Blind Clean Up Set for February 28th CANCELED!!

Due to rain prediction this weekend the blind clean up scheduled for this Saturday February 28th has been canceled. It is rescheduled for March 21st. Mark your calendars! Thanks All!

San Jacinto Wildlife Area Blind Clean up Day Set for February 28th, 2015

San Jacinto Wildlife Area Staff would like to invite hunters to participate in a Volunteer Clean Up Day of the Wildlife Area on Saturday, February 28th, 2013. Volunteers are to assemble at 6:30 am at the Wildlife Area Headquarters office on Davis Road.

Work will be assigned at the start of the morning. The local Boy Scouts will also be out on Saturday to set up some new raptor poles for their Eagle Project on the wildlife area. Afterwards we will meet at noon at Casa Mexicana Restaurant for a well-deserved lunch. (Everyone responsible for their own check).

Please be prepared for the following:

Trash removal from hunt sites
General clean up of hunt areas
Bring work gloves, sturdy boots, mud boots, covered shoes, Waders (if available – some ponds still are holding water.)

Be sure to bring plenty of bottled water as it may be hot. Also, you might want to bring some mosquito repellant.

Direction to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area

From the 215 South freeway,

-Exit Ramona Expressway going east towards Lake Perris, go 7 miles to Davis road, turn left and go up Davis road 2 miles to the Wildlife Headquarters office.

From the 79

-Exit Ramona Expressway going west towards Lake Perris, go to Davis road, turn right and go up Davis road 2 miles to the Wildlife Headquarters office.

Questions? Contact Tom Trakes (951) 236-3040.

2014 / 2015 Season Sunrise / Sunset Recap (Plus Some Clouds)

As is SoCalHunt’s tradition every year, we post an article, with photographs, of the sunrises and sunset we’ve enjoyed in the hunting season just ended. As always here’s the sunrises and sunsets for the season just past, along with a bonus this year. This year I’m posting some impressive pictures of the changing cloud conditions we experienced this past season. Some of the days were exceptional, in my opinion anyway. I hope you agree. Some days the cloud conditions changed almost minute to minute and you might think that several pictures were taken on different days when, in reality, they were taken just minutes apart. In fact, some of the cloud conditions during the middle of the day even rivaled some of the sunrises and sunsets as the most beautiful times of day while hunting at San Jacinto Wildlife Area this year. I’m sure many of you that have hunted San Jacinto this past season will agree with me that the sunrises and sunsets were, in general, spectacular, along with the awesome cloud conditions this year. Below, in order of appearance, are the sunrises and sunsets, along with some cloud condition photos, on the days we hunted San Jacinto this year.
Presented for your enjoyment:

(Click on the image for a full sized picture)

10/29/14 Sunset

11/5/14 Sunrise

11/12/14 Sunset (and some clouds)

11/19/14 Sunset (and a lot of clouds)

12/3/14 Sunrise (sort of – it was raining) (and some clouds)

12/24/14 Just some cloud pictures on this one. Had to leave early due to Christmas Eve obligations.

12/31/14 Sunset (and some clouds)

1/7/15 Sunset (and lots of clouds)

1/14/15 Sunset

San Jacinto Wildlife Area 2014 / 2015 Season Long Stats

The conclusion of the 2014 / 2015 season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area revealed some notable stats for the number of birds taken and the hunter averages.

4020 adult and 339 junior hunters (4359 hunters total) harvested a total of 2358 Northern Shovelers, 180 Mallards, 826 Gadwall, 627 Widgeon, 200 Pintail, 2338 Green Wing Teal, 553 Cinnamon Teal, 169 Redheads, 18 Canvasbacks, 276 Ring Necks, 69 Scaup, 246 Bufflehead, 6 Goldeneye, 6 Wood Ducks, 5 Fulvous Whistling Ducks, 5 Blue Wing Teal, 8 Mergansers, and 343 Ruddy Ducks. In addition there were 4 Canada Geese, 1 Ross’ Goose and 2 Snow Geese bagged on the refuge this season. 351 Coots were also included in the count for the 2014 / 2015 season. This worked out to a total of 8233 ducks or, with the geese and coots added in 8951 waterfowl. The per gun average take for 2014 / 2015 worked out to 1.89 ducks per hunter or, with the geese and coots, 1.97 waterfowl per hunter.

In comparison to last season there were 58 more adult hunters this season over last and there were 88 more junior hunters for a total of 146 more hunters accommodated in 2014 / 2015 compared to the 2013 / 2014 season. (This included the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt this year which I didn’t include in last years season long report. There were 85 Juniors at the Junior hunt this year). 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 -900 Northern Shovelers, -48 Mallards, +89 Gadwall, +100 Widgeon, -66 Pintail, +399 Green Wing Teal, -205 Cinnamon Teal, -121 Redheads, -9 Canvasbacks, -18 Ring Necks, +6 Scaup, +49 Bufflehead, +5 Goldeneye, -17 Wood Ducks, +5 Fulvous Whistling Ducks, -5 Blue Wing Teal, +6 Mergansers, and -116 Ruddy Ducks.

On the goose side of the ledger there were -4 Aleutian Geese (0 this season), +4 Canada Geese, +2 Snow Geese, and -1 Ross’s Goose.

In addition, there were -53 coots taken. This was a total of -854 ducks bagged and, with the geese and coots included, -911 waterfowl taken this season over last season. The average was -0.26 ducks per hunter or, with the geese and coots included, -0.29 waterfowl per hunter this season over last season.

I hope this gives you a good idea of how the season went. In general hunter numbers were up, but birds bagged where down and the per gun average was down over last year’s average.

And, as I always sign this report off, its “only” 255 days, 4 hours, 21 minutes, and 30 seconds until the start of the 2015 / 2016 waterfowl season…only…