San Jacinto Wildlife Refuge announces the 20th Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt – 2/1/14

Tom Trakes from San Jacinto Wildlife Area advised that the 20^th Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt has been set for San Jacinto Wildlife Area.  The date for the hunt is February 1^st, 2014.  This is a great event and gives the junior hunters a chance to get in on some quality hunting after the regular season closes.  There is also a great pancake breakfast provided by the San Jacinto Staff and volunteers prior to the hunt and, this year, after the hunt, a real treat, a fantastic pig roast lunch with a bunch of raffle prizes for the junior hunters.

This hunt is opened to junior hunting license holders only and an adult parent or guardian must accompany them. Junior Hunters need to apply for this hunt through the DFW Waterfowl Hunt Reservation System at:

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

Anyone who wants to donate prizes for the raffle, money to fund the event or volunteer to assist at the breakfast and/or lunch should contact Tom Trakes at (951)-236-3020 or the San Jacinto Wildlife Area Office at (951)-928-0580.

As always there will be a 5-gallon water bottle on the check station counter for donations towards this event throughout the season.  Don’t forget to bring a buck or two for the Junior Hunters when you check it to hunt throughout the season.  Remember the junior hunters are the future of our sport.

Check the official flyer on the Junior Waterfowl Hunt for further.

San Jacinto Annual Junior Pheasant Hunt Dates Set – 11/10/13 & 12/15/13

San Jacinto Annual Junior Pheasant Hunt Dates Set – 11/10/13 & 12/15/13

This year there are two Junior Pheasant hunts set for San Jacinto Wildlife Area.  The dates are Sunday, November 10^th and Sunday, December 15^th, 2013.

Junior hunters, with their adult companions, will check in at 6:30 am at the San Jacinto Check Station.  These hunts are opened to junior hunting license holders only and an adult parent or guardian must accompany them.  Junior Hunters need to apply for these hunts through the DFW Special Hunt Reservation System at:

 https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/DFGSpecialHunts/Default.aspx

Quail Unlimited will provide lunch for both days.

Any Questions? Please call- San Jacinto Wildlife Area Office (951) 928-0580 or Tom Trakes (951) 236-3040.

Check the official flyer on the Junior Pheasant Hunts for further.

 

Annual Volunteer Blind Brush-up Day Set for San Jacinto Wildlife Area – 9/28/13

Saturday, September 28^th is the annual volunteer blind brush-up workday at San Jacinto Wildlife Area.  Volunteers are asked to meet at the San Jacinto Check Station Parking Lot at 6:30 am.

Work will be assigned at the start of the morning and will conclude with the volunteers meeting at for lunch at Casa Mexicana Restaurant at noon for lunch. (Everyone responsible for their own check).

Please be prepared for the following:

1. Bring work gloves, sturdy boots/shoes, hand tools that pertain

to building new blinds and repair of old.

2. Waders, hip boots, mud boots, if available.

3. Palm tree cuttings and brush for blinds, cuttings without thorns.

4. Mosquito repellent.

5. Drinking Water, lots of it!  (It will likely be hot!)

Any Questions? Please call- San Jacinto Wildlife Area Office (951) 928-0580 or Tom Trakes (951) 236-3040.

Check the official flyer on the Blind Brush-up day for further.

2013 / 2014 Waterfowl Season Dates / Limits Set

The California Fish and Game Commission, during their August 7^th meeting in San Luis Obispo, California, adopted waterfowl season dates and regulations for the 2013/14 waterfowl season.

Regulations adopted for the Southern California Zone (which will cover San Jacinto Wildlife Area):

Seasons:
Ducks and Geese: October 19, 2013 through January 26, 2014.

Special Youth Hunt Days: February 1 and February 2, 2014. (San Jacinto’s Annual Youth Hunt will be February 1^st, 2014).

Limits:
Ducks: Daily bag limit: 7. Which may contain 7 mallards, of which only 2 can be female; 2 pintail; 2 canvasback; 2 redheads; 3 scaup.

Geese: Daily bag limit: 10. Of which 10 may be white geese and only 3 may be dark geese.

Possession Limit Ducks and Geese: Triple the daily bag limit.

“Electronic” Spinning wing decoys (AKA – mojo’s) will be allowed from December 1 until the season ends (statewide) – non-motorized / wind powered mojo’s are allowed all season.

The changes that might potentially affect San Jacinto hunters are the fact that scaup can not be taken the first two weeks of the season.  Last season scaup were legal throughout the entire regular duck season and, in addition last year you were allowed 7 scaup but this year that is down to 3.  Also, last season the canvasback limit was 1, this year its up to 2 cans a day. Although geese aren’t a big concern, as far as going over limit at San Jacinto, but this year’s regulations up the limit on geese to 10 of which all 10 may be white geese but only 3 can be dark geese.

So, regulations are set, bird numbers, in general, are good, well over the long term averages, and San Jacinto is looking good for the upcoming season.  Again things seem to be shaping up for a great season.  Hope to see you all out at good old SJ!

This above information is provided as a general guide only. Please check the California Department of Fish and Game website at:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations/waterfowl-summary-13-14.html

…or printed regulation book (available soon at most license agent locations) for official information and/or for regulations in other waterfowl zones in the state.

Another Successful Volunteer Work Party at San Jacinto Wildlife Area

On Saturday, 8/3/13, about 20 volunteers, made up of hunters that utilize San Jacinto Wildlife Area, congregated to assist the SJ staff in getting the wildlife area ready for the coming waterfowl season.  Shortly after 7 am the volunteers broke up into their work groups and they spread out throughout the wildlife area take on their assignments.

 

This work party was tasked with cleaning out the water control structures throughout the area and extracting the numerous tumbleweeds blocking access to them.

 

 

Once the water control structures were cleared the San Jacinto crew started water flowing to begin the process of flooding the ponds.

 

Some of the ponds have already received some water prior to this work party and ducks are already starting to utilize the refuge.  Tom and the SJ staff have done a great job this year and there’s a lot of food on the refuge for the birds.

 

After the work party many of the volunteers met at Casa Mexicana Restaurant for a well-deserved and excellent tasting lunch.  Along with the Mexican cuisine there was a lot of discussion about the upcoming waterfowl season (along with, I’m sure, a few “exaggerations” about prior seasons and hunts).

 

Much was accomplished on this work party with a good turnout of volunteers from the hunting community.  This work should go a long way towards another successful waterfowl season at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.   As of this writing another work party day at San Jacinto is scheduled for Saturday, September 28^th.  The September 28^th work party will be a blind brush up day.  This will be the final preparation to get San Jacinto ready for all the duck hunters to enjoy the 2013/2014 waterfowl season.

For information on the upcoming blind brush up day at San Jacinto Wildlife Area you can call the refuge office at 951-928-0580 or Tom Trakes 951-236-3040.