The 2020/21 season opening waterfowl harvest average for the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area came in with great averages for opening day, three times what last year’s opener produced. For Saturday Green Wing Teal took first place for number of birds harvested with Cinnamon Teal holding the second place. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Saturday, 10/24/20 were as follows:
327 adult and 33 junior hunters bagged 16 Northern Shovelers, 45 Mallards, 22 Gadwall, 25 Widgeon, 117 Pintail, 625 Green Wing Teal, 408 Cinnamon Teal, 4 Redheads, 19 Ring Necks, 4 Buffleheads, 6 Blue Wing Teal, 2 Surf Scooters, and 4 Ruddy Duck. There were no Geese checked in at Wister on Saturday. In addition, 28 Coots were brought in on Saturday. This resulted in an average take of 3.60 ducks per gun or, with the Coots figured in, a 3.68 waterfowl average for each hunter. Out of 104 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, dropped off just a bit from Saturday’s great season opening numbers but were still good averages. Green Wing Teal were, once again, the most numerous bird taken with Cinnamon Teal holding on to the second position. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 10/25/20 were as follows:
152 adult and 4 junior hunters bagged 4 Northern Shoveler, 22 Mallards, 4 Gadwall, 7 Widgeon, 33 Pintail, 220 Green Wing Teal, 61 Cinnamon Teal, 7 Redhead, 6 Ring Necks, and 2 Ruddy Ducks. There were no Geese checked in at Wister on Sunday. There were also 14 coots included in the take on Sunday. This resulted in a per hunter average of 2.35 ducks and, with the Coots included, 2.44 waterfowl per person. Out of 104 reservation cards issued 36 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.
(Note* – As of this report it appears that Wister will be sending out their reports one time a week, sometimes after the Sunday hunt. If this is how the reports come out Wednesday’s, Saturday’s, and Sunday’s hunt results will be posted as soon as they are received, sometime between late Sunday night and Tuesday.)
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