The conclusion of the 2022/2023 waterfowl season at San Jacinto Wildlife Area showed some interesting stats for the number of birds harvested and the per hunter averages.
4313 adult and 238 junior hunters (4551 hunters total) harvested a total of 2734 Northern Shovelers, 198 Mallards, 823 Gadwall, 683 Widgeon, 364 Pintail, 2800 Green Wing Teal, 683 Cinnamon Teal, 30 Redheads, 26 Canvasbacks, 470 Ring Necks, 21 Scaup, 314 Bufflehead, 15 Goldeneye, 6 Wood Ducks, 12 Blue Wing Teal, 8 Mergansers, 1 Whistling Duck, and 432 Ruddy Ducks. In addition, there were also 1 Aleutian Goose, 3 Cackling Geese, 9 Canada Geese, 3 Ross’ Goose, 19 Snow Geese, and 18 White Front Geese taken at San Jacinto this season. 349 Coots were also checked in for the 2022/2023 season at SJ. This figured out to a total of 9673 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, 10022 waterfowl taken for the season. The per gun average take for 2022/2023 season came out to 2.13 Ducks and Geese per hunter or, with the Coots added in, 2.20 waterfowl per hunter.
In comparison to last season, there were 31 more adult hunters this season over last and there were 65 fewer junior hunters for a total of 34 fewer hunters accommodated in 2022/2023 season compared to the 2021/2022 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 -99 Northern Shovelers, -57 Mallards, +88 Gadwall, +247 Widgeon, +58 Pintail, +462 Green Wing Teal, +296 Cinnamon Teal, -11 Redheads, -5 Canvasbacks, +231 Ring Necks, +4 Scaup, +23 Bufflehead, -20 Goldeneye, +6 Wood Ducks, +8 Blue Wing Teal, -9 Mergansers, +1 Whistling Duck (0 last season), and +124 Ruddy Ducks.
For the Goose numbers there were -1 Aleutian Goose, +1 Cackling Goose, +1 Canada Goose, +2 Ross’ Geese, +9 Snow Geese, and +17 White Front Geese.
There were also +46 Coots bagged this season. This was a total of +1374 Ducks and Geese taken compared to last season and, with the Coots included, +1420 waterfowl taken this season compared to last season. The per hunter averages were +0.32 Ducks and Geese or, with the Coots included, +0.32 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 slightly more adult hunters but slightly fewer junior hunters this season than last which resulted in a slight decrease in total hunters utilizing San Jacinto. The per hunter average take showed those hunters taking more birds, showing an increase in the per hunter average. Hopefully, we’ll get some good rains between now and the end of our rainy season to continue refilling Mystic Lake which got a start with our recent rains, 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 2023/2024 season.
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