I’ll be heading out to the Wiz to take a look around in the next day or so but am curious what opening day will look like. I remember last opener MANY of the ponds/blind sites were dry and many hunters were left hunting over dirt/mud. I know it’s most likely not fully flooded by now, but what is the outlook for opening day as far as huntable sites? Trig? Figure you’d know....
Wister condition
- Thread starter CuppedUp
- Start date
Wondering this too.. last year's opener I remember tons of guys pulling up to the sea for the midday hunt after Wister shot so bad. Lots of guys complaining about the conditions.
I think there will be more blinds sites open on opening day this year than there has been in a long time. From what I have seen when I went to the camping draw, the new crew absolutely kicks butt and the refuge looked great.
H
Hunter527
Guest
End of last year waiting at the check station one of the employees said they were planning to burn a lot of the overgrown areas over the summer. I hope they did
I have no idea...Haven't been there since the spring meeting...If Greenhouse says it looks good, then it probably looks really good...
I'm thinking most of all cells will have water.....not always a good thing imo. Once water is on a pond the feeding begins.....A huge key next spring Will be to flash all the poinds least once to get a good crop of Timothy growing...most all ponds hold timmothy...they just need some help in the spring to take off, if ya ever seen the heads on the Timothy at the Jac you would know what I mean....
Maybe the plan on having everything flooded up for the opener and during the november lull they will drain a few to save and flood up later on in the season. I am not a expert and just WAG (wild ass guess)
My hope is the keep recharging the ponds with fresh water while draining the old like the used to when IID ran the weir boards. Water would come into the reservoir from the ditch and be released through the ponds and finally out the far end back into the ditch and drain into the sea. This kept the pond water fresh and I never saw any moss until IID stopped running the boards. I don't know if the refuge choose to stop them or if they choose to stop doing it I just hope someone dose this again or there will be moss problems later in season.
Took a trip out to Wister today. I’m not sure how I feel about the condition. I liked what they did in s20 and they cleaned up t10. However, many ponds were dry and I was very upset that many of my go to sweatline blinds were completely choked up and completely unhuntable. So much grass you couldn’t see the water standing on the edge of the dike. Multiple locations that were like this. It seems to be a common theme of Wister...fix one area and let the rest go to S***.
Was down there today doing prep for the opener for an owner of a small piece of water. Stopped by Wister on the way back. Just time for a quick look. 413As had really no water. 312As, dry. 312Bs water but for some of it you will need a dog to find a dropped bird if it lands in the high vegetation. 312Cs looked okay. Saw Pins, Mallards and Gads. Ducks were flying low from one pond to another. No big wads. Small groups. This really does not mean much. It was 1230 in the afternoon. You guys with draws will know when the shooting starts and ducks are flying everywhere how many there are at Wister. I think Wister will shoot well for the opener. The trailer is gone. That really sucked to see it not parked there by the check station. The roads that I drove on were in good shape. I know it is early but I looked and no signs of Snows. For me, duck season does not really start until the Snows show up.
John
John
I was down there as well. I won't get into specific areas but for the first time in a long time I can say there were obvious signs that work was done. Yes, some areas have been attacked by tules but others that have been choked out for years were dealt with. Some were burnt & some were rolled & flattened. Not sure of the theory behind rolling. Could be a bitch to walk through. I didn't see any discing but I could be wrong.
I saw a lot more water than I was expecting. Still a few areas needing it but there's still time & a lot more available than previous years. All in all I think there was a net gain in huntable sites.
Ok, I lied. Here's a few specifics. T10, T12-2&4, S20, & S22 got full make-overs by CWA. Bring lots of arroweed in these areas as the dike are clean. The ponds however, look good. Lots of loafing islands with some that can be hunted. I'm not sure exactly what it is but they planted some kind if millet (I don't think its Japanese millet) & it took very well.
My biggest concern are the closed zones. 114 is choked up from A through C. There may be some holes in there but its far from being as open as it has been. Not sure what the snows are going to do when they see that. Also, the Y14 closes zone has not been prepped at all. The tractor they use is broken & waiting for a new turbo. Should be there in a week but at this time of year, every day counts. With no or very little accessible water in 114 & no green feed in Y14, its going to be hard to keep any snows there.
As usual, Wister is a mix of good news & bad news. Its up to you to make something positive of it. I'm just happy to be out there.
I saw a lot more water than I was expecting. Still a few areas needing it but there's still time & a lot more available than previous years. All in all I think there was a net gain in huntable sites.
Ok, I lied. Here's a few specifics. T10, T12-2&4, S20, & S22 got full make-overs by CWA. Bring lots of arroweed in these areas as the dike are clean. The ponds however, look good. Lots of loafing islands with some that can be hunted. I'm not sure exactly what it is but they planted some kind if millet (I don't think its Japanese millet) & it took very well.
My biggest concern are the closed zones. 114 is choked up from A through C. There may be some holes in there but its far from being as open as it has been. Not sure what the snows are going to do when they see that. Also, the Y14 closes zone has not been prepped at all. The tractor they use is broken & waiting for a new turbo. Should be there in a week but at this time of year, every day counts. With no or very little accessible water in 114 & no green feed in Y14, its going to be hard to keep any snows there.
As usual, Wister is a mix of good news & bad news. Its up to you to make something positive of it. I'm just happy to be out there.
I didn’t get as in-depth as I wanted to during my trip out there. However, I saw some of the northern ponds were cleared out and huntable as were not the case last year. The S ponds looked really good..but they had 0 ducks on them. Us and Ts we’re the same but the areas worked on looked good. That’s the good...now for the bad.
It’s such a shame how they focus on certain pond areas and let everything else go to complete SHIIiIiiIiiiIiiiT. I graduated college up north in 2012 and started hunting down here that year. I’ve sweatline 99% of my hunts on my own and aside from having a few hints from others, I’ve learned Wister by myself. I’ve seen the same blinds picked every morning and have learned the top blinds that everyone else has come to learn as “shooters”. While these May or may not ever change, most of us don’t get a chance to shoot the prized blinds in certain areas. I’ve learned to hunt around these areas and have learned blinds that can still produce that are left after all have picked in the sweatline. But from being out there several days ago, many of my go to sweatlinepicks aren’t even huntable. I walked down multiple dikes to the blind stake of blinds that I could ALWAYS get dead last in the sweatline, only to find ZERO huntable water. This is what bothers me the most. Ressie holders will always be able to select blinds (especially with the over helpful staff) that have clear water and huntable areas, but slim pickings for the sweatliners is now even more slim.
Yea...while several ponds have been made-over, many blinds have been taken away by mismanagement. I can’t imagine what would happen if this happened up north in the sac valley.
It’s such a shame how they focus on certain pond areas and let everything else go to complete SHIIiIiiIiiiIiiiT. I graduated college up north in 2012 and started hunting down here that year. I’ve sweatline 99% of my hunts on my own and aside from having a few hints from others, I’ve learned Wister by myself. I’ve seen the same blinds picked every morning and have learned the top blinds that everyone else has come to learn as “shooters”. While these May or may not ever change, most of us don’t get a chance to shoot the prized blinds in certain areas. I’ve learned to hunt around these areas and have learned blinds that can still produce that are left after all have picked in the sweatline. But from being out there several days ago, many of my go to sweatlinepicks aren’t even huntable. I walked down multiple dikes to the blind stake of blinds that I could ALWAYS get dead last in the sweatline, only to find ZERO huntable water. This is what bothers me the most. Ressie holders will always be able to select blinds (especially with the over helpful staff) that have clear water and huntable areas, but slim pickings for the sweatliners is now even more slim.
Yea...while several ponds have been made-over, many blinds have been taken away by mismanagement. I can’t imagine what would happen if this happened up north in the sac valley.
The new manager has been there what 6 months give him a couple years and double his budget before complaining too much.
Matt, Did you look at 115c and 513b? Is that not disced with all the dead tules and rows of giant dirt clods? Not sure what rolling a field is maybe that's what they did? Either way someone's breaking an ankle lol. There was a lot more work done than normal but a lot of it will be a short term band aid. I used to hate when an area was completely moonscaped but I think that's the only way to go, not sure they even have the resources to do that unless it's a CWA project with there equipment.
The best hunters at Wister are not typically holding a low number. They are exceptional hunters who will often smoke the low number ressi holders with just a sweatline draw. They do it every year. They will adapt to the conditions like they always do. We pretty much have SJ and Wister for the draw hunts. It is SoCal. It has always been tough down here. Were the bottom of the fly way. After the first couple of weeks, these ducks that we hunt have seen a crap load of decoys, been called at and shot at the whole stretch of the flyway. Same for the deer and turkeys. Limited areas with well educated animals. The better hunters will find a way. You just have to adapt. This is SoCal.
John
John
Matt, your scout was the same as mine. Many more areas will be open. T10 looks amazing. Geese will eat the food in 114 and it will be fine.
Cupped, welcome to wister man-my spot was overgrown almost 10 years ago and finally this year it was opened up. Many good shooting blinds will open this year. The "best" blinds rotate. W11A5 used to go in the top 10, unhuntable for many years. T10 was the best spot on the refuge, not even taken some hunt days in the past few years. Keep learning. Ive got 32 season out there and Im super excited about what Im seeing.
The one constant with wister is change.
Cupped, welcome to wister man-my spot was overgrown almost 10 years ago and finally this year it was opened up. Many good shooting blinds will open this year. The "best" blinds rotate. W11A5 used to go in the top 10, unhuntable for many years. T10 was the best spot on the refuge, not even taken some hunt days in the past few years. Keep learning. Ive got 32 season out there and Im super excited about what Im seeing.
The one constant with wister is change.
The work done since last season was much more than recent years. There was so much to do it was never getting done in one year. If they can keep that pace things will get caught up or closer anyway. Some of my sweatline spots are probably places you like too and will be worthless this year. I also found some others that look promising. Some of the blinds that went in the top 10 nearly every day last year are going to be a bust this year after so much new growth.