Waterfowl counts spike upward at the Delevan NWR as cold weather pushes birds toward the south. Photo by Rich Gracie

By Rich Gracie

My interest in a place called Delevan began as young boy when I questioned my Dad about the mounted cinnamon teal drake he had on our living room wall. He told me about the memorable hunt that took place on a remote pond at Delevan where he killed that teal. There had been seven hunters that day and each of them shot their limit for a total of 49 ducks.

I finally got my chance to hunt Delevan when I drew a reservation for the first Saturday in January back in the early 1980s. Many of you may remember a massive rainstorm that pummeled the state, causing flooding over much of northern California. When we made the turn onto Four Mile Road, the road was blocked with a sign saying that Delevan was closed.

As excited as I was to hunt Delevan, my first hunt there would not be until a few years later when I was old enough to make the trip on my own. This solo trip to a new hunting area would end with a familiar outcome to many first-time refuge hunters. With a full decoy bag on my back and my black Lab Brandy setting the pace, I hiked out of Parking Lot C toward an area that looked remote on the refuge map.

That was the first of many mistakes that morning. Not knowing anything about the area, I had hiked until shooting time and still not found any suitable water to hunt. It turned out to be a valuable lesson for an overeager teenager. A little pre-trip research or a few quick questions at the check station could have helped me to avoid that long fruitless hike.

Greg Mensik, the deputy refuge manager of the Sacramento NWR Complex, had some great advice for first-time Delevan hunters: "Put in for reservations, get in the lottery, hunt and learn the area. Hunt afternoons and Saturdays if you have to and don't be discouraged by competition. Do your homework, study the statistics and it will really pay off."

Finding suitable water to hunt is not much of a problem any more at Delevan. It now has 30 assigned hunting sites that can accommodate up to 120 total hunters. Hunters willing to compete for space in the free-roam area will find some excellent habitat to set up their spreads.

ACCESS TO HUNT Like many popular Type A hunting areas, getting into the Delevan National Wildlife Refuge may be one of the biggest hurdles facing sportsmen today. Hunters who beat the odds and are lucky in the DFG drawing obtain reservations that are good for up to four individuals. Hunters can apply for reservations by purchasing either one-hunt-day or five-hunt-day applications from license agents. There is also a season-long application in which hunters apply for each hunt day throughout the season. Deadlines for daily reservation applications are 17 days before the hunt date requested. Season-long applications must be submitted prior to the season. The odds for drawing a reservation for Delevan during the 2003-04 season were a discouraging 1:45.5 (75,204 applicants for 1,653 reservations). Applying for Wednesdays and Sundays can improve these long odds. Hunters without reservations can participate in a drawing held the night before the hunt. Numbers assigned at this drawing determine the order of remaining entry permits. Up to half of the hunter quota for the hunt day may be filled from this drawing. The gates to the check station open at 6 p.m. the night before the hunt, and the drawing is held at 8 p.m. Hunters who arrive after 8 p.m. will be assigned the next available number. The check station allows hunters with reservations into the refuge two hours before shooting time, up until one hour before shooting time. Non-reservation hunters will be allowed into the refuge in order of their numbers beginning one hour before shooting time. Hunters can even show up during the middle of the hunt day and get a number from the check station. As hunters leave, the check station will allow the same number of hunters to enter the refuge. — Rich Gracie

Hunters should bring some sort of seat or stool that will allow them to sit in shallow water. Chest waders are a must when waterfowl hunting at Delevan. It might be a good idea to leave items that can't get wet in a safe place on the levee.

Some sites will afford the opportunity to use the full 100 feet, but most sites are limited to a single patch of cover. If hunters choose a site where they can spread out a little, it can really add to the success of the hunt. The water depth in the assigned ponds varies from about a foot to as much as 3 feet deep.

The hunting sites can be reached out of one of the three parking areas, and some require considerable walking distances. The shortest walking distance of the 30 assigned hunting sites is two-tenths of a mile to blinds 1 and 12. That is a short stroll compared to the longest walk of 1.7 miles out to blind 27. Decoy carts or other similar inventions make the long hikes much easier on the back, especially when you are returning with a full strap of ducks.

The blinds where that happened most often during the 2003-04 season were blind 5 and blind 27; each sported an impressive 3.9 birds-per-gun average. Other top blinds included blind 24 with a 3.8 average, blind 8 came in at 3.7, blind 15 was 3.6, blinds 6 and 26 were both 3.5 and finally, blinds 22, 23, 25, were all over 3 birds per gun. The blinds with the lowest bird-per-gun averages for the season were blinds 14, 17 and 18, which all came in with a one-bird average.

The total bird-per-gun average for the blind sites in 2003-04 was 2.6 birds per gun. That was a marked increase over the season average of 1.9 during the 2002-03 season. The top blind sites in 2002-03 were blind 15 (2.8 birds per gun) and blind 20, which averaged 2.6 birds per gun.

There are also three assigned hunting sites for disabled hunters (filled first at the check station). The blinds are accessible with ATVs and are set up with gravel or rubber floors. The three disabled blinds averaged between 1 and 2 birds per gun during the 2003-04 season.

Over the spring and summer of this year, a project to improve the cover at hunt sites 19 and 20 took place. Refuge personnel conducted some major bulrush transplants in May and the ponds were kept in water all summer. This should lead to much thicker cover this season and improved hunting success.

Keep in mind that the Saturday before Christmas is usually a junior hunt day at Delevan. The blind sites are reserved for junior hunters that are accompanied by an adult who does not hunt that day. Adult hunters are still allowed to hunt in the free-roam area.