The end of the 2018/2019 season at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area revealed the following stats for the number of birds taken and the hunter averages.
4603 adult and 318 junior hunters (4921 hunters total) checked in a total of 1182 Northern Shovelers, 493 Mallards, 885 Gadwall, 997 Widgeon, 1940 Pintail, 2449 Green Wing Teal, 1405 Cinnamon Teal, 317 Redheads, 16 Canvasbacks, 159 Ring Necks, 23 Scaup, 174 Bufflehead, 22 Goldeneyes, 3 Wood Ducks, 120 Blue Wing Teal, 6 Mergansers, 4 Surf Scooters, and 225 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were 5 Canada Geese, 8 Ross’ Geese, 152 Snow Geese, and 17 White Front Geese bagged at Wister this season. 141 Coots were checked in for the 2018/2019 season. This worked out to a total of 10602 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots added in, 10743 waterfowl. The per hunter average take for 2018/2019 figured out to 2.15 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots included, 2.18 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 373 fewer adult hunters this season over last and there were 93 fewer junior hunters for a total of 466 fewer hunters accommodated in 2018/2019 season compared to the 2017/2018 season. (This includes the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt weekend). 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 +781 Northern Shovelers, +48 Mallards, -41 Gadwall, -20 Widgeon, +711 Pintail, +828 Green Wing Teal, -20 Cinnamon Teal, +217 Redheads, -6 Canvasbacks, +24 Ring Necks, -2 Scaup, +29 Bufflehead, +18 Goldeneyes, -3 Wood Ducks, +87 Blue Wing Teal, -7 Mergansers, -1 Whistling Duck (0 this season), +3 Surf Scooters, -1 Black Duck (0 this season), and +85 Ruddy Ducks.
As for the Geese numbers, there were +5 Canada Geese, +2 Ross’ Geese, -1054 Snow Geese and +15 White Front Geese.
There was also -28 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of +1696 Ducks and Geese taken and, with the Coots included, +1668 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were +0.50 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, +0.50 waterfowl this season over last season.
So, this season shows an increase in most of the species, with the take of most ducks up, some substantially, however, the Snow Goose take was way down this season, down 88% from last season. Also, the stats show slightly fewer hunters this season compared to last. Hopefully, we’ll get some weather up north early next season to drive the birds south. So, this season overall was pretty good in Southern California. Hopefully, we’ll have a large breeding population this year and more birds migrating down next season. Hope to see you out there next season.
SoCalHunt 