Follow Up – Fish and Game Commission Takes No Action on Petition to Ban Hunting on Navigable Waterways in the Benicia, CA Area – So Far

The California Waterfowl Association reported that the Fish and Game Commission, during their April 21st meeting, basically took no action on the petition to ban hunting on the navigable waterways in the Benicia, CA Area. The Commission asked the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to report back to the Commission on the issue, likely at the Commission’s next meeting in mid-May.  You can check CWA’s report on this action by the Fish and Game Commission by clicking the below link…

https://calwaterfowl.org/news/benecia-waterfowl-hunting-ban?fbclid=IwAR08i1aidV406Qol6K3-vdjScblm5qz-phZHHlyct9029RnCKV8nj0n-Hco

So, this is still pending however with the unanimous rejection of the petition to ban bear hunting by the Commission and the fact that in the last 20 years efforts by other local residents or entities attempting to petition the F&G Commission or the DFW to ban waterfowl hunting on state-managed navigable waters, including Tomales Bay and Morro Bay have failed this one will hopefully suffer the same fate. Only time (and the Commission) will tell.

California Fish and Game Commission Sets 2022/23 Season Regulations

The California Fish and Game Commission, during their April 21st meeting, adopted changes to the waterfowl season dates and regulations for the 2022/23 waterfowl season.

Regulations adopted for the Southern California Zone (which will cover San Jacinto Wildlife Area):
Seasons: Ducks and Geese: October 22, 2022 through January 31, 2023.
Special Youth Hunt Days: February 4 and February 5, 2023. (San Jacinto’s Annual Youth Hunt will be on February 4th, 2023).
Special Veteran/Active Duty Military Hunt Days: February 11 and February 12, 2023 (San Jacinto’s Annual Vet/Active Duty Hunt will be February 11th, 2023)

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 from November 7th, 2022 through January 31st, 2023 – so again, be careful the first two weeks of the season).

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, 2022 – December 15, 2022. Daily bag limit: 2 per day. Possession limit is 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 website or the printed regulation books 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 Tuesday, so SJ’s last actual hunt day will be Saturday, January 28th. With that info, it appears that all the regulations for the 22/23 season stayed 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 ship shape for the upcoming 2022/2023 waterfowl season. 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 workdays get scheduled try to pitch in and help if you’re able – Info will be posted here on SoCalHunt when I receive it. Hopefully, at least some of Mystic Lake is still going to be there which usually helps enhance the bird numbers at San Jacinto!

The above information is provided as a general guide only. Although they haven’t updated the DFW website with 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 it is with every season, 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.

Anti-hunters at it Again – Help Resist Efforts to Shut Down Hunting on Navigable Waterways in the Benicia, CA Area

First off, I know this is in Northern California, but I am of the philosophy that any attack on hunting anywhere is an attack on hunting EVERYWHERE. I also believe hunters need to stick together and fight these efforts, no matter where they are, but especially if they are in this state, as any success by the anti-hunting crowd sets a precedent that may trigger a domino effect and result in more unreasonable restrictions on our hunting here.

I will defer to, and quote, the California Waterfowl Association on this subject as I also believe in not re-inventing the wheel, so to speak.

“CWA needs your assistance to defeat a petition before the California Fish and Game Commission to prohibit waterfowl hunting on navigable waterways near the City of Benicia. The petition was submitted by a local resident and cites noise, conflict with other recreational users and perceived threat to public safety, amongst other issues.

The Carquinez strait and other waterways in the Benicia area have been hunted for generations. There are no incidents of members of the non-hunting public being injured by the waterfowl hunting that occurs there, while hunters must comply with existing state safety laws, including those that restrict the discharge of firearms near occupied buildings and across roads and other ways open to the public.

Local residents and groups have tried to restrict hunting on state-manged navigable waterways throughout the state in the last 20 years, including Morro and Tomales Bays. The Commission rightly rejected the previous proposals primarily because there were no legitimate safety issues nor waterfowl population impacts from hunting; and, in many cases, the proposals were based in part on anti-hunting sentiments.

Should the Commission now prohibit hunting on public waters near Benicia, it will set a dangerous precedent and only encourage other residents in other parts of California to seek similar hunting restrictions, likely resulting in further loss of waterfowl hunting opportunities.
Please contact the California Fish and Game Commission and urge that the Benicia petition be rejected. Thank you for your help.”

Back to me. Below is a link to CWA’s page explaining the above call to action (which is where the above text came from). Click on the link below to go to CWA’s page and fill out the CWA petition next to this article and submit it. It’s very easy, fill in the blanks. It should only take a couple minutes.

https://calwaterfowl.org/action-center?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f93642%2fRespond

CWA, and I, and every waterfowler in the state thanks you for your help on this.