After a 17-year hiatus, the Lake Perris State Recreation Area will be reopening waterfowl hunting every Wednesday during the 2022/23 Southern California Zone hunting season. Duck hunting was suspended indefinitely in 2005 due to the lake being drawn down for repair work on Perris Dam.
Although the major part of the work on the dam was completed in 2018, and they started to fill the lake, duck hunting was still not reinstated.
Today, (5/27/22), SoCalHunt received information that the Lake Perris State Recreation Area will once again be allowing duck hunting on the lake. Hunting will be by boat only. Hunting days are every Wednesday during the season. There will be no Saturday or Sunday duck hunting. Quitting time will be 12 noon each hunt day and all boats will be off the water by 1:00 PM. There will be 9 hunting sites, actually mooring buoys, which hunters will have to stay within 20 yards of. Whoever is operating the boat will need to have a California Boating Card under the following circumstances. At the start of the season if the boat has a motor 15 HP or larger anyone 45 years old and under needs the boating card. On January 1st, 2023, that changes, and anyone 50 or younger need the boating card if the motor on the boat is larger than 15 HP. If you’re over those ages at those times, or your boat motor is under 15 HP, you don’t need the boating card. NOTE – this is only required for the person operating the boat.
Hunters will be chosen by lottery ONLY. There will be no sweatline, no walk-ons, and no refills. A drawing for all hunting spots will be held on August 5th, 2022. Applications can be mailed or dropped off between July 1st and August 1st, 2022. There is a $7.50 application fee. This fee is for the entire season (which, because it’s only Wednesdays, is 14 days). Each applicant will be considered for all hunt days.
Hunting party size will be a maximum of between 2 to 4 hunters, determined by the size of the boat the hunters are utilizing. The minimum length of boats allowed on the Perris hunting program is 11 feet. 2 hunters are allowed if the boat is between 11 and 13 feet. If the boat is between 13 and 16 feet 3 hunters are allowed, and if the boat is over 16 feet, then 4 hunters are allowed. No float tubes, inflatables, kayaks, jet skis, or paddleboards will be allowed. Hunting fees per hunt day will be $50 for 1 hunter, $70 for 2 hunters, $90 for 3 hunters, and $110 for 4 hunters. Junior hunters and dogs are free.
So, anyway, great news! Perris Lake duck hunting again. I was beginning to think it would never happen again.
There are additional rules and requirements to be aware of for the drawing, the hunting, the boats required, and so forth but not being one to reinvent the wheel I’ll just refer you to the below links for further study. So, if you’ve got a boat you can use for duck hunting here is a nearby opportunity to utilize it the way it was meant to be used. Good luck and stay safe. Don’t forget the all-important life jackets. (Links to additional info and hunt application below)
Link to the general Lake Perris hunting page, which also includes info on their upland hunting program… https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24697&fbclid=IwAR37AHmXRdvoFE0iZsnxRXEwWtQztNCCZf6dJQdvu7XMXSjuxlR7fxzMZrg
Link to the detailed information about the Lake Perris Duck Hunting program… https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/651/files/Lake%20Perris%202022-2023%20Waterfowl%20Program%20Final.pdf
Link to the 2022/23 season application form for duck hunting at Lake Perris… https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/651/files/Hunting%20Application%202022-23.pdf
SoCalHunt 