Once again the waterfowl take for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Wednesday rebounded a bit compared to Sunday’s usual low numbers. Green Wing Teal kept the first position regarding number of birds taken with Shovelers staying in the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Wednesday, 1/6/16 were as follows:
70 adult hunters and 1 junior hunter bagged 40 Northern Shovelers, 4 Cinnamon Teal, 6 Gadwall, 11 Widgeon, 44 Green Wing Teal, 1 Mallard, 20 Pintail, 2 Ring Necks, 1 Blue Wing Teal and 1 Ruddy Duck. There were also 32 Snow Geese brought in at Wister on Wednesday. No Coots were checked in on Wednesday. This came out to an average take of 1.83 ducks per gun or, with the Geese included in, 2.28 waterfowl for each person. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 22 arrived on time for their spot.
Saturday’s per hunter waterfowl average for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area dropped slightly from Wednesday’s numbers. Shovelers took over first place for number of ducks checked in and Green Wing Teal slid back to the second position. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Saturday, 1/9/16 were as follows:
156 adult and 3 junior hunters bagged 97 Northern Shovelers, 7 Cinnamon Teal, 30 Gadwall, 16 Widgeon, 61 Green Wing Teal, 34 Pintail, 2 Redheads, 1 Ring Neck, 8 Bufflehead, 1 Blue Wing Teal and 5 Ruddy Ducks. In addition 31 Snow Geese were bagged at Wister on Saturday. No Coots were reported at Wister on Saturday. This worked out to an average of 1.65 ducks per hunter or, with the Geese figured in, 1.84 waterfowl for each gun. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 34 checked in on time for their spot.
Sunday’s average take of waterfowl for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, as expected, went down as compared to Saturday’s numbers. Shovelers again held on to the first spot for number of birds checked in with Ruddy Ducks taking over second place. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 1/10/16 were as follows:
68 adult hunters and 3 junior hunters bagged 17 Northern Shovelers, 7 Cinnamon Teal, 4 Gadwalls, 1 Widgeon, 2 Mallards, 7 Pintail, 5 Green Wing Teal and 9 Ruddy Ducks. 7 Snow Geese were also added to the take at Wister on Sunday. 1 Coot was bagged at Wister on Sunday. This figured out to an average of 0.73 ducks per gun or, with the Geese and Coot added in, 0.85 waterfowl per hunter. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 21 arrived on time for their spot.
Wister is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays 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 the night before at 10:30 pm, with sign-up for the drawing between 7:30 and 10:30 pm. 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 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 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 this season. 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 Wister Staff at 760-359-0577.
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