The average take of waterfowl at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area rebounded quite a bit from Sunday’s usual low averages. Pintail slid into first place for number of birds checked in with Shovelers holding on to the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Wednesday, 11/18/20 were as follows:
95 adult and 2 junior hunters harvested 39 Northern Shoveler, 2 Mallards, 38 Gadwall, 19 Widgeon, 44 Pintail, 32 Green Wing Teal, 11 Cinnamon Teal, 3 Canvasbacks, 2 Ring Neck, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Blue Wing Teal, and 3 Ruddy Ducks. 22 Snow Geese were downed at Wister on Wednesday. There were 3 Coots bagged at Wister on Wednesday. This figured out to an average take of 2.01 ducks per person or, with the Geese and Coots figured into the total, 2.27 waterfowl per hunter. Out of 104 reservation cards issued 29 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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