The California Fish and Game Commission, during their April 14th meeting, adopted changes to the waterfowl season dates and regulations for the 2021/22 waterfowl season.
Regulations adopted for the Southern California Zone (which will cover San Jacinto Wildlife Area):
Seasons: Ducks and Geese: October 23, 2021 through January 31, 2022.
Special Youth Hunt Days: February 5 and February 6, 2022. (San Jacinto’s Annual Youth Hunt will be February 5th, 2022).
Special Veteran/Active Duty Military Hunt Days: February 12 and February 13, 2022 (San Jacinto’s Annual Vet/Active Duty Hunt will be February 12th, 2022)
Limits: Ducks: Daily bag limit: 7. Which may consist of 7 Mallards, of which only 2 can be female; 1 Pintail; 2 Canvasback; 2 Redheads; 2 Scaup. (Scaup may only be taken November 7th, 2021 through January 31st, 2022 – so again, be careful the first two weeks of the season this year).
Geese: Daily bag limit: 23 of which 20 may be White Geese and 3 may be Dark Geese.
Possession Limit Ducks and Geese: Triple the daily bag limit.
Black Brant (Although a “sea goose” I’ll add this because occasionally a few seem to show up at San Jacinto): November 9, 2021 – December 15, 2021. Daily bag limit: 2 per day. Possession limit triple the daily bag limit.
“Electronic” Spinning wing decoys (AKA – mojos) will be allowed from December 1st until the season ends (statewide) – non-motorized /wind-powered mojos are allowed all season. (NOTE – Again, as far as I could find this was not mentioned in the season regulation changes at the Commission meeting so I’m listing the dates based on last season’s regulations (assuming no changes). This has been December 1st for as long as I can remember but check with the official regulations once they are posted on the DFW web site when they come out, probably in a couple of months but still well before the season).
Once again we have an extended end date for the season, to January 31st. This season January 31st is on a Monday so the last actual hunt day at SJ will be January 29th. The Brant seasons will be increased from 27 days to 37 days. Not a real big concern for SJ hunters but there’s a very slim chance one will show up at SJ so it would behoove you to know what they look like. Other than that, most other regulations stayed pretty consistent with last season’s regulations.
So, there it is. The regulations are set, and Tom and the entire SJWA Crew are working hard to get San Jacinto Wildlife Area in tip top shape for the upcoming 2021/2022 waterfowl season. So far it looks like we won’t have any COVID-19 restrictions this year (fingers crossed – but who knows…this is California after all). The SJ Staff should be able to get a couple more clean up/brush up days scheduled soon to assist in getting things ready for the season. When the clean up/brush up work days get scheduled try to pitch in and help if you’re able – Info will be posted here on SoCalHunt when I receive it. Also, it looks like at least some of Mystic Lake is still going to be there which is usually a big help to enhance the hunt results at San Jacinto!
This above information is provided as a general guide only. Although they haven’t updated it to the newly adopted regulations yet when they do, probably in a month or two (still well before the season) please check the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website at:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Regulations
Now, as with every year, all we need is to get some weather up north at the right time, hopefully early in the season, to drive the birds down to us and we can all look forward to another great season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area.
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