The conclusion of the 2021/2022 waterfowl season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area showed some interesting stats for the number of birds harvested and the per hunter averages.
4282 adult and 303 junior hunters (4585 hunters total) harvested a total of 2833 Northern Shovelers, 255 Mallards, 735 Gadwall, 436 Widgeon, 306 Pintail, 2338 Green Wing Teal, 387 Cinnamon Teal, 41 Redheads, 31 Canvasbacks, 239 Ring Necks, 17 Scaup, 291 Bufflehead, 35 Goldeneye, 0 Wood Ducks, 4 Blue Wing Teal, 17 Mergansers, and 308 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were also 2 Aleutian Geese, 2 Cackling Geese, 8 Canada Geese, 1 Ross’ Goose, 12 Snow Geese, and 1 White Front Goose taken at San Jacinto this season. 303 Coots were also checked in for the 2021/2022 season at SJ. This figured out to a total of 8299 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, 8602 waterfowl taken for the season. The per gun average take for 2021/2022 season came out to 1.81 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots added in, 1.88 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 520 fewer adult hunters this season over last and there were 79 fewer junior hunters for a total of 599 fewer hunters accommodated in 2021/2022 season compared to the 2020/2021 season. (This includes the Junior Hunters from the Junior Hunt and the Veteran/Active Duty Military personnel for the special military post-season hunt). As for the birds, I’ll list them with a plus by the number or a minus by the number to indicate how many more or less of each type of bird was bagged this season over last.
There were +1285 Northern Shovelers, -208 Mallards, -182 Gadwall, +234 Widgeon, -79 Pintail, +686 Green Wing Teal, -924 Cinnamon Teal, -142 Redheads, -7 Canvasbacks, +79 Ring Necks, -12 Scaup, -10 Bufflehead, +25 Goldeneye, -11 Wood Ducks (0 this season), +4 Blue Wing Teal (0 last season), +8 Mergansers, and -181 Ruddy Ducks.
For the Geese numbers there were +2 Aleutian Geese (0 last season), +2 Cackling Geese (0 last Season), +6 Canada Geese, +1 Ross’ Geese (0 last season), Snow Geese no change (12 this season, 12 last season), and -1 White Front Geese.
There were also -453 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of +573 Ducks and Geese taken compared to last season and, with the Coots included, +120 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were +0.32 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, +0.24 waterfowl this season over last season.
In contrast to last season, these numbers show overall an upward trend in general although some species’ take was up and others were down over last season. There were also fewer hunters this season than last and also fewer Junior Hunters which resulted in an increase in the per hunter average take with fewer hunters taking more birds. Hopefully, we’ll get some good rains between now and the end of our rainy season to start refilling the little that is left of Mystic Lake and we’ll get some well-timed weather up north early next season to send the birds down to us. We can also optimistically hope there will be a great spring hatch up north and the numbers will rise for the 2021/2022 season.
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