Friends of Wister (FOW) is having another blind repair day August 25th 2007. Meet up at the Sonny Bono NWR HQ at 6am. We will be working at Hazard and Wister. This is the only time we'll be allowed to scout the fed area since the feds allow folks in there only on hunt days. Great time to scout for dove too.

BBQ and shotgun patterning afterward so bring your thrower and shells. We'll have plenty of chokes to test.

Holler if anyone needs a ride, we'll get you fixed up. I'll be coming out of the San Bernardino area is anyone wants to carpool from there.

Bring hand tools if you have them and lots of water and sunscreen/straw hat.

DIRECTIONS

906 West Sinclair Road
Calipatria, California 92233-9744
(760) 348-5278

From Interstate 10 East, take the Highway 86S exit towards Brawley/El Centro. Continue south on Highway 86S for approximately 15 miles. Turn left on Route 195 (also called 66th Ave). At the next stop sign, turn right onto Highway 111 and continue south for approximately 60 miles. Once you pass through Niland, continue south 4 miles to Sinclair Road and turn right. Head west on Sinclair Road until you arrive to the Refuge Headquarters parking lot (Sinclair Road ends at this point).

From Interstate 10 West, take the Dillon Rd. exit south towards Highway 86S. Head south on Highway 86S approximately 15 miles. Turn left on Route 195 (also called 66th Ave). At the next stop sign, turn right onto Highway 111 and continue south for approximately 60 miles. Once you pass through Niland, continue south 4 miles to Sinclair Road and turn right. Head west on Sinclair Road until you come to the Refuge sign (Sinclair Road ends at this point).

From Interstate 8 (coming from either direction), exit onto Forrester Road. Travel north towards the town of Westmorland. Continue north through Westmorland on Forrester Road, which turns into Gentry Road. Continue north on Gentry Road until you see the Refuge sign and parking area (Gentry Rd. ends at this point).

http://www.fws.gov/saltonsea/recreation.html

http://www.friendsofwister.com/

About 40+ people showed up at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea HQ which impressed the FWS folks. Lots of work was done on the blinds. Big thanks to Steve (ilovesprig) and MoutchcallinMatt for getting all this organized. Thanks to Randy for the hospitality at his home and for manning the grill. We caught a break with the temps staying below 100.

Thanks also to everyone that showed up and pitched in. Kudos to Jason and staff at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR for also letting us show we CAN git r done

My cam had some problems later in the day so I didn't get the BBQ on tape. Wister is brutal on cams as we all know from what it does to our shotguns. The silt/dust and alkaline air are not the best for sensitive electronics.

Lots of good food at the BBQ like frog legs from Steve (ilovesprig), Redneckhunter's wife sent the magical brownies that disappear in 2 seconds and other good eats.

On the video we had a surprise visit when this dog came crashing out of the brush out in the middle of no where. Dave (calfowler) and I jumped back he surprised us so quick, I thought it was a rabid coyote charging us since I just saw the head pop out and a streaking canine charge toward Dave. Turned out it was Bobo the dog just headed over for a quick dip in the W11 pond we were working on. His owner's finally caught up to Bobo. Poor Dave, I think I heard him give one of those primal yawlps when you think you're about to get it.

Here's the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKhszR0Axyk