The waterfowl take for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for the 2017/18 season opener was outstanding with many limits checked in. Teal were way out front for the most numerous duck checked in. Cinnamon Teal took the lead for number of birds bagged with Green Wing Teal coming in at second place. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Saturday, 10/21/17 were as follows:
305 adult and 0 junior hunters bagged 4 Northern Shovelers, 715 Cinnamon Teal, 55 Gadwall, 38 Widgeon, 670 Green Wing Teal, 182 Mallards, 131 Pintail, 8 Redheads, 1 Canvasback, 7 Ring Necks, 2 Blue Wing Teal, 1 Bufflehead, 1 Black Duck, and 3 Ruddy Ducks. There were no Geese harvested at Wister on Saturday. In addition, 15 Coots were bagged on Saturday. This resulted in an average bag of 5.96 ducks per hunter or, with the Coots figured in, a 6.01 waterfowl average for each hunter. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 72 showed up on time for their spot.
The waterfowl take for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area for Sunday, as is usually the case, tapered off considerably from Saturday’s season opener’s excellent numbers. The top two species from Saturday swapped places putting Green Wing Teal in first place for number of birds bagged with Cinnamon Teal dropping back into the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 10/22/17 were as follows:
218 adult and 20 junior hunters bagged 4 Northern Shovelers, 63 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Gadwall, 9 Widgeon, 88 Green Wing Teal, 15 Mallards, 16 Pintail, 6 Redheads, 2 Ring Necks, 2 Blue Wing Teal, and 15 Ruddy Ducks. Again, no Geese were bagged at Wister on Sunday. There were also 21 coots included in the total on Sunday. This resulted in a per hunter average of 0.93 ducks and, with the coots included, 1.02 waterfowl per gun. Out of 100 reservation cards issued 51 hunting parties arrived on time to claim their spots.
Wister is open for waterfowl hunting on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays only. You can put in for reservations online 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 website 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 online 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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