Hunt Results for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 10/26/16, Saturday – 10/29/16 and Sunday – 10/30/16

The numbers of waterfowl taken on the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Wednesday dropped off quite a bit more from last Sunday’s averages. Green Wing Teal held on to first place for number of ducks taken with Widgeon taking over second place.   The Wister Staff reported that the results for Wednesday, 10/26/16 were as follows:

106 adult and 5 junior hunters bagged 2 Northern Shovelers, 39 Cinnamon Teal, 10 Gadwall, 40 Widgeon, 47 Green Wing Teal, 13 Mallards, 29 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 3 Ring Necks and 2 Ruddy Ducks.  In addition there was a lone White Front Goose bagged at Wister on Wednesday.  No Coots were reported checked in on Wednesday.  This resulted in an average take of 1.69 ducks per hunter or, with the Goose included, 1.70 waterfowl for each gun. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 30 showed up on time for their spot.

The waterfowl count for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Saturday continued downward from Wednesday’s numbers. Green Wing Teal kept first place for number of birds taken with Cinnamon Teal sliding into the second position.   The Wister Staff reported that the results for Saturday, 10/29/16 were as follows:

145 adult and 23 junior hunters bagged 3 Northern Shovelers, 29 Cinnamon Teal, 12 Gadwall, 19 Widgeon, 41 Green Wing Teal, 7 Mallards, 4 Pintail, 6 Redheads, 1 Ring Neck, and 18 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no Geese or Coots checked in at Wister on Saturday. This worked out to a per hunter average of 0.83 ducks and, of course, with no Geese or Coots to include, 0.83 waterfowl per hunter. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 39 hunters showed up on time to claim their reservation.

The waterfowl bag numbers for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Sunday plummeted from Saturday’s already low numbers into dismal territory. Green Wing Teal kept first place for number of ducks bagged with Pintails taking over second place.   The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 10/30/16 were as follows:

59 adult hunters and 2 junior hunters bagged 2 Gadwall, 2 Widgeon, 5 Green Wing Teal, 1 Mallard, 3 Pintails 1 Redhead and 1 Ruddy Duck.  Once again no Geese were shot at Wister on Sunday. Also there were no Coots brought in to the check station on Sunday.  This worked out to a 0.25 duck per hunter average and, of course with no Geese or Coots to include, 0.25 waterfowl per hunter. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 18 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.

 

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 10/29/16

The duck numbers for San Jacinto Wildlife Area took a nosedive from Wednesday’s fair totals under warm temperatures and broken clouds. Green Wing Teal remained in first place for the number of birds taken with Ruddy Ducks sliding into second place.  Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 10/29/16 were as follows:

152 adult and 14 junior hunters bagged 19 Northern Shovelers, 15 Cinnamon Teal, 5 Gadwall, 12 Widgeon, 57 Green Wing Teal, 2 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 12 Ring Necks, 1 Blue Wing Teal, 3 Bufflehead and 35 Ruddy Ducks. No Geese  were checked in at San Jacinto on Saturday. 33 coots were also bagged on Saturday.  This resulted in an average harvest of 0.99 ducks per hunter or 1.19 waterfowl with the coots added in. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 33 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 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 arrival 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 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.  As in past seasons 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 San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

 

SoCalHunt San Jacinto Hunting Report 10/26/16

SoCalHunt was back at San Jacinto Wildlife Area for the second day of hunting from the 2016/17 season.  Once again we’d had some luck and one of my hunting partners had a pretty fair reservation drawing for the first Wednesday of the season!  (For clarification below I’ll call this hunting partner “A” and my other hunting partner “B” today).

Once again my other hunting partner “B” couldn’t get out of work but, since he works close to SJ, he decided to join us anyway and see if he could get a crack at the ducks before he had to leave at 7 am.

Once we got up to the check station desk we picked our blind and then headed out to get ready for the morning flight of ducks.  We set up our blind and set our decoys and then set back to wait for another great day of duck hunting.

There was a light ground fog this morning and it seemed to thicken and then thin off and on as the glow of the sun began to show the sky behind Mount San Jacinto.  As the sunlight grew it revealed to us one of the more spectacular sunrises we have had then privilege to experience at San Jacinto.  The sunrise was truly magnificent today.

 

 

 

 

 

As 6:33 rolled around the start time horn blew indicating to all hunters on the wildlife that it was legal shoot time.  Again the assembled hunters immediately began targeting their winged prey.  Once again we had a few duck come within range almost right away and again missed a couple of the first few.  There were less coots in this area and it was easier to pick out the ducks then on opening day when the coots were thick as fleas.

Not long after start time a cinnamon teal rocketed by and partner “A” folded the little rocket which dropped right at the end of the walkway to our blind.  The little drake was placed on the duck strap to start our day.

A couple more birds passed by with our shot strings passing them to the right, left or rear (in other words we missed them).  Shortly a nice drake shoveler came in right above our blind.  Myself and partner “B” fired at the bird yet it kept going.  Partner “A” then took a final shot at the bird and it dropped way out into the pond.  As it hit the water it started to swim but, as luck would have it, it decided to swim right towards our blind and partner “A” finished it with a shot on the water when it got close enough.

At this point partner “B”s time was up and he packed his gear and headed off to work.  No ducks for him this time but the season is young, he’ll have more chances.

Birds continued to fly in our area, however many of them flew by out of range.  A shoveler hen then appeared over our blind and, as I had made a habit of today, I missed and partner “A” nailed it.  In short succession we duplicated this event with a little hen cinnamon teal.  The bird count was now 4 for partner “A” and zippo for me.

Things began to slow as the sun rose higher in the sky and about 10 am the flights of ducks almost completely stopped and we decided to call it a day.

 

So we picked up our decoys, packed our gear, cleaned up around the blind and walked out towards our truck.  4 ducks in the bag for partner “A” and a goose…egg for me.  Oh well, the sunrise was well worth the price of admission today.  There will be more days this season for me to improve my shooting and (hopefully) collect a few tasty waterfowl.

Today, as far as hunting went, it just wasn’t my day, at least for collecting any ducks for the table.  It’s always nice to bring some home though and that will be my goal for the next trip.  Hope to see you out at San Jacinto some time.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Wednesday – 10/26/16

The bird count for San Jacinto Wildlife Area dropped from the relatively good numbers from opening day under slightly cooler, but still pretty warm, calm conditions. Green Wing Teal captured first place for the number of birds taken today with Cinnamon Teal retaining second place.  Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Wednesday, 10/26/16 were as follows:

153 adult and 6 junior hunters bagged 59 Northern Shovelers, 77 Cinnamon Teal, 14 Gadwall, 33 Widgeon, 84 Green Wing Teal, 10 Mallards, 2 Pintail, 20 Redheads, 24 Ring Necks, 1 Scaup (oops!), 1 Wood Ducks and 29 Ruddy Ducks.  There were also 2 unspecified type ducks reflected in the count.  A lone Cackling Goose was harvested at San Jacinto today. In addition there were 44 coots bagged on Wednesday.  This resulted in an average harvest of 2.24 ducks per gun or 2.52 waterfowl with the goose and coots included. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 39 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 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 arrival 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 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.  As in past seasons 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 San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

 

Hunt Results for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, Sunday – 10/23/16 – (Plus a Correction for Saturday’s Info)

The waterfowl take for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Sunday dropped off considerably from Saturday’s season opener’s excellent totals. Green Wing Teal retained first place for number of birds bagged with Cinnamon Teal keeping in the second spot.   The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 10/23/16 were as follows:

176 adult and 22 junior hunters bagged 11 Northern Shovelers, 56 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Gadwall, 6 Widgeon, 127 Green Wing Teal, 4 Mallards, 22 Pintail, 3 Redheads, 4 Ring Necks, 1 Blue Wing Teal and 3 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no Geese bagged at Wister on Sunday.  There were also 17 coots included in the total on Sunday.  This resulted in a per hunter average of 1.21 ducks and, with the coots included, 1.29 waterfowl. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 43 hunting parties arrived on time to claim their spots.

CORRECTION FOR SATURDAY’S COUNT –

Probably due to the same “glitch” that delayed the Sunday bird count numbers there was a correction in Saturday’s bird totals.  On Saturday there were also 9 White Front Geese taken that day.  This resulted in the per gun average for Saturday remaining at 5.62 ducks per hunter but changed the overall waterfowl  average per hunter to 5.70 with the Geese and Coots included.

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.

Hunt Results for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, Saturday – 10/22/16

The waterfowl take for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for opening day was outstanding as many hunters harvested limits, with teal, by far, being the most numerous duck bagged. Green Wing Teal were far out in the lead for number of birds taken with Cinnamon Teal taking second place.   The Wister Staff reported that the results for Saturday, 10/22/16 were as follows:

326 adult and 47 junior hunters bagged 90 Northern Shovelers, 630 Cinnamon Teal, 55 Gadwall, 45 Widgeon, 767 Green Wing Teal, 230 Mallards, 215 Pintail, 27 Redheads, 13 Ring Necks, 15 Blue Wing Teal and 10 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no Geese bagged at Wister on Saturday.  In addition, 21 coots were taken on Saturday.  This resulted in an average harvest of 5.62 ducks per hunter or, with the coots included, 5.68 waterfowl for each hunter. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 72 showed up on time for their spot.

As of this posting I have not received the waterfowl count for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Sunday.  It usually comes along with the Saturday bird count but form some reason, probably a computer glitch (?) the only thing that showed for Sunday was the number of hunters but no waterfowl take was listed.  I’ll report Sunday’s results when I receive them in a separate post.

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.

Hunt Results for San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Saturday – 10/22/16

San Jacinto Wildlife Area hunters experienced a great waterfowl opener with a high bird take average for opening day under hot, clear and calm skies. Shovelers were the number one bird bagged today and Cinnamon Teal took second place on this opener.  Tom Trakes, from San Jacinto Wildlife Area, reported that the results for Saturday, 10/23/16 were as follows:

197 adult and 34 junior hunters bagged 262 Northern Shovelers, 205 Cinnamon Teal, 24 Gadwall, 29 Widgeon, 174 Green Wing Teal, 2 Blue Wing Teal, 35 Mallards, 7 Pintail, 10 Redhead, 55 Ring Necks, 1 Bufflehead, 3 Wood Ducks and 23 Ruddy Ducks.  There were no geese taken on the wildlife area Saturday.  There were also 52 coots checked in on Saturday.  This resulted in an average harvest of 3.59 ducks for each hunter or 3.82 waterfowl with the coots included. Tom advised that out of 52 reservation cards 46 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 arrival 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 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.  As in past seasons 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 San Jacinto at 951-928-0580.

SoCalHunt San Jacinto Hunting Report 10/22/16

SoCalHunt hit some luck for the waterfowl opener this season.  A pretty fair reservation drawing for opening day!  So, today, both my usual hunting partners and I were to be found at 0300 waiting, with baited breath, in the reservation line with a DFW reservation letter in hand.

One of my partners couldn’t get out of work, but fortunately works not far from San Jacinto, so he was there to give it a shot (hopefully a few more then “a” shot) at the ducks before he had to leave at 7 am.

When our turn came at the check station we picked a blind that we though would be “the spot” and then headed out to set up and get ready to start another great waterfowl season at SJ.  Because the change to standard time hasn’t happen yet there was plenty of time to get out to the blind and set things up for what we hoped would be a great day of waterfowling.

After we finished setting up the blind and placing the decoys we had about an hour to set back and enjoy the sights and sounds of the marsh waking up for the day.  As the sun began to lighten the sky in the east, just behind Mount San Jacinto, the few light wispy clouds behind the Bernasconi Hills to the west were tinged in a light pink color.

At precisely 6:26 am the start time horn blew signaling the assembled hunters on the wildlife area that the 2016/17 waterfowl season had begun!  Immediately the sound of multiple shotguns firing at their webfooted targets echoed across the marsh.  We had a few duck come within range almost right away and missed a couple of the first few but then my hunting partner who had to get to work scored on a nice cinnamon teal.

There were many birds flying but the majority, at least in our area, seemed to be coots and we had to use caution to pick them out before we fired on them instead of the ducks.  Not long after the teal splashed down my other partner nailed a nice mallard drake swinging in towards the decoys.  The bird appeared to be a yearling as he didn’t have the full bright green head of that fully feathered adult drake mallards.

Not long after this a hen shoveler came in range directly above the blind.  I was able to start my season’s harvest by dropping her as she pulled up to attempt to gain altitude.

A hen mallard came swinging into the decoys soon after and I believe all three of us fired at this bird.  She went down but was swimming away from us as soon as the splash from her fall subsided.  My other partner quickly headed her off as she was attempting to climb out of the pond and she was added to our strap.

Of course, since none of us are perfect shots these successes were interspaced with occasional misses on ducks as they buzzed the pond we occupied and several “false alarms” as coots continued to buzz our blind from many directions. Time was running out for my partner that had to get to work and just before he had to call it a day a hen cinnamon teal rocketed by and he was able to connect with speedy little bird.  Unfortunately he was now out of time and he collected his brace of teal, wished us good luck and headed out to begin his work day.  (sorry I didn’t get any pictures of his birds.  I didn’t think about it at the time)

Not long after he left a low flying duck came straight in towards the blind.  I was able to connect and the duck crashed to the ground just a few feet in front of our blind.  The best kind of retrieve!  No wading involved and a hen ring neck was added to the strap.

As the sun rose higher in the sky things started to slow somewhat and the dead still sky reflected brightly in the mirror like surface of the pond.

After a few minutes of inactivity I caught sight of a little teal headed in towards the blind. As she passed I folded her and she splashed down several yards out in the pond.  After collecting the little green wing hen it was almost as if someone had flipped a switch and the wildlife area grew quiet.  As is always the case at San Jacinto there were other visitors near our blind and we enjoyed seeing them as well as the ducks we’d see earlier.  A pair of black Phoebes seemed to take a special liking to our blind and hung around pretty close for a while.

We stuck it out for a while longer but we saw very few ducks flying after that and none of those came within range of our shotguns.  An occasional shot or two were heard around the wildlife area but nothing as consistent as the first hour or so of the day.  About 10 am it was getting fairly hot and we decided to call it a day.  We picked up our decoys and gear and headed out to our truck to make our way home.

So the 2016/17 waterfowl season opener is in the books.  We ended up with 7 birds between the three of us, which isn’t fantastic but it’s pretty good.

No matter how many ducks come home on the strap its always great to get out on the wildlife area and enjoy a morning of duck hunting and take in the sights and sounds of the marsh.  I know there were many hunters that did well today and the coming hunt days will, hopefully, be productive for the hunters trying their luck and duck hunting skills at San Jacinto.  Hope to see you out there some time this season.

The Shell Stick

As you probably know, if you’ve read some of the past posts here on the SoCalHunt Blog, one of my pet peeves is litter in and around the blinds and hunting area.  One of the biggest sources of this litter is the obvious byproduct of waterfowl hunting with a shotgun, especially a pump or auto-loader, empty shell casings.

Almost without exception (unfortunately) just about any blind I’ve occupied in the past several season after opening day has had some degree of empty shell litter.  In fact, it is such a rarity to get a completely clean blind that I will usually mention that the blind was clean upon my arrival in my hunting reports here on SoCalHunt.  As a consequence of the operation of the pump or auto-loading shotguns most waterfowlers use, empty shells get thrown all around inside and outside the blind.  The multi colored plastic of the different brands of shells and their shiny “brass” bases lend unwanted decoration to the hunting site.  (I put “brass” in quotes for a reason, I’ll explain later)  Now I can understand not picking up every single shell ejected by your gun.   It’s almost impossible to locate every one.  Some land in brush or bushes, some hit the water and float away before the hunter has a chance to gather them up and some get stepped on and driven into the mud before they’re seen so I’m not ranting against the hunter that might leave two or three random shells around a blind.  It’s the 20, 30 or 40 random shells strewn about that tick me off.

I always carry a couple of plastic grocery bags out to the blind with me to dispose of my trash and I always make it a point to clean up any other litter I find, including the masses of empty shells found all too often in and around the blind.  As the sands of time flow through the hourglass and my body, especially my back, ages, it has begun to become more difficult to bend over 20, 30 or 40 times to pick up someone else’s empty shell casings.  Yeah…I’m an old fart.  Anyway, I don’t want to stop picking up empties just because it makes my back a little sore.

The key to the solution to this is something that I discovered about most shotgun shells that some might not realize.  Shotgun shell “brass”, in most cases, isn’t brass.  Its plated steel.  I’m sure there’s exceptions but I have yet to find one that is actual brass.  Maybe if you found a real old shell it would have a real brass base but then it would probably be an illegal shell for waterfowl hunting as it would probably contain lead shot.

The reason this discovery is important for my solution is that steel is magnetic and brass isn’t.  Since almost all shotgun shell “brass” is plated steel it is magnetic.

So, here’s the solution…

 

 

I simply took an about 2 1/2 foot piece of broomstick and mounted a powerful “rare earth” magnet on the end of it.  I then wrapped some camo tape around the broomstick and, “Voila!”, a shell picker-upper.  Now I don’t have to bend over each time I have to pick up an empty shell.  The magnet is strong enough that I can sometimes pick up 4 or 5 shells at a time if they’re close together.

The magnet, which is the most important part of this devise, can be found at places like Lowe’s, Home Depot or Harbor Freight however most of these don’t have a hole for mounting them on a broom stick.  If you use this type you’d probably have to epoxy the magnet on the stick.  The one that I used for my shell stick I found on ebay.  Just search “rare earth magnet” on ebay and you should be able to find a few offers of round rare earth magnets with countersunk holes in them that are perfect for this use.   You can probably get a lot of 3 to 5 of them for around $6.

One more note on the magnet.  Be sure it’s a “rare earth” magnet as they have greater pulling power then a regular old magnet.  If you get a weak kid’s toy type magnet it probably will have problems holding the shells as you pick them up.

I hope this helps anybody who wants to keep things clean in the blind to make it easier for you and helps save your back.

This is a TEST – This is only a TEST

Ok, apparently there’s been a problem with my photos on my posts here.  What’s supposed to happen when you see a photo here on the SoCalHunt Blog you’re supposed to be able to click on the thumbnail in the post and get a full sized image to enjoy.  It came to my attention that whenever anyone would click on a photo thumbnail they’d get Error 404 – file not found.  With the help of the WordPress staff I believe we have the problem figured out so I’m going to post a couple thumbnails here to see if the fix works.  If  so (which it should) I’ll go back a few posts and fix those also.  Anyway, here’s a couple thumbnails as a TEST.

 

Sorry if you weren’t able to fully enjoy the photos before.  I’ll try to keep on top of this so it doesn’t happen again.

Third Volunteer Work Party at San Jacinto Wildlife Area Another Big Success

About 20 volunteers, mainly comprised of hunters that frequent San Jacinto Wildlife Area, gathered at the Check Station parking lot bright and early on Saturday, 10/8/16 at 0700.   This was the third and last pre-season volunteer work day to assist the staff in getting things “tuned up” and ready for the fast approaching 2016/17 duck season at San Jacinto.

I was in attendance for a change and looked forward to getting some work done as well as checking out the wildlife area.  As I approached SJ on Davis Road the sun was coming up and light clouds were coloring the sky.

Sunrise over Mt. San Jacinto

Ground fog coming up to the check station

 

A lot of things were taken care of on this work party.  The volunteers finished brushing up several blinds and did a lot of trimming of overgrowth in and around some of the blinds and their access trails and dikes.

Some of the Volunteers clearing some overgrowth from the access between “C” And “D” ponds.

The area looks great and the flooding of the wildlife area ponds is complete or nearing completion.  There are numerous ducks and some geese already using the wildlife area, plus some other critters that are always around SJ.

Lots of ducks over the ponds (sorry I had my wide angel lens on so they’re kind of small in this picture)

Nice flight of geese overhead

Some Cattle Egrets hunting up breakfast

Mr. Coyote looking for a snack

Sandpipers feeding

Ponds ready to go!

 

 

After the work party, some of the volunteers met at Casa Mexicana Restaurant for a well-deserved lunch break.

There was a pretty good turnout today, which as I said, included me for a change (about time), and much was taken care of to prepare for the season ahead.  This work is important to help San Jacinto Wildlife Area continue the quality hunting experience for the hunting public.

The next event at San Jacinto Wildlife Area is opening day of the waterfowl season on Saturday, 10/22/16. Hope to see you out there for the start of another great duck hunting season.

Tom and the entire San Jacinto staff appreciates the hunters who come out and volunteer to do this work and would like to extend their thanks to them.