The waterfowl harvest average at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, as is usual for a Sunday, nosedived compared to the average from Saturday. Snow Geese remained in the first position for number of birds bagged with Shovelers taking over the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Sunday, 11/15/20 were as follows:
84 adult and 7 junior hunters harvested 9 Northern Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, 4 Widgeon, 6 Pintail, 8 Green Wing Teal, 8 Cinnamon Teal, 2 Canvasbacks, 1 Ring Neck, 1 Bufflehead, and 7 Ruddy Ducks. Also, 22 Snow Geese were checked in at Wister on Sunday. There were no Coots taken at Wister on Sunday. This worked out to a harvest average of 0.55 ducks per hunter or, with the Geese included, 0.79 waterfowl per person. Out of 104 reservation cards issued 24 hunters showed up in time to get their hunting spot.
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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