The waterfowl average bag at the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area stayed almost the same as Sunday’s usual poor average. Pintail climbed into first place for most numerous bird taken with Gadwall found in the second spot. The Wister Staff reported that the results for Wednesday, 11/25/20 were as follows:
123 adult and 6 junior hunters took 21 Northern Shoveler, 7 Mallards, 24 Gadwall, 3 Widgeon, 34 Pintail, 21 Green Wing Teal, 15 Cinnamon Teal, 1 Redhead, 1 Canvasback, 6 Ring Necks, 1 Scaup, 8 Bufflehead, 1 Blue Wing Teal, 1 Hooded Merganser, and 1 Ruddy Duck. In addition, a lone Snow Goose was checked in at Wister on Wednesday. There was also a single Coot bagged at Wister on Wednesday. This worked out to an average per hunter bag of 1.12 ducks or, with the Goose and Coot included, 1.14 waterfowl per person. Out of the 104 reservation cards DFW issued 23 hunters showed up in time to get their 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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