallards come right into the decoys. Unfortunately we had not seen them coming out of the broken clouds filling the sky and by the time we saw them they had seen us and exited our field of fire before either of us could shoulder our shotguns. At about one o’clock we decided to call it a day and walked away with one green wing, one gadwall and five shovelers.

Once again a very enjoyable day of waterfowling at San Jacinto. We’ll be back for more soon!

Don’t forget to check out SoCalHunt’s on-line store at www.zazzle.com/socalhunt

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/14/11

Wednesday’s waterfowl hunting averages went up a bit over this past Saturday’s per gun average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Wednesday, 12/14/11, was as follows:

114 adult and 0 junior hunters checked in with 112 Northern Shovelers, 3 Wigeon, 3 Bufflehead, 17 Cinnamon Teal, 35 Gadwall, 79 Green Wing Teal, 9 Mallards, 1 Merganser, 37 Pintail, 3 Ring Necks and 14 Ruddy Ducks. There were no geese shot on the refuge on Wednesday. A lone coot was also included in the bag on Wednesday. This worked out to an average of 2.75 waterfowl per hunter. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 25 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/10/11

Saturday’s waterfowl average dropped quite a bit at San Jacinto Wildlife Area compared to this past Wednesday’s per hunter average. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Saturday, 12/10/11, was as follows:

153 adult and 11 junior hunters checked in with 147 Northern Shovelers, 21 Wigeon, 10 Bufflehead, 11 Cinnamon Teal, 34 Gadwall, 69 Green Wing Teal, 24 Mallards, 1 Merganser, 20 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 2 Ring Necks, 1 Scaup and 11 Ruddy Ducks. A Ross’ Goose and a Snow Goose were also included in the take for Saturday. 5 coot were also taken on Saturday. This resulted in an average per hunter of 2.20 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 27 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

Don’t forget to donate towards San Jacinto’s Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt by dropping a buck or two, or even some change, in the bottle on the check station counter. In the past this bottle has been filled by hunters putting their change from daily permit purchases in the bottle. Since the check station is no longer selling permits the source of that change has dried up. This is important for promoting the future of our sport by getting young people interested in waterfowl hunting.

Also, San Jacinto’s Annual Christmas Toy Drive has started. Bring a toy to donate to the barrel in the check station. Check SoCalHunt’s post regarding the toy drive for information at:

https://socalhunt.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/annual-toy-drive-begins-at-san-jacinto-wildlife-area/

SoCalHunt Now Has Downloadable Maps for San Jacinto Wildlife Area

SoCalHunt.com now has downloadable maps for San Jacinto Wildlife Area. The maps available are the Fish & Game directional map to SJWA, the most recent waterfowl area map for SJWA (showing all blind locations and whether they are island blinds or have a walkway out to them and if they are pit blinds, hog wire blinds or natural cover blinds), A downloadable page of the current SJWA rules, a map of the Walkers blinds only and a map showing the boundaries of the entire SJWA (excluding the Portero Unit which isn’t opened to the public yet anyway). You can download these maps to your computer by clicking on the thumbnail and then you can print up as many as you need.

To obtain any or all of these map downloads go to SoCalHunt’s web site (not this blog site) at:

www.SoCalHunt.com

Click on “maps & downloads” near the top of the page and you’re there! There is also a link on the page to the google map location of San Jacinto’s check station. At this link you can put your address in and get directions right to SJWA’s front door.

BTW – While you’re there check out the rest of SoCalHunt’s web site. I think you’ll like it.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/7/11

Results for Wednesday’s hunting, at San Jacinto Wildlife Area, stayed just about the same as this past Saturday’s per gun average. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Wednesday, 12/7/11, was as follows:

137 adult and 2 junior hunters checked in with 160 Northern Shovelers, 28 Wigeon, 8 Bufflehead, 1 Canvasback, 29 Cinnamon Teal, 36 Gadwall, 91 Green Wing Teal, 47 Mallards, 21 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 4 Ring Necks, and 15 Ruddy Ducks. Two Ross’ Geese were included in the bag for Wednesday. 3 coot were also bagged on Wednesday. This resulted in an average per hunter of 3.22 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 32 arrived on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

Don’t forget to donate towards San Jacinto’s Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt by dropping a buck or two, or even some change, in the bottle on the check station counter. In the past this bottle has been filled by hunters putting their change from daily permit purchases in the bottle. Since the check station is no longer selling permits the source of that change has dried up. This is important for promoting the future of our sport by getting young people interested in waterfowl hunting.

Also, San Jacinto’s Annual Christmas Toy Drive has started. Bring a toy to donate to the barrel in the check station. Check SoCalHunt’s post regarding the toy drive for information at:

https://socalhunt.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/annual-toy-drive-begins-at-san-jacinto-wildlife-area/

SoCalHunt Hunting Report for 12/7/11

SoCalHunt was once again at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for an afternoon refill hunt. This was another solo hunt since no one could get free today to go with me.

I arrived at the check station about 10:30 and signed up on the refill list. There was about ten or twelve other hunters waiting for refill spots when I arrived. There were a few blinds available but I opted to wait and see what would become available, hoping to get one of the “prime” blinds.

About noon a hunter checked in with a full limit and I was able to refill the blind he came out of. I drove out to the parking area, pulled my gear out of the truck and walked out to the blind with my gear in tow in my Ducks and Bucks cart. The wind was starting to blow about 10 or 12 miles an hour and conditions looked good.

As I was pulling my gear out of my Ducks and Bucks cart, before I could even uncase my shotgun, a bufflehead zipped by well within range. I quickly set out my decoys and arranged my gear in the blind and I was hunting at 12:45. A few birds flew by, none within range, and after about two hours I hadn’t fired a shot. At this point a lone bufflehead snuck in unobserved and landed in the decoys. I stood up and the bird jumped up to leave. I had to let him go a short distance as I was lined up on an adjacent blind and didn’t want to take a low shot like that in their direction. When the bird cleared the blind I fired and splashed shot in the water right behind him, the second shot splashed right in front of him and he kept going. The little bufflehead pulled up and circled back, giving me a third opportunity higher in the sky and, wouldn’t you know it, I missed that one too.
Kind of an inauspicious start.

A short time later a cinnamon teal rocketed by and I dropped him with one well-placed shot. A little more like it. Now more birds were starting to move although the wind was starting to die somewhat. No too much later a drake spoony came in high and I nailed him with one shot. He folded up and splashed down hard, almost hitting one of my decoys. He landed a few feet from the tules and right in the reflection of the sun off the water so I couldn’t see him because of the glare on the water. By the time I got over to where he had splashed, he was gone. I searched the tules but he must have only been winged and swam into the tules when I couldn’t see him due to the sun glare. Boy I hate to loose a bird that way, especially since he looked like he was hit hard when he came down.

A little while later I hear the sound of ducks landing in the water, obviously nearby if I could hear that, and I look over the edge of my blind and there’s a pair of shovelers swimming in my decoys. I stand up and they fly and I drop the hen. Not long after that another teal swoops in low and I fire twice and splash her about 20 yards from the blind.

A few more shovelers and teal come by and I have a couple more opportunities but don’t connect on those. Just as the sun is going behind the hills a drake spoony come in high and I drop him with one shot. In the last half hour of shoot time I have a couple more birds come in but most of these are out of range or I’m getting the butt end view as they leave because I was looking the wrong way when they came in. So as the sun sets the day ends.

Not bad again for an afternoon refill. 4 birds, and a limit was possible, had a few things worked differently. Again a great day at San Jacinto.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/3/11

This Saturday’s average bird count went up markedly from last Wednesday’s per hunter average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the waterfowl count for Saturday, 12/3/11, was as follows:

126 adult and 5 junior hunters checked in with 103 Northern Shovelers, 23 Wigeon, 4 Bufflehead, 37 Cinnamon Teal, 60 Gadwall, 101 Green Wing Teal, 22 Mallards, 34 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 2 Ring Necks, and 15 Ruddy Ducks. No geese were taken on the refuge this Saturday. 5 coot were also bagged on Saturday. This resulted in an average per hunter of 3.12 waterfowl. Tom advised that out of 50 reservation holders 20 showed on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFG Automated License Data System (ALDS). Your reservation request has to be to the ALDS system 17 days in advance to get in on the drawing or you can get in on the daily “sweatline” drawing for the remaining blinds after the reservations are taken care of. Reservation spots are given out starting at 3 AM and the “sweatline” drawing is done after that. The ALDS can be accessed through the DFG web site at the below link –

https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/

Don’t forget that all licenses and 1 day, 2 day or season passes must be purchased at a DFG Office or a license agent before your arrive at the refuge. These can be purchased on-line via the ALDS system also, however, you will have to wait for the DFG to mail you’re the actual licenses and passes which can take up to 15 days. If you purchase your license and passes in person at a DFG office or license agent you immediately get them without the wait for the mail. No licenses or passes will be sold at the check stations this year. You can also show up for an afternoon refill hunt but the last refill is at 2 PM. For more information, contact the staff at San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

Don’t forget to donate towards San Jacinto’s Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt by dropping a buck or two, or even some change, in the bottle on the check station counter. In the past this bottle has been filled by hunters putting their change from daily permit purchases in the bottle. Since the check station is no longer selling permits the source of that change has dried up. This is important for promoting the future of our sport by getting young people interested in waterfowl hunting.

Also, San Jacinto’s Annual Christmas Toy Drive has started. Bring a toy to donate to the barrel in the check station. Check SoCalHunt’s post regarding the toy drive for information at:

https://socalhunt.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/annual-toy-drive-begins-at-san-jacinto-wildlife-area/

Ducks & Bucks Cart Blind – On Sale – $130 Off! Update! Now offering free shipping too!

Update 5/9/21 – The Cartblind website is now down.  We’ll leave the link below in the post on the outside chance someone decides to buy the business and start it up again.

Attention!! UPDATE 7/28/19 – We here at SoCalHunt have been made aware that the Cartblind Business is for sale and it appears that they are out of business. Although their web site is still active they don’t appear to have any items in stock and are advertising the business for sale. We will leave this review up for anyone who may run across a used Cartblind for information purposes only or on the outside chance someone buys the business and re-opens it.

(This sale is long over but I’ll leave this post up for info only)

SoCalHunt has just learned that the Ducks & Bucks Cart Blind is on sale! In my opinion this is one of the best investments I’ve made in hunting equipment for the marsh (and I paid full price for mine). Check out SoCalHunt’s gear review on the Duck & Bucks Cart Blind at the below link:

https://socalhunt.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/gear-review-–-ducks-bucks-cart-blind/

The regular price for a Ducks & Bucks Cart Blind is $375 but they are on sale now for $245! I don’t know how long this price will last so if you want one you’d better hurry! UPDATE! 12/4/11 – They are now offering free shipping too!

Fall Sale on now! $245.00
CALL TO ORDER :
586-855-7494

New Link ( www.cartblinds.com )

(BTW I have no affiliation with Ducks & Bucks and/or make no money off this recommendation. I just think the thing is that good).