Wister-Jan. 2nd

[labsrule]

We ran about two dozen decoys and a couple of MOJOs. Ended up pulling the MOJOS. It was a slow day for a good number of hunters today. We got into the Spoonies but had zero opportunities at other big ducks. Here is a sunset picture.

John

 

[Green House]

When I scouted Wister friday it was the least amount of ducks I had ever seen there. Im glad you got into some birds. Until we get winter, I think its gonna stay marginal at best.

 

[labsrule]

When I scouted Wister friday it was the least amount of ducks I had ever seen there. Im glad you got into some birds. Until we get winter, I think its gonna stay marginal at best.

Looks like the Pacific Northwest will get some weather. Unfortunately, it will not push down too far into California and Salt Lake needs to freeze up hard.

John

 

[ilovesprig]

I believe what ducks we're going to get are here...The Salton Sea has literally 1000's upon 1000's of ducks on it...The San Jacinto Valley has 1000's of ducks in it...The dynamics of our hunting areas have changed with the change in habitat and water availability.

Other places and states I have hunted haven't changed that much, but here in SoCal, things have changed a lot...As hunters, we will have to adapt to these changes and roll with the punches...2 cents

 

[Aeon]

i will second that.. the birds are down

 

[MOUTHCALLINMATT]

Full moon doesn't help with birds that have been here. Snows sat on the Sea until 3:45 today.

 

[Hunter527]

I believe what ducks we're going to get are here...The Salton Sea has literally 1000's upon 1000's of ducks on it...The San Jacinto Valley has 1000's of ducks in it...The dynamics of our hunting areas have changed with the change in habitat and water availability.

Other places and states I have hunted haven't changed that much, but here in SoCal, things have changed a lot...As hunters, we will have to adapt to these changes and roll with the punches...2 cents

Are you referring to all the birds sitting on Mystic? Why don’t they drain it to make the rest of SJ better? But if Mystic wasn’t there, do you think they’d sit on Perris instead? I imagine some already do.

 

[ilovesprig]

Are you referring to all the birds sitting on Mystic? Why don’t they drain it to make the rest of SJ better? But if Mystic wasn’t there, do you think they’d sit on Perris instead? I imagine some already do.

I stated someplace that Mystic Lake giveth and Mystic taketh away...Meaning, because it's there, more birds stay in the area and with good food sources nearby, they will come to that place (SJWA)...When it was dry, they just find somewhere else to loaf that's farther away and not disturbed (Perris Lake, sewer ponds, parks, etc.).

ps...Salton Sea despite getting smaller, is still huge with miles of undisturbed shoreline.

 

[Hunter527]

I hunted Wister yesterday too, I got a shoveler and my dad got a greenwing. My shoveler was flying with another shoveler and we watched the other one get shot when they were circling, by the blind in front of us. She was so focused on our decoys that she didn’t care her mate got shot, because she dropped right into our decoys, which I did not expect! I didn’t stand up to shoot until her feet were right about to hit the water, it was too awesome just watching her after her wings cupped up when she was still up high! I had a pair of gadwalls cup up and start to drop in when I waded out to fix a decoy cord that was wrapped around a decoy. I’ll make sure to check that before shoot time in the future; that was painful! It was a lot slower than last year. This year we drew #8 and last year we drew #7 around the same time. Last year there was a ton of shooting at first light; this year it was pretty quiet. Was the weather up north better last year, around this time?

 

[ilovesprig]

Hmmmm…..Anymore pix of that spoonie hen?

 

[Hunter527]

Yup, why do you ask?

 

[Green House]

I was thinking more about weather stirring up the birds that are here and when northern storms do come through often new birds are with the storms.

 

[ilovesprig]

Yup, why do you ask?View attachment 47355

Because the picture made that hen appear white

 

[Dave3006]

I believe what ducks we're going to get are here...The Salton Sea has literally 1000's upon 1000's of ducks on it...The San Jacinto Valley has 1000's of ducks in it...The dynamics of our hunting areas have changed with the change in habitat and water availability.

Other places and states I have hunted haven't changed that much, but here in SoCal, things have changed a lot...As hunters, we will have to adapt to these changes and roll with the punches...2 cents

Are you saying that the low bird counts are the "new normal" for Wister? From my viewpoint, it has been bad for the last couple years at Wister. Is this a permanent thing?

 

[Hunter527]

Because the picture made that hen appear white

Ok, that’s what I was hoping for. I was hoping there wasn’t anything special about her because she’s already breasted out!

 

[labsrule]

Wister shot a 2.10 on Saturday without the Coots. The hunt days prior were under a 2. I will take my chances at Wister. If there are enough guys out then what birds are there will get pushed around. I think it is important to keep in mind that we have not
seen a sustained string of hunt days at Wister or SJ where the Teal numbers taken were above 300. The wigeon showed up early but have not returned either. I am seeing plenty of wigeon in the ponds I typically see them at. Just not where they can be hunted. I imagine there are a ton of ducks sitting on the big waters as well. I think more storms would at least push these birds to look at other options for loafing. It has been a dry year down here. Not a single mud run even required at Wister this season. We will see how the rest of the month goes.

John

 

[ilovesprig]

Are you saying that the low bird counts are the "new normal" for Wister? From my viewpoint, it has been bad for the last couple years at Wister. Is this a permanent thing?

Don't know if it's the "New normal", but Wister was let go as far as habitat for awhile (salt cedar...I think with the new crew in place, more feed, more open water/ponds, spring irrigation to enhance timothy grass, and some stabilization of the sea, will all help us get back to the "old normal"...

 

[sureshot]

Funny how those hard, cold winds never seem to occur on Wednesday or Saturday.
Hmmm.....

 

[Nimrod]

I thought the same thing about the spoony looking light...

 

[Whodini]

I hunted Wister yesterday too, I got a shoveler and my dad got a greenwing. My shoveler was flying with another shoveler and we watched the other one get shot when they were circling, by the blind in front of us. She was so focused on our decoys that she didn’t care her mate got shot, because she dropped right into our decoys, which I did not expect! I didn’t stand up to shoot until her feet were right about to hit the water, it was too awesome just watching her after her wings cupped up when she was still up high! I had a pair of gadwalls cup up and start to drop in when I waded out to fix a decoy cord that was wrapped around a decoy. I’ll make sure to check that before shoot time in the future; that was painful! It was a lot slower than last year. This year we drew #8 and last year we drew #7 around the same time. Last year there was a ton of shooting at first light; this year it was pretty quiet. Was the weather up north better last year, around this time?
View attachment 47353

Sounds like the other blind shot your spoonie as well and she was just sailing into lmao