Hunting - Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
View inside of a box hunt blind that is camouflaged with vegetation and camo paint

Ridgefield’s waterfowl hunt program offers a quality duck and goose hunting experience with 21 spaced blinds on 760 acres of land. Hunters can enter a pre-season lottery system to obtain reservations for priority check-in, or attend as a stand-by hunter to occupy remaining blinds. Various blind options are offered, including pit and box blinds and two accessible blinds for hunters with disabilities. Northern shovelers account for a large percentage of bagged birds, but hunters also take good numbers of green-winged teal, mallard, American wigeon, gadwall, and northern pintail.

The 2022-23 season has come to a close. See the reference documents below for more information about weekly harvest reports, the season calendar, regulations, and last season's numbers. 

2022 Reservation Lottery

The reservation lottery system is closed for the season. Check back in August 2023 to participate next season. 

Reservations give hunters first blind pick during the morning check-in but are not required to hunt. Reservations lost due to a Refuge closure (dangerous weather conditions, safety issues, emergency, or government shutdown) will not be reissued or refunded. Reservations are non-transferable.

Reservations are awarded through an electronic lottery system managed by RecAccess, a government-approved vendor. The lottery application fee is $1.00 per date selected plus a one-time application fee of $5. Hunters can apply for all hunt dates one time only. Reservations for the entire season will be generated in one pre-season lottery and must be submitted electronically through the approved vendor RecAccess. No paper applications or in-person payment will be accepted.

Related Documents
2022-23 Weekly Harvest Reports

Hunting waterfowl table for 2022-2023 for each week. The table includes data for each day of the week from each blind about how many hunters, and ducks as well as geese were captured. At the bottom is the total number of hunters, ducks, and geese at each blind. There is also data related to the...