Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/28/13

The average per hunter waterfowl take at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Saturday jumped significantly over last Saturday’s average after the Christmas break Wednesday.  For the first time this year Shovelers were not the most numerous bird taken, that spot being taken over by Green Wing Teal, relegating Shovelers to the second spot. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 12/28/13 were as follows:

139 adult and 17 junior hunters bagged 204 Northern Shovelers, 9 Mallards, 35 Gadwall, 8 Widgeon, 2 Pintail, 231 Green Wing Teal, 10 Cinnamon Teal, 11 Redheads, 3 Canvasbacks, 1 Ring Neck, 4 Scaup, 16 Bufflehead and 11 Ruddy Ducks.  Again no geese were taken at San Jacinto on Saturday.  16 coots were also counted in the take on Saturday. This resulted in a per hunter waterfowl average of 3.60 birds. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 32 showed up 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.  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 – 12/21/13

The per hunter waterfowl average at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Saturday improved somewhat over Wednesday’s average under clear, cool conditions.  Once again Shovelers were the most numerous bird taken with Green Wing Teal holding on to the number two spot for Saturday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 12/21/13 were as follows:

150 adult and 17 junior hunters bagged 208 Northern Shovelers, 18 Mallards, 32 Gadwall, 4 Widgeon, 1 Pintail, 61 Green Wing Teal, 6 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Redhead, 5 Canvasbacks, 4 Ring Necks, 1 Scaup, 6 Bufflehead and 11 Ruddy Ducks.  No geese were bagged at San Jacinto on Saturday.  3 coots were also included in the count on Saturday. This resulted in a per hunter waterfowl average of 2.16 birds. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 33 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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, Wednesday – 12/18/13

The per hunter average take of waterfowl at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Wednesday dropped to just under 2 birds per person under partly cloudy skies.  As has been since the start of the season Shovelers were the number one bird for numbers bagged with Green Wing Teal taking a distant second place on Wednesday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Wednesday, 12/18/13 were as follows:

128 adult and 4 junior hunters bagged 162 Northern Shovelers, 5 Mallards, 10 Gadwall, 13 Widgeon, 1 Pintail, 26 Green Wing Teal, 7 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Redheads, 1 Canvasback, 6 Ring Necks, 5 Buffleheads and 13 Ruddy Ducks.  There was also one duck listed as “other”. Again no geese were taken at San Jacinto on Wednesday.  5 coots were included in the take for Wednesday.  This averaged out to 1.95 waterfowl per hunter. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 29 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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.

Wednesday, December 25th – San Jacinto Closed to Hunting for Christmas Day

On Wednesday, December 25th, Christmas Day, San Jacinto Wildlife Area, along with all other refuges and wildlife areas in the State, will be closed to hunting.  This is just a reminder as I’m sure most hunters were aware of this already.  So, if you get a new shotgun, pair of waders, or a new duck call from Santa or any other kind friend or relative you’ll have to wait until the next Saturday, December 28th, to try them out.  Here’s wishing the staff at San Jacinto a Merry Christmas and a well deserved day off with family and friends.  SoCalHunt would also like to wish all who read this a wonderful Christmas day and good luck when we get back to hunting on the 28th.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 12/14/13

The average waterfowl take at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Saturday dropped just slightly, under clear but windy conditions, from Wednesday’s average.  As seemingly always Shovelers were the largest number of birds taken with Gadwall took over the number two spot for Saturday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 12/14/13 were as follows:

123 adult and 10 junior hunters bagged 191 Northern Shovelers, 11 Mallards, 44 Gadwall, 33 Widgeon, 18 Green Wing Teal, 14 Cinnamon Teal, 3 Redheads, 4 Ring Necks, 3 Scaup, 6 Bufflehead and 7 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no geese were taken at San Jacinto on Saturday.  3 coots were also checked in on Saturday.  This resulted in a per hunter waterfowl average of 2.53 birds. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 31 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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 San Jacinto Hunting Report 12/11/13

Today SoCalHunt was back at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for an afternoon refill hunt along with my usual hunting partner.

We got a little later start then we would have liked and as we drove down Davis Road, towards the check station, it was with a bit of trepidation about our chances of getting a good spot today.

When we arrived at the check station parking lot we were pleasantly surprised to see only about a dozen or so trucks parked there. We checked in and put our names on the refill list and found that we were down near the bottom of the second page, which was pretty good for as late as we had arrived.

We only waited a short while and one of the blinds that I would count in my top ten choices came in.  To our surprise no one above us on the refill list wanted the blind so we swapped our day passes for it, took off from the check station lot and headed for our assigned blind.  We had only been waiting about a half hour and we were in the blind, set up and hunting at 11:00 AM.

When we arrived the conditions were clear and somewhat cold with a little breeze.  As we set the decoys the tules in the pond and Bernasconi Hills reflected in the rippling waters of our pond.

We settled in to wait for some ducks to come by and we didn’t have to wait long.  Birds were flying and we had a couple of small groups of ducks cross our pond but out of range.  After only a half hour we were concentrating on a group five ducks circling near our pond when we heard the familiar sound of duck feet skidding to a landing on the water.  While we were watching the ducks that were flying at a distance a shoveler hen had snuck in and landed in the decoys, only about 20 yards from our blind.  The bird was on my partner’s side and we stood up to flush her off the water.  She jumped and started to fly but my partner dropped her with one shot.  So we were off to a good start with a bird down after only a half hour of hunting.  My partner retrieved his duck and we settled in to wait for more.

In the next half hour we had two pair of ducks slid in behind us, unnoticed, until it was too late to shoulder our shotguns.  That was just as well as, if we would have dropped any of these birds, they would have likely fallen into the tules and been lost.  At about 12:30 a small group of honkers headed our way but a neighboring blind opened up on them at extreme distance and they were off for greener pastures (and quieter receptions).  After that it was almost as if someone had flipped a switch. We would see an occasional duck at a distance but none came even near close enough for a shot.  We could hear some of the neighboring blinds occasionally taking a shot but there was nothing in range for us.

Just a couple minutes before quitting time a small group of honkers, likely the same ones we had seen before, headed right for us.  At about 100 yards they veered off and at the same time a couple of widgeon came right over us.  Since the geese were out of range and heading away my partner tried a shot at the widgeon but didn’t connect, just as the alarm on my cell phone, indicating quitting time, sounded.  So, after what seemed to be a good start things fizzled out and we ended up with a single spoony for our efforts.

Well, that was it. And, although we didn’t get much shooting, it was still nice to be out on the wildlife area enjoying the scenery, wildlife and some good company in the blind.  So, as the sun set we picked up and headed for home.

Anyway, we had hoped, with the cold weather this week, some more birds would have migrated down but, so far, it appears the main migration from the north hasn’t arrived yet.  Hopefully the next time we hit good old SJ they’ll be a few more birds in the area.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/11/13

The average waterfowl take at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Wednesday ticked up just slightly from Saturday’s average to near the season’s highest average under crisp cool skies.  As always, good old Shovelers were the number one bird taken with Widgeon taking a distant second on Wednesday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Wednesday, 12/11/13 were as follows:

135 adults and 1 junior hunter bagged 200 Northern Shovelers, 12 Mallards, 36 Gadwall, 45 Widgeon, 1 Pintail, 29 Green Wing Teal, 12 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Canvasback, 5 Ring Necks, 6 Buffleheads and 15 Ruddy Ducks.  A lone Ross’ Goose was taken at San Jacinto on Wednesday.  9 coots were also included in the bag for Wednesday.  This averaged out to 2.74 waterfowl per hunter. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation card holders 29 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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 – 12/7/13

The bird per hunter average for San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Saturday improved markedly over Wednesday’s average, recovering to near 2 ½ birds per hunter.  As has been since the beginning of the season Shovelers were the most numerous bird taken with Green Wing Teal taking over the number two spot on Saturday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 12/7/13 were as follows:

153 adult and 6 junior hunters bagged 123 Northern Shovelers, 16 Mallards, 42 Gadwall, 49 Widgeon, 6 Pintail, 84 Green Wing Teal, 26 Cinnamon Teal, 7 Redheads, 2 Ring Necks, 3 Scaup, 10 Bufflehead and 20 Ruddy Ducks.  There were also 3 ducks listed as “other” on the take sheet.  Again no geese were bagged at San Jacinto on Saturday.  2 coot was also included in the take on Saturday.  This resulted in a per hunter waterfowl average of 2.47 birds. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 34 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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 San Jacinto Hunting Report 12/4/13

Today SoCalHunt was out at good old San Jacinto Wildlife Area for another unaccompanied afternoon refill hunt.

I arrived at the parking lot about 7:20 AM and it didn’t look too bad, with about a dozen or so trucks standing by in the lot.  I checked in on the refill list and was down at the bottom of the second page, which, judging by the parking lot, I though I’d be a little higher up on the list.  I’m guessing some of the refillers were out getting breakfast nearby.  After a short visit with Tom and Whitney, donating my toy to the toy drive box and a couple of bucks into the Junior Hunt “bucket”, I went back to my truck to inspect my eyelids for holes while awaiting a spot.

About 10:30 I awoke and walked up to the check station to see if there were any decent blinds available.  I was surprised to see that one of the blinds that I count in my top ten had just become available.  I figured that, being down on the bottom of the second page, this blind was probably going to be the best I was going to do so, when no one on the list ahead of me wanted the blind, I took it.

I headed out to the blind and was set up and hunting by 11:30.  I awaited the first duck to approach my blind…and waited…and waited…  There was absolutely no waterfowl flying that I could see and this was reflected by the almost total lack of calling and shots being fired throughout the refuge.

While I awaited an opportunity for a shot I observed the other wildlife in the area. There were, as usual, lots of birds flying around; just none of them were ducks.  There were several hawks in the area searching for a meal, there was a woodpecker working on a nearby tree, the usual redwing black birds in the nearby trees and an epic coot fight in progress in the pond.  I seriously thought this one coot was going to kill the other one as he got the advantage and held his opponent under water for quite a while.

One of the Hawks

The Woodpecker

Red Wing Black Birds

The Coot fight

About 12:30 I noticed a hen Ring Neck swimming in the far edge of my pond.  I was hoping something would spook her and cause her to fly towards my blind.  It didn’t happen and I continued to see her, and after a short time a second Ring Neck hen with her, throughout the afternoon swimming into the far corner of the pond and back out towards the other end.  About 1:00 I noticed a Blue Wing Teal drake doing the same thing and, just like the Ring Necks, I continued to see this bird off and on throughout the afternoon, later accompanied by two hen Blue Wings.

The only “action” was around 2:00 PM when an adjacent blind fired at something and seconds later a hen shoveler came flying over the nearby trees, well within range, but I wasn’t ready and she flew out of range before I could shoulder my gun.

Although there wasn’t much action, the scenery, as well as the afore mentioned wildlife, was a pleasure to behold. Mount San Jacinto was snowcapped and dark clouds in the area seemed to promise more of the white stuff to come.

And, speaking of rain, it really started to cloud up about an hour before quitting time.  I even felt a couple drops of rain but it never did open up and the clouds started to clear.

The clouds did hang in enough to make for a signature San Jacinto sunset, which, like I always say, was worth the price of admission, at least in my opinion.

So not much “action” today, duck wise, but it was still nice to be out in the marsh seeing the wildlife and the scenery.

As the sun set behind the hills I picked up my gear and decoys and headed for home.  Hopefully, we’ll get some weather up north and we’ll get an influx of migrant birds and hunting will improve.  In any case I’ll be back soon to give it another try.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 12/4/13

The per hunter average take of ducks at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Wednesday dropped again slightly from Saturday’s average resulting in a new season low average.  Once again Shovelers were number one for number of birds taken with Gadwalls holding on to the number two spot on Wednesday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Wednesday, 12/4/13 were as follows:

138 adult and 3 junior hunters bagged 47 Northern Shovelers, 4 Mallards, 23 Gadwall, 13 Widgeon, 10 Pintail, 8 Green Wing Teal, 16 Cinnamon Teal, 5 Redheads, 1 Canvasback, 17 Ring Necks, 3 Scaup, 3 Bufflehead, and 6 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no geese harvested at San Jacinto on Wednesday.  18 coots were also bagged on Wednesday.  This averaged out to 1.23 waterfowl per hunter. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 32 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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.

Let’s Keep it Clean Out There!

During the hunting season we all get into the hunting, the shooting, the scenery and the entire experience of waterfowling in the marsh.  There is nothing like it and, for someone like me (and most of the duck hunters I know) its a cathartic experience every time we see the birds work the decoys or the sun rise or set over one of our favorite refuge or wildlife area ponds.

Despite all the expense, the sacrifice of sleep and the sometimes physically uncomfortable conditions there is nowhere we would rather be during the season.  I sometimes bemoan the fact that we can only hunt the refuges and wildlife areas two or three days out of the week, depending on the refuge or wildlife area.  Of course, in reality I realize this is because if we shot them every day the ducks probably wouldn’t use them but being able to hunt every day would be nice (in my dreams).

Our refuges and wildlife areas are a great resource and must be protected especially here in Southern California.  We, in fact, only have two state refuges / wildlife areas where we can hunt ducks, San Jacinto and Wister.  We do sort of have a third area, Baldwin Lake, however that can only be hunted during very wet years and there hasn’t been any water in Baldwin Lake for several years.  Also, with today’s climate of environmental impact reports, public comment periods, master plan reviews, lawsuits and probably a few other layers of bureaucracy and red tape I don’t even know about it would take a near act of God to open another refuge.  Even if the DFW were suddenly gifted with 20,000 acres to develop into a new refuge it would probably take millions of dollars and at least 10 years, if ever, to open a new refuge, especially one opened to hunting.

So, what can we hunters do to ensure we’ll always have our two Southern California duck hunting areas to enjoy?  Two things:

First, keep it clean!  And, when I say “keep it clean” I don’t mean watch your language.  What I mean is pick up your trash!  Take a trash bag out to the blind and police up the area of your blind.  Pick up every bit of trash you can find, every wrapper, water bottle, soda can and empty shotgun shell you can find.  And I don’t mean just the stuff you brought out to the blind.  Pick up EVERYTHING you can find.  If the previous hunting party that had your blind were a bunch of slobs pick up their trash and empty shells too.  I use the word slob because I don’t know any other name to use to describe “hunters” like that – and I use the name “hunters” in quotes because in my opinion they aren’t really hunters if this is how they treat our hunting areas.  All it would take to loose our hunting privileges on our wildlife areas and refuges would be for some Sacramento or Washington D.C. big-wig to take a tour of one of the areas and see trash strewn all over, especially if it consists largely of expended shotgun shells.  After all, how could anyone deny that the hunting community was responsible for trashing one of these areas if empty shotgun shells are a large percentage of the trash?  After seeing such a display the political outsider would probably come to the conclusion that hunters don’t really care about the refuge and could start the process to have the area shut down to hunting.  Far fetched you say…well, pay your money, take your chances and is it worth that risk just to not have to carry out a couple pounds of trash?

The second thing we hunters can do is to keep it legal.  Be sure of your regulations regarding seasons, dates, species, limits, shell restrictions and so forth.  If an area starts to get a reputation for multiple violations, especially if it’s for hunters shooting protected species, it could lead to sever restrictions on our hunting access.

Please, these two things are very easy to do yet potentially so important to our access to our refuges and wildlife areas.  So, keep it clean and keep it legal.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 11/30/13

The average waterfowl take at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for this Saturday dropped more then half a bird per hunter from Wednesday’s average resulting in the lowest average for the season so far.  Once again Shovelers took the number one spot for birds taken with Gadwalls taking over the number two spot on Saturday. Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 11/30/13 were as follows:

146 adult and 11 junior hunters bagged 68 Northern Shovelers, 3 Mallards, 31 Gadwall, 22 Widgeon, 3 Pintail, 19 Green Wing Teal, 14 Cinnamon Teal, 9 Redheads, 5 Ring Necks, 12 Bufflehead, 1 Merganser, 1 Blue Wing Teal and 19 Ruddy Ducks.  No geese were taken at San Jacinto on Saturday.  9 coots were also included in the bag on Saturday.  The per hunter waterfowl average worked out to 1.38 birds. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 32 showed up on time.

San Jacinto is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays and Saturdays only. You can put in for reservations on-line through the DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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 DFW 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.  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.