Jesse's Hunting > Jim Matthews > July 2000 To Dec. 2000

July 2000 To Dec. 2000

CIBOLA REFUGE PLANNING CHANGES -- matthews column -ons 27dec00

The erosion of hunting opportunity is proceeding at a rapid pace. This past week the news came that the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Colorado River south of Blythe, may end its seven-day-a-week goose hunting program. Merry Christmas hunters. Already in 2000, we’ve seen Bill Clinton expand the Pinnacles National Monument, closing off yet more of the Central Coast to hunting. The Mojave Preserve Management wants to cut hunting opportunity in this vast desert area by more than half.

These changes and proposed changes join an ever-growing list of county, state and federal land acquisitions that increasingly exclude hunters, Department of Fish and Game regulations and application procedures that are so complex and licenses so expensive that many hunters have given up their passion, and law enforcement personnel seem to take delight in hassling hunters who are obeying the law. So the news from Cibola is just another omen that the new Millennium is not starting off on the right foot for hunters. The program at Cibola is unique for federal refuges because it has 18 pit field blinds are open to hunters through a daily drawing every shoot day of the goose season -- an incredible opportunity.

“I think it will probably change to three days a week,” said Mike Hawkes, the refuge manager. “Our major purpose is to provide feed for waterfowl. There are 300 acres down, and the geese can’t use those fields.” Already, the proposal is drawing a hornet’s nest of fire from hunters who travel the long distance from the Los Angeles area in Southern California and Phoenix in Arizona to hunt Cibola’s goose fields.

Dave Kiper, a Bellflower regular at Cibola, said that Hawkes told him, that while they are going to go through a hunter-input process, “we’ve pretty much decided what we’re going to do.” Kiper said that what the proposal would do is “take away goose hunting four days a week.” “Little by little they’re eliminating hunting out there. The firing line is gone. There’s no hunting on the river any longer. This year they’ve shortened the hours that guys can hunt the fields, and now they want to make it a Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday hunt,” said Kiper. “I don’t think they care at all about the hunters. I haven’t spoken with a single hunter who wants only three days a week.” Kiper and other hunters also question whether the change has anything to do with the geese, suggesting that there is plenty of food in the refuge and surrounding farm fields to send the birds north in great health each year. The 300 acres in Farm Unit 2 aren’t necessary to keep the geese healthy. (The birds can use Farm Unit 2 after the season closes late in January each year.) It is about restricting hunters even more.

Bob Corbett, who runs the Cibola Sportsman’s Club, said he knew the prior refuge manager (Wes Martin) felt that a three-day hunt would improve the quality of the hunt and allow geese to use the fields for feeding, but Martin didn’t make the change because he listened to hunters who traveled great distances and didn’t want to have a mail-in drawing system that almost certainly would need to be used. “If they used the same system they have now {a drawing the morning of the hunt for blind sites], what would a guy do if he wasn’t drawn on a Wednesday or Sunday? Now, he waits until the next day when he has another chance. If he’s staying down here a few days, he’ll get a good draw one or two days,” said Corbett. Corbett was not optimistic about hunters being able to change things. “Usually when the government puts out something for review, it means they’ve already made up their mind,” said Corbett.

The argument about changes being needed to improve the quality of the hunt are often advanced by agencies that want to further restrict hunters, not really improve hunting. Hunters are always willing step up to the plate to help wildlife when the circumstances warrant change -- whether it means restricted seasons, closures, or increased fees to fund necessary work. But most of the changes we’ve seen lately are not based on wildlife needs, they are based on wrong-headed assumptions on how to deal with hunters and what some people think hunters want or need. The changes at Cibola are a good example of how evolution of refuge policy has slowly excluded more and more hunters needlessly.

Wes Martin, the former refuge manager, now retired, closed the “firing line” at Cibola. The firing line was a place on the refuge where hunters could pass shoot geese going from one closed area to another closed area. It had its detractions because some hunters shot at geese too high and because of a stupid rule. Wounded birds that sailed more than 50 yards behind the hunters could not be retrieved because hunters would have to enter the closed zone to get the birds. Martin decided that wounding loss and unsportsmanlike conduct (skybusting) were unacceptable and that the firing line should be closed. It had nothing to do with hunters shooting too many geese. So poorer hunters who couldn’t afford the two to six dozen goose decoys needed to hunt the pit blinds at Farm Unit 2 were effectively excluded from hunting geese at Cibola because of the actions of a very few hunters and a refuge manager who wouldn’t set up a retrieval zone behind the firing line. The purists liked that fine, but most hunters didn’t.

This year, Hawkes arbitrarily changed the close of hunt time at Farm Field 2 from 3 p.m. to 1 p.m. For hunters who set out large spreads, that meant they had to start picking up their decoys, which can take more than two hours to set out, in the morning. It effectively cut out the mid-day hunting period when geese start moving around the valley after feeding all morning. Another couple hours of opportunity shaved away.

The official notice of review regarding the change to three-day hunting from seven-day hunting at Cibola has not been issued yet, but Hawkes said it will probably be made the first part of the year. Hunters who are interested in commenting on any proposed change can contact the refuge at (520) 857-3253.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the decision has already been made, and both of the reasons that will be advanced for the change -- a) good for the geese, b) good for the goose hunter -- need a careful gander. Both are specious.

STATE RECORD RAINBOW TROUT CAUGHT -- ons -- 27dec00

ANAHEIM -- A new state record rainbow trout was caught by Craig Joaquim of Anaheim while fishing the Santa Ana River Lakes here Wednesday. The huge trout weighed 23.76 pounds on a nearby Albertson’s meat market scale and breaks the current state record of 23 pounds-even set in January this year at Lake Natoma.

Joaquin, who fishes Santa Ana River Lakes one or two times a week, caught the trout fishing with a three-inch orange Berkley Power Worm on two-pound test line. Joaquim said he’d had smaller fish fight much harder and landed the big trout fairly quickly. “I’ve been fishing these worms for a while now and had excellent success with them,” said Joaquim, who didn’t realize the trout was as big as it was when he caught the fish.

“I had seen some 20-pound fish caught the day after Thanksgiving, and I didn’t think my fish was as big as those. I guess I was wrong,” said Joaquim, who’s a 55-year-old pharmacist. He caught the trout at 7:30 a.m., but didn’t weigh it until about 9:30. When it pulled the scale down to 23-pounds, 12-ounces at the tackle shop at the lake, they then rushed over to Albertson’s to have the fish weighed on a certified scale to apply for state record status.

But Joaquim doesn’t think his record will last too long. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this record was broken today. There was supposed to be another fish that jammed the tube (on the stocking truck), and I don’t think this one was big enough to do that,” said Joaquim. “I saw a couple of other trout rolling that looked as big as the one I caught or bigger. So I think there’s a bigger fish in there.”

Doug Elliott, co-owner of the lake concession with Bill Andrews, said they had contacted with Mt. Lassen Trout Farms in northern California to deliver the largest trout they had in their ponds during plants on Sunday and Tuesday this week. The staff at the hatchery felt they indeed had several trout that would break the current state record of 23 pounds, and those fish were delivered to Santa Ana River Lakes and nearby Corona Lake, also run by Elliott and Andrews, this week. “We’ve been telling anglers that we would have trout that break the state record, and now we’ve done it,” said Elliott.

DEER DRAWING, MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS -- matthews column -- 20dec00

REDLANDS -- Sonke Mastrup, the statewide deer program coordinator for the Department of Fish and Game, said a mouthful:
"We're concerned.... that we have lost touch with our hunters," said Mastrup at the last of a series of statewide public meetings held at the San Bernardino County Museum last Thursday in Redlands.

Mastrup has been traveling around the state since summer making a presentation on two aspects of the DFG's big game program: options for a new tag drawing system to be used for deer and other big game, and the future of deer management in California. Mostly he has been listening to hunters who've bothered to take the time to show up and made notes of their concerns, distributed survey forms, and asked as many questions as he's answered. Mastrup said he figured he's spoken with around 2,000 hunters during the meeting process.

"Participation in Fish and Game Commission (FGC) meeting by hunters has dropped off, and we're concerned that hunting regulations and changes are being determined by a handful of vocal hunters who show up at meetings. We're not hearing from the average hunter and learning what he wants," said Mastrup. Thus, the meetings.

Tag Drawings: During the meetings, Mastrup distributed a handout and made a presentation of the different drawing processes available to hunters, along with each systems' pros and cons. He was essentially asking hunters to vote for one of the systems. They include:

-- Preference Point System. A hunter unsuccessful hunter receives a point each year, and each subsequent year all tags are drawn from the pool of hunters who have the highest number of points first before other hunters have a chance. The biggest drawback to this system is that in premium hunting areas, hunters who do not get in on the first year of the point system and continue to collect points each year will never have an opportunity to draw for this tag.

-- Modified Preference Point System. Same as the regular preference point system, but only a percent of the tags for each hunt are awarded to hunters with the most points, leaving the rest to be chosen from all applicants.

-- Bonus Point System: Hunters unsuccessful in the draw get a bonus point. Each bonus point accrued will give the hunter an additional "chance" to get a tag in all future draws. It's like a raffle, each extra ticket you have is another chance to get drawn. Each bonus point is like an additional raffle ticket in the tag drawing.

-- Draw-by Choice System: This is the current system used in California. All hunters face an equal chance in the drawing for the first choice on their application. Second and third choices are not considered until all first-choice applicants have a chance at tags for a specific hunt.
-- Random Draw System: This was the system used in California until last year. All applicants are assigned a random number. The computer sorts the numbers lowest to highest and awards the hunter the first tag on his application for a hunt not already filled. In this system, a hunter could get his second or third choice before another hunter with a that same hunt for his first choice would get drawn.

Mastrup made it clear that deer hunters in California would not have to sit out a season to accumulate preference or bonus points. Hunters would still be able to purchase tags left over after the drawing. For example, you could apply for the X5b deer hunt or the Goodale last season buck hunt, not get drawn, and still hunt the A-zone or D-11 (or both), purchasing those tags after the drawing.

What system is used is our choice, according to Mastrup.

The Future of Deer Management: Mastrup posed a simple question to kick off the second part of the DFG's search for feedback from hunters: "Do we like were we are in deer hunting today or do we need to take a different path," asked Mastrup.

The first seasons and bag limits were set in 1901 in California, and deer populations peaked in California during the 1950s and 60s. In the 1970s, we went to a statewide zone system, and we now have a quagmire of 44 zones, 28 area-archery hunts, 36 additional hunts, 68 private land management programs, and 10 fundraising tags. There are just over 150,000 deer hunters in California, and we lose from three to five percent of them each year.

Mastrup said that we need to encourage participation, not make it increasingly difficult to hunt big game. With that in mind, the DFG is working toward simplifying the system. Mastrup said the agency wants to have 11 deer assessment units (DAUs), with deer management units (DMUs) within those areas. The DAUs are broad, ecologically similar units were deer behave in the same way. The DMUs are specific deer units that are designed around managing hunters within the DAUs.

The DFG wants to get away from the A, B, C, D and Z-zone designations and go to a simpler numbering system, like all other Western states use. They would like to offer tags that cover whole DAUs, multiple deer zones, for general hunts and then perhaps special tags for late-season hunts, doe hunts, etc. in specific DMUs. This is the direction the agency has been moving to give hunters greater opportunity. For example, a D-11 tag is now also valid in D13 and D15.

But by going to the DAU system, a special late season hunt would not be valid only in a small portion of a zone, it would probably be valid throughout a deer zone or perhaps all the zones within the whole DAU. The same for doe hunts. It would make management options more varied and applying for hunts easier to understand. It also gives hunters more freedom.

Beyond the new zone system, Mastrup said it was really up to hunters on how they wanted tags divvied up. Options vary from DAU to DAU, but hunters can choose between long, early seasons with lots of opportunity to shorter, later seasons with higher quality hunting. We can have fewer general season tags and a few rut-hunting tag special opportunities for those lucky in the drawing.

But Mastrup reminded hunters that buck harvest would be limited to a certain number in each zone based on the DFG's annual surveys. How that number is split between different types of seasons is really up to hunters, he said. A long, early general season hunt might only have a hunter success rate of 10 or 12 percent, which allows for a lot of tags to be issued. A late, rut hunt would have a 30 to 40 percent success rate and fewer tags. You simply can't issue as many rut hunt tags as pre-rut hunt tags. Blending the two means you have to issue eight to 10 fewer general tags for each rut tag you issue to get meet the same harvest objectives. Add in archery tags to mix. Maybe a doe hunt or two.

The DFG has a framework in each DAU for harvest. It is up to hunters how the mix of tags distributes the harvest and opportunity.

NOTES AND TIDBITS -- matthews column 13dec00

The largest bass caught in California this year was landed this week at Lake Murray, a tiny San Diego City water reservoir. Float-tube angler Roger Horton of San Diego caught the huge 18.55-pound largemouth while fishing a waterdog at the lake. According to Western Outdoor News, a weekly sportsmen's newspaper here in Southern California, the bass ranks in the list of the top 30 biggest bass of all time.

While the duck hunting is generally dismal throughout Southern California right now, with most of the public hunting areas producing about one bird per hunter, the San Jacinto Wildlife Area had a harvest of 51 pintail this past Saturday. They made up more than half of the 90-duck bag for 81 hunters. With the limit just one pintail per hunter again this year, and the fact they are difficult birds, there are whole months when that many pintail aren't taken at San Jacinto. Whole seasons.

With rockfish populations hammered down to dismal levels, the sportfishing fleet along this part of the coast has discovered a great pastime for winter anglers that provides sacks of tasty fish but relieves the pressure on the rockfish: sanddabs. These tiny, halibut-like flatfish inhabit inshore waters in mind-boggling numbers. Yes, they are very small -- rarely more than 12-inches long -- but they are delicate and mild-flavored fish. On recent trips, some anglers have had over 100 fish to clean when boats returned. For example, on Wednesday this week one of the boats out of 22nd Street Landing (310-832-8304) in San Pedro had 37 anglers who caught 3,145 sanddabs.

Unlike rockfish, which may not spawn until they are 10 years old and live longer than your grandmother, sanddabs spawn at three years old and are prolific. The perfect gamefish. The trips cost $35.

Anglers beware: Game wardens are having a field day writing citations to anglers who are snagging threadfin shad to use for bait. The citations are being written at Castaic Lake, Lake Skinner, and Lake Perris. Since it seems like the game warden goal is to write as many citations as possible these days, not protect resources, they are having no qualms about writing these unjustified citations. They try to justify it by saying that its against the law or that anglers might actually be trying to snag gamefish.

Give me a break. Most of the shad snagging rigs I've seen consists of a light weight at the end of a line on spinning tackle, and several small, No 8 to 12 treble hooks are tied along the line above the weight. Anglers see schools of dimpling or swarming shad, cast beyond the fish, and reel and jerk the rig back through the bait. The snagged bait go into a bait bucket or live well. If you hook a gamefish on these rigs, the hooks bend open and all you get is a scale.

Technically, snagging shad -- a baitfish without size restrictions or limits -- is against the law. The only way you can legally get them for bait is with a dip net. In most other states, throw nets are legal for gathering bait, but not here in California. So it essentially becomes impossible to get shad for bait legally and consistently. And shad are outstanding bait. If you can "dip" a bait bucket of shad, it translates into good fishing even this time of year. Check out today's fishing report if you doubt it.

Instead of writing these bogus citations, the DFG wardens should petition the Fish and Game Commission to eliminate the snagging rule for shad -- and every angler who's been cited should also write a letter to the Commission asking for the change. Throw nets also need to be legal here.

First hot fishing tip of the week: With trout season in full swing at the urban lakes throughout the region, a lot of successful anglers are using the three-inch Berkley Power Worm designed just for trout. While they are still difficult to find in many tackle shops, these small, plastic scented worms are consistently producing fish. They can be fished a variety of ways. The most novel method I'm hearing about this year is the use of a small piece of these scented baits added as a tail to one of the many brands of small jigs on the market. Some anglers are even dousing the jig and worm with garlic oil to -- apparently -- give it more appeal. You can't argue with success.

Second hot fishing tip of the week: The flows in the lower Owens River below Pleasant Valley Reservoir near Bishop have dropped to less than 100 cfs in the past two weeks and they are expected to stay that low through the rest of the month. Tom Loe, who runs Sierra Drifters Guide Service (760-935-4250) reported that his drift boat clients have caught as many at 92 trout, mostly browns, up to 17-inches the past two weeks. Many of the fish are showing on dry flies during a great day-time hatch of small mayflies.

Even if you don't want to float the river, the lower Owens in the Wild Trout Stretch is very wadable at these flows, and you can fish runs and pools that are normally torrents of moving water. This is my little tip for those of you who only think of the Sierra as a place to go for the trout opener or on summer vacations.

NEW AMMO DEVELOPMENTS -- matthews column -- 06dec00

I admit that I've become a bit of a gun and shooting aficionado, to the point of reloading my own ammo and wishing I owned, oh, about 30 or 40 more shooting pieces than I already have in the gun safe. Each year I try to make the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, the industry's unveiling of new products in January, on the hope that one of the companies will come out with something I really like.

Mostly, they come out with things I don't like.

The rifle craze of late has been the introduction of hulking magnum rounds that hold more powder than baby bottle, kick ferociously, and encourage hunters to attempt shots at distant game they could never make. All the whiz-bang magnums hurl slug at well above 3,000 feet per second and sport trajectories that suggest they are nearly flat shooting to 500 yards -- never mind that most hunters can't hit game in the field past 200 yards.

The handgun equivalent is the .454 Casull, which is a specialist's firearm. Several companies now make handguns for this round and some are making guns for cartridges that are even more ferocious than the .454. They all recoils too much for most shooters to handle. I know. I have a .454. It is painful to shoot, and I have spent the better part of the last year crafting reloads that make this gun more like a .45 Colt, which is an easy-kicking joy to shoot. I also like the "snake" loads I've developed for the .454 because they are great fun and have about as much shot as a .410 shotshell.

With that background, you might understand why I'm a little bit excited about two of the new announcement for 2001.

First, Ruger and Hornady are jointly announcing an all-new handgun round and caliber -- the .480 Ruger. I am less excited about the new round (a sort of tamed-down .454), than the fact that this will be the first cartridge to ever bear the name "Ruger" on its headstamp. Some of us hope it won't be the last. Ruger has consistently brought out some of the most innovative and popular firearms to the American marketplace. Many were guns that firearms pundits said would be flops. All have sold like gangbusters.

The new .480 Ruger develops 50 percent more muzzle energy than the .44 magnum, which has become the standard firearm for pig guides, bear hunters who follow hounds, and as a back-up sidearm in hunting woods throughout the nation. The .44 mag is a gun most handgun buffs can handle with a little practice. The beauty of the .480 Ruger is that it develops only half the felt recoil of the .454 and operates at standard revolver pressures making brass life long for reloaders. For hunters who've wanted more than a .44 but felt the .454 was simply too much because of ferocious recoil, the .480 Ruger is a logical step.

Beyond the new .480 Ruger, can we expect other rounds to wear a Ruger headstamp in the future? Some of us have suggested that Ruger come out with a specialty cartridge for its lovely little bolt-action Model 77/22 Hornet rifle. This gun has a very short designed specifically for the ancient .22 Hornet cartridge. That old round is great, but some us wish for something a little peppier in this gun.

I have been talking with a Montana wildcatter (designer of custom cartridges) and bullet maker -- Jim Calhoun -- who's been working with a neat .19 caliber wildcat based on the .22 Hornet case. There are no factory .19 calibers, but Calhoun makes a conversion kit that includes a barrel for the Model 77/22 Hornet. It is a peppy cartridge that launches 35-grain bullets at over 3,300 feet per second. It would be a perfect next step for Ruger to adopt in its development of new cartridges and calibers -- call it the .19 Ruger.

I'd kind of like to see a .270 Ruger, designed around a .308 case and loaded exceed the .270 Winchester by Hornady with its Light Magnum compressed-powder technology. It would be a great fit with Ruger's regular Model 77 bolt-action hunting rifle. And how about a .400 Ruger cartridge based on a beefed up, lengthened, and tapered down .45-70 case for the Ruger No. 1 Single Shot. Or how about a new double-barreled Ruger rifle for this round. I like this trend.

Just when I was thinking that Ruger was the only innovative company out there, Winchester Ammunition along with Winchester-Browning firearms announced they have teamed up to bring out the .300 Winchester Short Magnum, or .300 WSM for short.

The cartridge is built like me -- short and fat. It's so short in fact that it will function through a true short-action bolt rifle. You know, the kind designed for .243 and .308-class cartridges. Out of this short, fat case, Winchester had managed to squeeze .300 Winchester Magnum performance. It is almost the ballistic twin of the longer round with both guns hurling 180-grain slugs at just over 2,950 fps and the 150-grain slugs at around 3,300 fps.

The benefits to the short, fat round over the long, sleek one are two-fold. First, the stubby case in more efficient in burning its powder and therefore is inherently more accurate. Second, it allows makers to chamber the round in shorter-action guns which are more rigid (again, more accurate) and can be made lighter or more compact. There is also a huge benefit in the field. Many of us have a tendency to get excited when game appears and we start shooting. Follow up shots are often botched because we don't cycle the bolt completely, either jamming the gun or simply not getting a new round in the chamber because we don't yank the bolt back far enough. I have been guilty of this malady more than once on pig hunts recently, even with .30-06-length actions.

In contrast to the .300 ultra magnums, the .300 WSM (or the older .300 Winchester Magnum, the one on the long, narrower case) is about the upper end of the recoil range most hunters can handle, and it is plenty adequate for big game out to the longest practical shooting ranges in the field.

But I'm more interested in what might come in the future from Winchester on this new case: A .375 WSM, a round that delivers cape buffalo-stopping performance in a round that is nearly an inch shorter than the century old, worldwide classic .375 H&H round? Or perhaps a .270 WSM, a round that outshines the classic .270 Winchester. You can almost count on seeing 7mm and .338 caliber versions on this new case for hunters, and long-range target shooters are drooling over a 6.5mm version.

I have been saying that things have been getting boring on the new cartridge front the last few years -- or ridiculous, as with the Ultra and Super magnums that hurt hunters more than the game -- but it finally looks like we might be entering a new period of development of intelligent, sound cartridges for hunters.

DEER HUNTER INPUT SOUGHT BY DFG -- matthews -- 6dec00

The Department of Fish and Game staff are nothing if not daring. They are inviting us -- local hunters who've watched our deer herd dwindle away over the years -- to a meeting to give the biologists and managers our feedback on what we think should be done with our deer herds in Southern California.

They are actually inviting us to discuss deer-related subjects -- including seasons, limits, tag application procedures, drawing success, and habitat.

Jane McKeever, Southern California deer management coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Game in Long Beach, and Sonke Mastrup, the department's statewide deer program senior biologist in Sacramento, will join local wildlife biologists during a pair of public meeting to be held in Redlands and El Centro. The meetings have been set up to discuss deer-related information and obtain hunter input regarding the state's deer-tag drawing system and recent changes in the department's deer population management methods.

The Imperial County meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 11, at the Imperial County Building, 940 W. Main St., El Centro. The San Bernardino County meeting takes place at the San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane in Redlands on Thursday, Dec. 14. Both meetings are set to begin at 7 p.m.

McKeever said meeting participants are encouraged to ask questions, disclose suggestions, preferences, and views both verbally during the meetings, or if preferred, in writing for consideration later.

Do they realize what they are in for?

We have all seen our deer herds dwindle on public lands where there is public access, while herds flourish on private lands or places where use is severely restricted. I recently watched the scoring of two huge bucks taken off the Angeles National Forest by bowhunters. It is an area where access is limited, tags are limited, and there is no rifle hunting and little poaching. I have seen water sources for big game disappear in our local mountains forcing our deer to a handful of watering locations where they are vulnerable to poaching and predation. I know more deer are killed by cars on Highway 395 than hunters get in the Sierra. The U.S. Forest Service doesn't know how to spell "habitat work" and the DFG doesn't hammer them on the issue.

Oh, I'll be at the Redlands meeting for sure. See you there?

(For more information on these meetings, hunters can contact McKeever at 562-433-8876 or Mastrup at 916-653-4673.)

For an agency that has done such a dismal job with deer, the DFG has done wonders with bears. Last week, bear hunters from throughout the state were being notified by mail, news releases, and direct contact from DFG wardens that the statewide quota on black bears had been filled, triggering the close of the season.

The DFG announced the closure when the statewide harvest of black bears reached 1,500 animals, as it has every year for the past several seasons. Including tags that have yet to be received by the DFG, it is estimated the statewide harvest will be between 1,600 and 1,800 bears. That harvest is out of an estimated bear population of 18,000 to 23,000 animals that continues to grow.

While I'm not sure the bear population is growing because of DFG management or in spite of it. The statewide quota has clearly increased the number of older age class bears in the population. Since successful bear hunters must surrender a tooth from their bear for biology, that data has shown that hunters are taking older and older bears. That is a good thing.

Beginning this year, there was no quota on bear tags sales, while prior to this year, there were only 15,000 tags sold. Since there was a quota on the harvest of bear, the DFG lifted the cap on tag sales, with Fish and Game Commission approval. Over 18,000 tags were sold this year, but the increase in tags didn't result in an earlier closure to the season, according to the DFG. In fact, last year the season closed one day earlier. The difference was that the DFG netted an additional $60,000-plus in money to do bear research. That is also a good thing.

The season, had the harvest quota not been reached, would have continued until Dec. 31 this year, but it hasn't gone through the end in several years. So the quota is working well.

Bear hunters are reminded that all bear tags, including those unfilled, must be returned to the DFG's Wildlife Programs Branch (1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814) by Feb. 1, 2001. Hunters who do not return their tag may lose their bear hunting privileges next season. For more information on bear tags, hunters can call the Wildlife Programs Branch at (916) 653-7203.

Do you think the DFG staff will hear anything at their deer meeting about the fact that many of us have seen more bears and bear sign in our local mountains than we see deer and deer sign?

HUNTER SAFETY CLASS SCHEDULE -- matthews 6dec00

Hunter Education/Handgun Safety Class schedule
First-time hunters in California are required to pass a 10-hour hunter education class before purchasing a hunting license. These classes also satisfy the California requirement for a safety course before a handgun may be purchased. The following is a list of regularly scheduled classes coming up in the next month:

Saturday, Dec. 9, at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises' Sporting Clays Range, Norco. Registration is 6:30 a.m. and the fee is $35 per student, which includes instruction, hunter safety certificate, lunch and refreshments. Participants must register at a Turner's Outdoorsman store or Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises and bring their hunter safety booklet the day of class. Classes are normally the second Saturday of each month. Contact: (909) 735-7981.... Saturday, Dec. 9, at the Inland Fish and Game Conservation Association Range, Redlands. Registration is 7:30 a.m. and the fee is $8 per student. The class includes live-firing and students should bring a lunch and drinks for the all-day class. Classes are held the second Saturday of each month at the Inland Range. Contact: (909) 781-HUNT.... Saturday, Dec. 9, at Baker Press, Ontario. Fee is $3 per student. This class is held the second Saturday of each month. Contact Girard Rudd at (909) 930-9470.... Saturday, Dec. 9 at the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club. There are classes the second Saturday of each month at the club. Fee is $15 per student and the class runs from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Contact: (626) 358-9906.

Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 9-10, in Escondido. Contact Mike Sanchez at (760) 739-8434.... Sunday, Dec. 10, in Rancho Cucamonga, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Price is $10 per person. Kids under 16 are required to pick up a study book in advance. Contact Gene Hubler at (909) 987-0811. Hubler runs classes the second Sunday of each month.... Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Maywood Rod and Gun Club, Perris. The club runs a hunter safety class the fourth Saturday of each month at its range in Perris, except for Nov. and Dec., when the class is the third Saturday. Contact Bob Williams at (909) 685-3908.... Saturday, Dec. 16, in Costa Mesa. Contact Wayne Morse at (714) 546-1139.... Saturday, Dec. 23, at Prado Tiro, Chino. The one-day class begins 7:30 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month in the Airgun Hall. Cost is $15 (includes ammunition and range fees). Bring a lunch, snacks, and drinks. Contact: (909) 656-3359.

Qualified hunter education instructors are available within a short distance of most any Southern California location, and courses are conducted throughout the year. For a recorded list of volunteer hunter education instructors, their locations and telephone numbers, call (562) 590-5670, or access the list via the Department of Fish and Game website at www.dfg.ca.gov.

Spanish language instructors can be found in Santa Ana, Orange County, Colton in San Bernardino County, Escondido in San Diego County, and Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. And in Los Angeles County, Spanish language hunter education courses are available in Baldwin Park, Canoga Park, Inglewood, and Torrance.

DEER SEASON SUCCESSES, AND LOSSES -- matthews column 29nov

Deer hunting seasons ended earlier this month in most hunting zones in Southern California, and there are some interesting stories about successes -- and losses -- to tell.

Many hunters I know lament the “good old days” when game was more plentiful and there were big bucks on every mountainside. The reality is that there may be more big deer around today in this country because of more restrictive hunting seasons and better management than ever before.

John Van Oort, a Moreno Valley bowhunter, arrowed a buck in the San Gabriel Mountains that may well become a new state record taken with archery gear. The deer was shot in late September in the Mt. Wilson area and had a 20-inch spread with four even point per antler. The bases of the antlers measure 4 1/2-inches in diameter. For hunters familiar with the Boone & Crockett (B&C) scoring system, the buck “green” scored 144 2/8ths points. That is a monster buck for the California mule deer subspecies.

(For those of you not familiar with B&C, the scoring involves a series of measurements of the antlers, lengths of tines, spread, and circumference. All the measurements are added together. Deductions are made for differences between the two antlers. “Green” scoring means the measurements were made before the antlers had dried. Since they shrink a little, official scoring isn’t done until they have dried out.)

Van Oort’s hunting partner Troy Spillman also shot a good buck in the same area (the D11 deer zone). His was a 20-inch, four-by-five with a score of 118 1/8th. But Spillman said the big one got away -- a buck that would dwarf either of their bucks. So the big boys aren’t a thing of the past.

Sometimes bucks that you earn, through sheer effort, are the greatest trophies, regardless of their size. Brandon Smith, who lives in Mountain Home Village in the San Bernardino Mountains, hunted every weekend of the D14 deer season. He’d seen a huge, four-by-four buck, but the deer was on private property and Smith turned down the deer, even though no one was around and would never have known.

One of Smith’s hunting mentors and neighbor, Gary Hatfield was proud of the young hunter’s decision. Hatfield, who has taken bucks in both D14 and D17 each of the past two years said, “You know how ethics are when you’re hunting -- there’s no one around but you.”

But then it seemed as though the hunting gods smiled on Smith for his honesty. He had backpacked up to the top of a remote ridge, set up camp in the snow, and then found a nice buck on public land the next morning. With a single shot, he thought he had a good portion of his winter’s meat supply.

After dressing the deer, Smith set off on the half-hour walk back to his camp to collect his gear and backpack before hauling the deer down off the mountain. Returning back down the same ridge, he saw tracks in the snow. Bear tracks going toward his deer. When he arrived where his deer had been, there were only bear tracks. A sow and its yearling cub had carried his buck down a steep canyon into thick brush. With no bear tag and knowing he couldn’t legally shoot a sow with a cub anyway, Smith shrugged and headed home.

“That was the hardest I’d ever worked for a deer, but it’s a pretty exciting story. My dad says that’s better than deer in the freezer,” said Smith, still not sure if that was the case.

Jimmy Rizzo is a transplanted Mississippi boy who finished the deer season with four hunting buddies in the San Bernardino Mountains. The last weekend of the season was upon them and they all had unfilled tags. Rizzo had scouted extensively in the area, and had a trick up his sleeve.

He started using a call, a deer grunt call. The last week or two of the hunting season is ongoing as the deer are moving into the rut, or breeding season. Over the next two days, Rizzo and his partners proceeded to call in five different bucks. The quickest a buck came in was 15 minutes, and none took more than an hour to call. Rizzo’s scouting had put them in good deer habitat where he had seen bucks during the season. They build blinds and called the deer to them.

Randy Frederick of Fountain Valley shot the biggest deer, a heavy-horned three-by-three, and Dean Karaharwa of Westminster shot a big forked-horn. The rest of the group, Rizzo, Randy Bowen of Anaheim, and Mike Edwardh of Buena Park, shot smaller forked-horn bucks. The buck Edwardh’s shot was his first.

“This just doesn’t happen. Five for five is really something in a California hunting camp,” said Rizzo.

Using a call for deer is also something that almost no one does here in California. At least until next year. When I expect a lot of us might be learning how to use a grunt tube.

Applying the 'chad’ issue to field sports

As a sportsman, a person who enjoys those arcane field sports of hunting and fishing, I am kind of rooting for Al Gore in all this legal wrangling. It would usher in a new era of personal responsibility where one’s intent become more important that what they actually achieved.

That little forked-horn buck that I didn’t shoot on the first day of the deer season, and then when I didn’t see anything the rest of the season, I need to tell you that my finger really was on the trigger and squeezing. I don’t know what happened. I meant to shoot that buck.

In the world of Al Gore, I would now be awarded that deer to my freezer. The Fish and Game Department, I assume working with God and Al Gore, will now divine the mule deer to die, and there will be a net gain to my holiday feasting on wild game.

Can you tell that I spent my Thanksgiving weekend watching MSNBC?

At some point, when is someone going to talk about voter responsibility in the same context that we talk about it in all other facets of life. Imagine if we applied the “voter intent” theory to the outdoor world. It wouldn’t matter if we could actually punch a shot through the ribs of a nice buck or punch the hook home on that tournament-winning largemouth bass, we would be credited with the kill or catch if somehow it was divined that we really intended to do the deed.

I could just hear the tales in hunting camps: “You guys have to believe me, I saw a buck that was bigger than Leroy’s by at least six-inches in spread and it had four big, long tines per antler. I tried to hit him three times, but there were big gouts of dust behind him each shot. It was a record book buck for sure. Don’t you think I should make the book because I tried to whack him.”

Or at the bass tournament weigh-in: “Ask my back-seater Joe, he saw the fish jump, it was at least a six-pounder. And even if you just add four pounds to our total, we have won this tournament fair and square. It isn’t my fault that big ol’ bass threw the hook. I intended to land him, and therefore we had more poundage hooked than anyone in this tournament. We win.”

I’m not even going to say anyone is lying here because we all know that fishermen and hunters are as honest as the day is long. But before Al Gore, you only got the rewards if you managed to get the deed done. That’s how it has been in life.

Am I the only one who thinks that you have to vote to have your vote counted? Voter pamphlets are pretty clear about how to vote and that you need to make sure the “chad” is punched out. I have always made sure there were no clinging chad or hanging chads on my ballot card. One time I had to manually take a chad off, flicking it with my fingernail. Of course, that was before I knew what it was called. Was I tampering with my own ballot? What would Al Gore say here?

Or how about the “butterfly ballot”? Real world analogy: You and your hunting partners are planning your annual deer hunt. There’s one dumb---- in your group, call him Willard, who assumes you’re going the same place as last year and doesn’t read the instructions from Bob, who did the scouting. Willard also didn’t look at the map Bob gave him when everyone was getting ready to caravan out of town. Willard ends up in New Mexico instead of Colorado and spends a night in every campground in the Gila National Forest looking for the group and wonders why everyone calls him a dumb---- when they all get back home. You can’t vote for two guys for president, dumb----!

When all else fails, read the instructions. This isn’t like putting a kids’ Christmas toy together. With the toy, you can do it once without reading the instructions and have a toy that doesn’t work and has leftover pieces. So then you go back and read the instructions. You only get one chance at the ballot box and you have to do it right. No do overs. In fact, I’m sorry to say this, but do we want people who are too stupid to complete this voting task participating in the process? It isn’t rocket science for crying out loud. You punch out a chad in the card and make sure it’s your chosen candidate’s number.

Maybe we should have a mandatory “Voter Preparation” class, just like we have a hunter safety class. We know the hunter safety classes work. Maybe a voter prep class would help prevent lots of people from shooting themselves in the foot, figuratively.

But that would prevent people from playing God with ballots in close elections. Boy, would the lawyers and judges hate that.

Deer hunter meetings set for early December

Southern California hunters can take advantage of an opportunity to meet with state Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologists this month to discuss deer-related subjects -- including seasons, limits, tag application proceedures, drawing success, and habitat.

Jane McKeever, Southern California deer management coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Game in Long Beach, and Sonke Mastrup, the department's statewide deer program senior biologist in Sacramento, will join local wildlife biologists during a pair of public meeting to be held in Redlands and El Centro. The meetings have been set up to discuss deer-related information and obtain hunter input regarding the state's deer-tag drawing system and recent changes in the department's deer population management methods.

The Imperial County meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 11, at the Imperial County Building, 940 W. Main St., El Centro. The San Bernardino County meeting takes place at the San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane in Redlands on Thursday, Dec. 14. Both meetings are set to begin at 7 p.m.

McKeever said meeting participants are encouraged to ask questions, disclose suggestions, preferences, and views both verbally during the meetings, or if preferred, in writing for consideration later.

For more information, hunters can contact McKeever at (562) 433-8876 or Mastrup at (916) 653-4673.

MATTHEWS WHOLE OUTDOORS CATALOG -- matthews-ons 22nov00

Annually, I waste the space devoted to this column in a very personal and self-serving way: I tell about the Matthews Whole Outdoors Catalog Company, the largest and oldest mail-order business in the world dealing with unique outdoor products, all of them designed, tested and manufactured by the eclectic members of the Matthews family for this 186-year-old business.

I'm always amazed how many people have never heard of our mail order catalog company (and associated web site -- and in spite of what Al Gore or the U.S. military says, we actually did invent the Internet). The MWOCC catalog was published in 37 languages this year, and we print over 32 million copies which are distributed to virtually every nation in the world. Two copies are also currently on the international space station (Russian and English versions). Even without retail stores, we rival Sears in gross annual sales. So I just say to those of you who've never heard of us: Do you live in a cave?

This year, I'm delighted to announce three of our newest products that show how we are branching out into 21st century outdoor sports and games, and spill the beans -- sadly -- about how one of them is being used illegally as we speak.

Genuine Grizzly Bear Hibernation Elixir.
Sleep away those boring months. The Matthews Outdoor Gene Group (the same family members who introduced the Frog Hormone, or Thunder Thigh Elixir for float tube anglers and swimmers, and extinct Irish elk genetics into game farm elk stock that produces bulls scoring over 500 Boone & Crockett points) has discovered a way to distill the hibernation traits of bears into a tasty drink that allows humans to sleep uninterrupted for up to several months, not just during the winter. Test lots of the elixir sold out almost overnight to fishermen who wanted to sleep through those boring late fall and winter months and to hunters who wanted to get past summer to their beloved fall. By increasing the amount of the elixir taken, the user can vary the amount of time hibernation sleep is induced. Two warnings: First, inducing sleep longer than four months is not recommended because passage of the anal plug that forms during sleep become extremely painful. For example, a losing presidential candidate might be tempted to simply sleep off his loss for three years. Bad idea. Passing an anal plug in place for three years might be more painful than losing an election, especially for a politician. Second, the product should not to be used by pregnant women because babies are born prematurely with rich coats of fur.
Snore-In-A-Bottle (Single Season Size, eight-ounces).... $23.95
Snores-In-A-Jug (Family Size, 32 ounces).... $69.95
Available in mint, cherry, and huckleberry flavors.

An Authentic Electronic Dolphin Language Decoder.
Divers around the world have been pressing our technology experts at MWOCC to come up with a method to decipher the squeaking language of dolphins. Our great uncle, Werner Von Matthews, who single-handedly broke the code used by the Germans in World War II, not only was able to translate all known sounds of dolphins, he has put all the data into a microchip as part of a small, waterproof computer that fits in a pair of specialized diving goggles or mask. With the special ear piece, you can instantly hear the computer's translation of what the dolphins are saying around you while diving. During head-wagging, laughing behavior, some phrases used by the dolphins repeatedly around human divers are perplexing because they translate as: "Otter-brained-whale-spittle," "Net this!," "Does anyone know how to CALL great white sharks?," "Rucy I'm Home," and "Land urchin."
Flipper Talks Swim Goggles.... $289
Flipper Talks Swim Mask.... $359

Heads-Up Display, .02 Caliber, Silenced, Eyeglass Novelty Gun.
Great uncle Werner, cousin Steve "Apple" Matthews, and cousin Willis Matthews designed this product as a party novelty and practice device for military fighter pilots. They were drinking, what can we tell you? It is nothing more than a miniature, semi-automatic firearm fitted in the frame of a pair of glasses. It fires tiny .02-inch diameter slugs made of walnut out of a silenced barrel in the right temple frame. Aiming is accomplished with a holographic display that shows in the left or right eye (please specify when ordering). Firing is accomplished by tapping the "trigger" on the bridge of the glasses or via a remote "trigger" housed in a ball-point pen housing. The device is extremely accurate, allowing the wearer to hit an object the size of a pin head with the nearly microscopic walnut bullet at 20 feet. Low-Power loads are great at parties for making people think bugs are crawling on them, or shooting sparks rising from a campfire. High-Power loads will kill a housefly at 30 feet, great fighter pilot training, or for school teachers to keep their students alert.
Micro Woody Eyeglass Gun.... $689
Please specific head size: Pin Head, Fat Heat, or Meat Head.
Woody Low-Power Ammo (per 100).... $88
Woody High-Power Ammo (per 100).... $89

To our dismay, unscrupulous vote-counters in Florida have found that high-power loads were sufficient to dislodge one or two corners of a chad on a ballot. We have overnighted over 100 of these specialty eyeglasses and over 100,000 rounds of ammunition to the Sunshine State in the past week. The outcome of the election is in their hands.

For your very own complete copy of the Matthews Whole Outdoors Catalog Company Christmas catalog, which has over 147 new items, please send certification that you voted in this year's presidential election, a note from your mother affirming your sanity, and $2 is G&H Green Stamps to MWOCC, P.O. Box 9007, San Bernardino, CA 92427-0007.

Second Pig-O-Rama set for Dec. 8-10 at Tejon

LEBEC -- The Tejon Ranch will host the second Pig-O-Rama the weekend of Dec. 8-10, and the hunter who bags the heaviest hog during the three-day event will win $1,000, according Don Geivet, the game manager at the ranch. The first "Ham Slam," as the event is also known, was held earlier this year over Memorial Day weekend. The event was limited to the first 50 hunters who paid the $300 hunter access fee, and the event was won with a 230-pound field-dressed hog taken by Mike Jones from Santa Ana. Entry fee is again $300 (and all hunters must have a $20 insurance policy), and the hunter bagging the biggest field dressed hog between noon Friday and 5 p.m. Sunday will win a $1,000 prize. Entries must be received no later than Dec. 1. For more information, hunters can write or call Geivet. Write to Don Geivet, Tejon Ranch Company, P.O. Box 1000, Lebec, CA 93243, or call (661) 663-4208 or (661) 663-4209.

PHEASANT SEASON OPENER COLUMN -- matthews-ons -- 15nov00

They are signs of the times. A "posted, no trespassing" sign, and a "$" sign. The pheasant season opener this past weekend attracted more hunters than ever before to Imperial County, but the bulk of the most productive pheasant hunting areas were posted at the last minute, according to Joe Brana, a Department of Fish and Game warden here. "I'd say 80 percent of the fields south of Interstate 8 around El Centro were posted," said Brana. "That means the bulk of the land where birds are at is posted." Brana said that in the past, most of these same lands were open to hunters who asked permission, but Brana said the Abatti family decided to post their lands and only offer fee hunting this year. That move closed about 3,000 acres of the best lands to general hunters.

"I just want to make sure they don't get a bad rap," said Brana of Ben and Mike Abatti. "For years they've just been letting people hunt their place, and they've been real pro-hunter." Brana said the crowds have been getting worse each year, and some hunters have trashed the private property, so the Abatti's decided to go to a fee hunting program to cut hunter numbers and problems down. "We just want to manage the resource for future generations," said Mike Abatti of Upland Paradise Land Resource Management, which is managing property for four farmers in the El Centro region this year. Abatti said they posted approximately 3,000 acres and that several other farmers also posted lands at the last minute.

Abatti said that only 50 hunters opening day hunted the posted lands and 62 hunted the second day of the season. Many, if not most, of those hunters had limits of pheasants, according to Abatti. He said two hunters were limited out by 8:30 a.m., drove home to Perris for a wedding Saturday evening, and were back Sunday morning at 5 a.m. to hunt again. "The bird population is just incredible this year. I don't even want to guess how many birds there are, but we want to provide a good experience and want everybody to limit everyday they hunt," said Abatti.

Lands managed by Abatti are only opened on weekends. Costs for hunting are $100 per day, per hunter (or $50 for junior hunters 14 and under), or a season-long fee is $750 ($350 for juniors). All pheasant hunters must check in and out. (For information, hunters can call Abatti at 760-352-0543.) Is that too steep? For old timers who are accustomed to the old days of knocking on doors and forming long term friendships with farmers and ranchers, it seems like a horrible deal. But for anyone who's been out here on opening day of dove season or pheasant season, you can certainly understand the farmers' concerns.

Warden Brana said that he did check about 35 birds taken by hunters on non-posted lands south of Interstate 8 and in the Holtville area north of the freeway. He said the key was finding Sudan grass or asparagus fields, which were holding the most birds. "I've been here 20 years and this is by far the most people I've ever seen for pheasant opener. It seemed like there was at least one hunter in every field," said Brana. But he also noted that there are more pheasants in the valley than ever before, saying that it was not uncommon for him to see 400 birds a morning while patrolling. He told of one farmer who reported seeing 100 pheasants in a single field. So diligent hunters who seek out good places to hunt and get permission (or pay trespass fees) will have a good hunt in Imperial County.

Prior to the opener, Brana worked with the public affairs office of the DFG in Long Beach to get out the word about how good the pheasant hunting season looked to be this year. It led to several stories being published in Southern California newspapers and Western Outdoor News, a sportsman's weekly newspaper. But that was before the lands were posted. Brana found out about the posted lands in the middle of the week just before the opener. "We were worried that people would show up and no one was going to be able to hunt," said Brana.

Many hunters apparently went to areas adjacent to the posted lands or opted to hunt other game birds. He said that many hunters also found the opening of the season half of the dove season pretty good. Brana said he checked several hunters with limits of doves. Hunters are reminded that pheasant hunting is not allowed until 8 a.m. each day, and that only roosters may be taken. While the limit was only two birds per day opening weekend, the limit is now three roosters per day through the end of the season, which concludes Sunday, Dec.10.

The question is now whether or not you can find a place to hunt or are willing to for an opportunity that used to come to anyone who was courteous and asked permission.

Bear harvest nearly 1,000 animals in statewide tally

SACRAMENTO -- The statewide bear harvest was at 960 animals as of last Friday, according to the Department of Fish and Game. That is about two-thirds of the statewide quota of 1,500 animals. Bear season is scheduled to continue through Dec. 31 in all bear hunting areas of the state, but it could be shut off early if the reported harvest reaches 1,500 animals. Last year, the DFG closed the season on Nov. 29. During the 1999 season, in addition to a quota on the harvest, there was also a tag quota of 18,000 tags. For this season, the sales quota was lifted and there have been just over 20,000 tags sold as of last week. The harvest quota remains at 1,500, regardless of how many tags are sold.

DUCK STAMP WINNER AND MORE -- matthews outdoor column 8nov00

The 2001-2002 Federal Duck Stamp design election, I mean contest, went as planned this week. In other words, the results weren't announced two days late, and it wasn't decided by 11 votes in Florida.

On Wednesday, Bob Hautman of Plymouth, Minn., won the event for the second time. His painting of a lone pintail sitting on the water near cattails will be on next year's duck stamp, which is required for all waterfowl hunters. The funds raised by stamp sales are for wetland habitat acquisition to expand the National Wildlife Refuge system. Hautman, along with brothers Jim and Joe, have painted designs to win this event six times since 1989.

Considering the number of outstanding artists who compete in this competition each year -- with 316 in the judging -- the brothers' dynasty is amazing. Brother Joe finished third in the judging this year, while brother Jim was ineligible this year. (You have to sit out for three years after winning.)

Avid hunters, the win has affected the close-knit family's hunting plans for year. "My brother Jim said to me this week, `You'd better not win, you'll screw up your whole hunting season.' We've all learned about that before," said Hautman.

The winner of the duck stamp competition makes appearances with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff at two events right after the competition. The first is this weekend in waterfowl art festival in Easton, Md., and that is followed by a trip next week to Redlands here in Southern California to be at the Wildlife Art Festival at the San Bernardino County Museum. The Wildlife Art Festival features the top 100 entries in the federal duck stamp art competition, including the Hautman brothers' work. It is open to the public Nov. 17-19, with Bob Hautman on hand all three days.

"This is really going to cut into my hunting this year," said Hautman, who is still managing to squeeze in a planned trip to South Dakota to hunt pheasants and ducks between the Easton and Redlands trips. "Maybe we'll know who the next president is by the time I get out to Southern California."

18th Annual Wildlife Art Festival features federal duck stamp art

REDLANDS -- The 18th Annual Wildlife Art Festival will be held Nov. 17-19 at the San Bernardino County Museum, and it will again feature the top 100 entries in the annual federal duck stamp art competition. The event is the only place in Southern California where the artwork for the federal duck stamp competition can be seen, and it has evolved into a major wildlife art festival attended by most of the prominent wildlife artists, sculptors and decoy carvers in the West and much of their work may be purchased on site. The junior duck stamp art is also displayed, and there is a decoy carving competition with hundreds of competing pieces on display. Most of the major conservation groups also have displays at the event -- including Ducks Unlimited and Quail Unlimited.

The winner of the duck stamp competition for 2001 is chosen just days before this event, and the winning artist and his artwork will also be at the festival. Last year, Adam Grimm, who painted the design on this year's federal waterfowl stamp that must be purchased by all hunters 16 and older to hunt ducks and geese, was at the show. Admission to the wildlife art festival is $6 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and $4 for children. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For information or directors to the museum, call (909) 307-2669 or the toll-free line at (888) BIRD-EGG. You can also get more information at the museum web site: www.sbcountymuseum.org.

While seemingly the whole world was focused on the presidential race Tuesday, members of the California Sporting Goods Association and a broad range of representatives from the shooting and hunting industry in Southern California gathered at a fundraiser. It wasn't to battle political assaults on gun ownership or hunting, it was to raise something over $30,000 for organizations working with abused and underprivileged children.

The Third Annual Sportsmen Helping Children event has been held with little fanfare. These are sportsmen in the community working with the community.

"We've purposely picked smaller, local groups where we could really make a difference," said John McGovern with CSGA. "We'll raise at least $30,000 and turn it into at least $100,000 in product." There are five homes for abused children, one children's hospital, and a group that buys shoes for children who submit "wish lists" of products in the sporting goods field -- helmets, bicycles, scooters, backpacks, basketballs, etc. Because the CSGA can get the equipment at wholesale or manufacturer's cost, the value of the cash raised at the fundraiser is increased for the charities.

"They provide us with $10,000 worth of equipment at this event and help us throughout the year with other needs," said Rhonda Beltran with the McKinley Children's Center in San Dimas, which has 72 children in residence and another 80 with foster parents. "It's such a worthwhile cause. We couldn't keep our kids in safety helmets without their assistance." Not something you'd expect from a bunch of NRA-supporting, Bush loyalists, eh?

Speaking of the NRA, do we know who won the presidency yet? Regardless of who won, you won't hear this from the political pundits: the National Rifle Association made the election extremely close. Forget Ralph Nader. Never mind that a sitting vice-president with a booming economy should have blown away the opponent. The issue was gun ownership, and if Bush holds on to the projected win, it may have come down to 37 rural Florida gun owners who took time out to drive into town to vote against a threat to the Constitution, at least in their perception. The NRA and gun ownership was big in this election that should have been a landslide for Al Gore.

With all the talk about third parties, perhaps we should follow the model of sportsmen in France and form our own party. Our platform: Mandate that the opening day of trout and dove season be national holidays, make hunting and fishing constitutionally guaranteed rights with a new amendment, and require that you have a hunting or fishing license before you could vote. I'd accept the nomination.

OUTDOORS AND POLITICS -- matthews column 1nov00

I would rather be writing about hunting or fishing this week, but elections are next Tuesday and the outcome of the national vote will really set the stage on how our sports, our outdoor passions, will be shaped through at least the first half of this century. Or whether or not consumptive outdoor sports and broad-based gun ownership will survive at all.

Those of you who've read my columns over the years know that I'm generally a pretty optimistic guy, but the past eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency and the promises made by Al Gore to the environmental and anti-gun community over the past two months, has convinced me that I am a target of their discrimination and that ending hunting, fishing, and gun ownership is truly a goal of these people. They may say otherwise, but their actions continue to speak much louder than their words.

I used to have an immense amount of respect for Al Gore back in the days when he represented Tennessee. He had solid stands on the environmental, supported sportsmen, and a sterling voting record on firearm issues. After eight years in the beltway, he has deserted his roots. Gore has become a champion of extreme gun control measures that only serve to increase crime. He has supported radical interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, and he encouraged, if not actually designing, Clinton's presidential decrees to create a host of new National Monuments that banned huge tracts of land to hunting. He is part of an administration that doesn't believe the Second Amendment relates to an individual's right to own firearms -- and opinion only held by about two percent of constitutional scholars. Clinton infuriated me. Al Gore frightens me.

Under Gore, more guns will be banned, for no good reason. Hunting, which is already too complex and costly with our licenses, fees, and application systems, will get even more difficult. Piece by piece. Fee by fee. Regulation by regulation. We could end up like Australia or, worse, England where hunting and gun ownership are largely a thing of the past. Fishing will slowed be phased out in National Parks, and perhaps even National Forests, and huge ocean reserves will become off limits to anglers. That is the Gore vision for America's sportsmen and gun owners.

I'm not sure I agree with George W. Bush on a lot of issues, but any man who can take an evening out of a busy campaign in early September to hunt doves and have jalapeno dove breasts for dinner is a guy who -- in my mind -- is at least squared away on what is important. And I do agree with the Bush-Cheny campaign on a lot of issues that affect the Second Amendment and outdoors sports so near and dear to my heart.

For example, Bush signed a bill to ease concealed-carry gun laws in Texas. While you never read this in major newspapers or hear it on the evening news, crime in down in Texas. Just as in all other states enacting laws making it easy to get a carry permit, crime drops dramatically, especially violent crime. Crooks don't want to get shot, and statistics show that concealed carry gun owners make fewer mistakes and shoot fewer innocent people than police officers. Bush appointments to the Supreme Court will assure that we don't get judges who will ignore parts of the Constitution that they believes are pass‚ or outdated.

In Texas, Bush's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department is a model that we would do well to follow in California. Their staff actually help enhance its state's fisheries, and their license fees are a fraction of our California fees. Texas coastal waters are sensibly managed with the sportsman in mind.

Dick Cheney, who would rather be flyfishing and hunting than living in Washington D.C., has already said that a Bush administration would look at all of the new National Monuments created by Bill Clinton, many that have locked hunters out of public lands throughout the West, and consider repealing their creation, allowing for more local input into how these lands should be managed.

These two guys are fellow sportsmen who understand our needs and concerns, and while I realize there are a lot of other issues in this election. I worry about the environment, but I'm heartened by the fact that some of the most far-reaching and important environmental legislation has come out of the White House during Republican administrations who were willing to work with Congress. For eight years, there has been no important environmental legislation because Gore and Clinton have been unwilling to slide down off the high horse.

Pardon the pun, but I don't want to get Gored this election. Sportsmen have been discriminated against for the past eight years, and I hope that you will take the time Nov. 7 to vote your sport, your passion. It might be a first step in actually making things better for hunters and fishermen in this nation.

DEER DECLINE: IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS -- matthews outdoor column 25oct

It started out as a single file. Over two decades ago I scrawled “Mule Deer -- Population Decline” on manila file folder and shoved a couple of deer harvest graphs from Southern California and a press release into the folder and stuck it into the cabinet. The single file has expanded into the better part of two drawers, and there isn’t a Western state that is not examining the long-term mule deer decline that has spanned 30 years and doesn’t seem to be turning around significantly.

Mule deer may not be going extinct, but the big-eared deer are certainly at lower levels than they have been in this country since perhaps the turn of the last century. Virtually every biologist, ecologists, and hunter I know has his own theory, and all of them probably hold a part of the puzzle. The prevailing belief is that the biggest factor is the loss of sagebrush/bitterbrush habitat through conversion to either grassland -- due to repeated fires thanks to introduced grasses -- or to pinon-juniper woodlands through vegetative succession -- due to fire suppression. That may seem contradictory, but it’s really not. We have more mature forests and more grassland in the West than we’ve had in 50 years, and deer are a successional species that rely on the brush. A Utah biologist told me recently that his state had only about five percent of the sage habitat they had just 25 years ago.

Predators are also pegged as a major factor, especially when populations are down, and pioneering work done in recent years actually supports the idea that predators can have a major impact on wildlife species -- something that was pooh-poohed just a decade ago. Of course, the studies that said that predators didn’t have an impact on wildlife were done when federal, state, and county governments were killing every predator it could with traps and poison to help ranchers, when fur prices were high and trappers worked every nook and cranny in the West, and when everyone and his brother shot every predator they saw. Those early studies were done when there weren’t near the number of predators we have now, and recent work is bearing that out. Predators can hammer a deer population -- especially a low deer population.

Now, I’m fairly certain that habitat and predators are major factors in the Western deer decline in varying degrees of importance for individual herds and populations of mule deer. It is also likely that highway mortality, poorly timed and excessive hunting seasons, and pressure on deer populations from other human-caused factors (like motorcycles in fawning areas) play roles. But it seems to me, at least here in Southern California where our deer live in chaparral and along the mountain tops in forests, that even where our habitat is in pretty good shape and most other factors haven’t changed much in decades, our deer numbers are still dismal.

I spent two days in the chaparral recently. One day in the Wrightwood area and one day along the crest of the Santa Ana Mountains. Both areas had burns recently. Both areas only had one main road through the country, the same as it’s been for 40 years. In fact, both areas had several roads closed. Predator numbers are probably not any higher than they’ve been for that same period of time. But vast areas in both mountains didn’t have any deer sign. No tracks. No droppings. It didn’t used to be that way. It wasn’t that long ago when you had to be careful not to run over deer coming down the roads at night. Now, if you see a deer, you marvel and tell your neighbors about it.

What is different? I marked up my maps where I found deer sign on these outings and poured over them pretty thoroughly. I found deer sign where there was water. Deer need to drink every day when its hot. They can’t get too far from water, especially with fawns. There were deer around springs.

Water, and good feed in decorative shrubbery, is why there are so many deer in the suburban foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Foothill golf courses attract deer because there is water. Hillsides adjacent to valley citrus orchards still are where the best deer populations are in the inland valleys. Water.

On both stretches of main road in the national forests where I drove and hiked, perhaps five or six miles worth of road in both cases, there were four water tanks and collection facilities that once had open water for wildlife. All were dry or had no open water. Eight former water sources. On a bench below one of the roads there is an old cattle pipeline that moved water to a series of at least four stock watering tanks, all now dry, too.

I don’t want to imply that water is the only factor, and that the hills would come alive with wildlife again if we simply turned on the spigots, but this is one thing that we can do to improve habitat where it still exists for wildlife.

When touring the huge burn area in the San Bernardino National Forest last year with a host of wildlife and plant specialists, I asked if plots of native buckbrush and bitterbrush could be planted to benefit deer and help the burn recover. In a typically fatalist way, I was told by a government biologist that it would be very labor intensive and that only 20 or 40 acres could be planted this year in the thousands and thousands of acres burned. Basically, he said it wasn’t worth doing. But if we put in 40 acres this year and help increase the deer herd by four or five animals, and then plant 40 acres next year, and 40 acres the year after that, and more in the future, pretty soon there is some significant, measurable benefit.

Just like fixing a few water sources here and there and keeping them working. Every little bit helps. We’ve seen what every little loss can do. Every predator kill, every new housing tract on the edge of deer habitat, every lost half-acre of sagebrush has added up to create the West’s tragic mule deer decline.

Now, we’re so intimidated by the big picture that we don’t do the little things that would help turn things around over time. That needs to change. I would bet that in just five years, we could do enough in Southern California with little, simple projects that the deer herd would grow enough to double the buck harvest.

This is a gauntlet, a challenge. Hunters and wildlife enthusiasts must pressure the federal and state agencies charged with habitat and wildlife to make things happen. There’s a lot of talk these days about merit-based pay for teachers. How about merit and performance pay for wildlife and habitat managers who meet wildlife population goals? They could and should meet this challenge.

BIRD OPENERS AND NEUROTIC DOGS -- matthews column 18oct

The three Labrador retrievers have been looking in through the sliding glass doors at me in my office this week with expectant faces. I balefully glare back at them. Someone has been telling them that bird seasons are opening, and they're looking forward to tearing around in the field. They are wonderful dogs most of the year, but then hunting season comes along and they expect me to take them along on my trips. Since that is the excuse I use to have the animals, it is assumed I will take them along. I can't be honest and say I don't want to take them along because they ruin my hunting trips as effectively as they've ruined the backyard. That would not fly well around the Matthews' house.

It's not that my charming wife, Becky, doesn't like dogs, but she would like to have a nice backyard, too, and could do without the dogs being in the house all the time and leaving big dollops of hair all over the carpet and family room couch. So it weighs heavily in the dogs' favor for them to be my prized hunting dogs -- even if "prized" is really a slight exaggeration. Well, maybe a pretty gross exaggeration. The dogs are my buddies. They genuinely like me (well, two of them do, the other would probably bite me if she thought she could get away with it), and they show me more respect than my children. I like them for that. So we get along pretty well here around the office when everyone else is away at school or real jobs. I talk to them and they listen attentively. I can still out wrestle them. They like to sort through hunting and fishing tackle with me. They lay on my feet and keep my tootsies warm in the winter.

But when we actually go hunting, I've come to realize that we've developed a rather unique breed of dysfunctional Labradors. My old yellow lab, Sandy, has had two litters of puppies over the years, and we've kept one pup from each litter. Tanka, the huge female from the first litter, and Jack, the big male from the last litter. People who know Labradors will tell you they are wonderful people dogs, easy to train, and have natural field abilities. Since I have hunted with other Labradors over the years, and had an exceptional Lab as my first hunting dog, I am still convinced this is true even though my recent experiences would suggest otherwise.

Sandy has growled and barked at every one of my hunting buddies since she was a puppy, which can be disconcerting in a duck blind. She will seem to calm down and sit by my side, eyeing the other hunter nervously. But if my partner makes any kind of suspicious movement -- you know, like hunkering down or suddenly tensing for a shot as birds start to come over the decoys -- she will fly out of the blind barking wildly. The fact that she has survived as long as she has is a great testament to my hunting buddies who have only threatened to shoot her because of these antics. The ducks sometimes flare when she does this routine. Actually, more often than sometimes.

I must say she is a wonderful retriever when she sees the bird go down, but she figures her job is over when she brings the bird out of the water, or, in the case of upland birds, she carries them only until she can see me. She then drops the bird and wanders off to hunt on her own, which she does frequently. She is a wonderful pheasant dog, and I have seen her put up birds after trailing them at a dead run for over 1/4-mile. That is a little out of range for my shotgun. She doesn't have a clue what the words, "come," "sit," or "stay" mean, and she doesn't much like sitting in one spot. So frequently she sneaks out of duck blinds and starts nosing around for shorebirds or pheasants. I'm the guy you see out there at the state wildlife areas yelling at his dog to come. I push the birds your way. Oh, and Sandy is only her name around the house.

Tanka was the biggest puppy in the litter, and we called her the Sherman Tank before cleverly naming her Sandy's Shermane Tanka. She is a classic lap Lab. Sleeping on the boys beds as a puppy, she has always assumed she was a house dog and owned the furniture. If you pet her, she puts a paw up on your knee. If she isn't reprimanded immediately, she assumes you want her in your lap and licking your face. All the aversion training in the world has not dissuaded her from that trait. When guests have overstayed their welcome, I let Tanka in the house.

Labradors instinctively use their noses to find things. As untrainable as Sandy is, she uses her nose extraordinarily well. Tanka is a sight dog. I can't remember a single instance of her actually sniffing to find a bird. She is the best sky-scanner I've ever seen, and if she sees a bird go down, she will bring it back to me proudly. If she can see it. In heavy cover, if she doesn't find the bird right away by sight, her interest wanes and she comes back to me and starts looking in the air for more birds.

Tanka also doesn't much like hunting upland birds. She's the submissive female in our pack and, since she doesn't use her nose, she finds wandering around in brushy county pretty boring. She walks at heel and panics if she loses sight of me and tears around through the brush whining. However, she loves to sit in duck blinds or on a dove field, perched right next to me getting her head scratched and trying to climb into my lap constantly. She usually spots any incoming birds first and rushes out to meet them. The birds sometimes flare when this happens. Actually, more often than sometimes.

Jack was my great new prospect. Early on he showed all the traits of my first Labrador, Joe. Joe was a wonderful yellow lab that could make 200-yard blind retrieves in water, follow hand and whistle signals, and could smell a covey of quail from 1/4-mile away. My hunting chums called Joe "the wonder dog." They just wonder about Jack. My vet calls Jack, "Jack (the) Lemon." She's pretty funny, my vet. He grew so big, so fast as a puppy that he had some developmental problems: one dysplastic hip and a bad hock on the same leg. A dislocating knee of the other back leg was fixed up with surgery, and my vet says he'll always be a good three-legged dog, even when the hip and hock start getting arthritic when he gets old. To delay that, Jack is on daily medication to keep the joints loose and the pain down. My wife calls him "Jack, the vet's goldmine." She says our boys' braces dig into the family budget less than Jack costs us.

In spite of Jack having good field skills and generally minding, I don't like to take him out much because I worry about hunting him in rough terrain with the hip and all. He also doesn't much like swimming, which is something I can't figure out because all Labs like water. So I don't hunt ducks with him much, using my other two crack waterfowl dogs for those tasks. But Becky makes me take him on other hunts because he howls pitifully when I leave without him this time of year, so I mostly stay in easy places with Jack while my hunting chums bust brush, climb steep slopes and get birds while I have nice walks with Jack and Tanka in gentle terrain. Who knows where Sandy is?

When I met up with hunting chums later I borrow their birds and throw the for Jack to retrieve or hide them, and Jack is getting pretty good at blind retrieves and following hand signals. He can find just about anything my hunting buddies bring back and I hide for him. Maybe this year, I'll actually run into a covey of quail or chukar out on an open flat somewhere with Jack so he can show his stuff.

The three of them are sprawled around my feet here in the office now twitching, dreaming about it all.

NEWS: FOREST SERVICE OPENS ROAD INTO DEER AREA -- 18oct00

FAWNSKIN -- The San Bernardino National Forest opened a main access road through the forest north of Big Bear Lake in the D14 hunting zone this past weekend, the opening of the deer season in this area. The road had been closed due to the massive Willow Fire last year, but the road was opened on weekends-only to give hunters access to one of the most popular hunting areas in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The road, 3N14, runs from Fawnskin north through Coxey Meadows and out into the high desert near Apple Valley. All spur roads off 3N14 were closed with hunters required to walk from this access road. The road was opened as a test this past weekend, and because there was good compliance from hunters, it will be opened again each weekend of the deer season, according to Ruth Wenstrom, a USFS spokesperson in San Bernardino. Jim Davis, a Department of Fish and Game biologist, said that between the DFG, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management checks, there were approximately 18 deer and one bear taken by hunters using this area opening weekend of the season.

"Apparently the decision to open the road was made at the last minute," said Davis. "I wasn't notified until Friday evening, and that was the only drawback." Davis said there were supposed to be Forest Service personnel or volunteers at gate the upper end of the road at Big Pine Flat and at the lower end of the road where it enters BLM land down on the desert. The staff were to hand out flyers and explain that only the main road was open and that all spur roads were closed. District Ranger Allison Stewart, who worked diligently to get the road opened on even a limited basis for hunters, pulled off the opening at the last minute, even though there were many USFS staff who were concerned about the possible damage. She emphasized that the road could be closed if there is poor compliance.

"The area is still very fragile and we're still extremely concerned about the potential for vehicle damage. Regrowth is just beginning in many locations, and the area remains highly susceptible to erosion. Even the slightest vehicle use off of designated roads could set back the fire recovery," said Stewart. The road was tentatively slated to be open again this weekend from 9 a.m. Friday through 9 a.m. Monday and closed during the week. Hunters can call the San Bernardino National Forest's Arrowhead Ranger District office at (909) 337-2444 to find out the status of the road in coming weeks. Hunters with cell phones can also call this number to report off-road vehicles or motorcycles violating the vehicle closures. The D14 deer season will close Nov. 12.

PHEASANT SEASON OPENER NOV. 11 -- 18oct00

Pheasant opener should be good in the Imperial Valley

The Nov. 11 pheasant season opener should garner more attention for Southern California hunters this year thanks to good production of the big birds in Imperial County, according to the Department of Fish and Game staff. "I've been in Imperial County since 1980, and there's more pheasants this year than I've ever seen," said Lt. Joe Brana, state Department of Fish and Game warden in El Centro. He said the Imperial County pheasant population has "sky-rocketed" during the past five years. "It's not uncommon to see 400 pheasants on a morning patrol, just driving the roads," said Brana.

Brana attributes the sudden rise in pheasant populations to a five-year shift in an agriculture industry preference from primarily lettuce, melon and alfalfa crops, to asparagus and suddan grass, enhancing considerably both cover availability and quality for birds. The new crops expand habitat in which pheasants conceal themselves from predators. "Until recently, I never saw pheasants on the north end of the county near Brawley and north of Holtville, but they're there now," Brana said. Pheasants can presently be found throughout the valley south of the Salton Sea, with largest concentrations located in fields south, west and east of El Centro.

Brana suggested hunters scout alfalfa and other crop fields situated adjacent to asparagus and suddan grass crops, for best results. He noted that locations posted "no hunting" or "no trespassing", fields under cultivation, and fenced property require written landowner permission before they can be hunted. Fenced lands that contain livestock are most always closed to hunters as well. "Most landowners will give permission, especially to those who stop by prior to the season (and ask)," said Brana. Most all suitable pheasant hunting habitat is on private property, so preseason scouting and written permission is nearly always a must. Come hunt-day morning, Brana advises hunters to avoid driving about, creating a stir just prior to the 8 a.m. legal hunt start time.

Brana said such early arrivals encourage birds to vacate with haste those fields where they feed at night and where hunters have access, and scurry to the relative sanctuary of asparagus and suddan cover, crops off-limits to visitors. "People are spooking the birds ahead of shoot time by driving around. They need to park their vehicles a good distance away, and then plan to walk quietly to the hunt field so that they arrive at 8 o'clock," said Brana. Pheasants can hunker down in thick cover with the best of upland game birds, and a good hunting dog can make a profound difference, contributing significantly to hunter success. Those with K9 assistance might also try the miles of canals that ribbon Imperial Valley, where pheasants hold up in thick vegetation.

"With a dog, you can coax the birds out of those tight brush stands where they hide," Brana said. He advised make lodging plans well prior to the Saturday, Nov. 11 statewide pheasant season opener to assure a place to stay. The sudden pheasant hunting popularity in the valley has caused motel reservations to fill quickly for opening weekend. By law, only rooster pheasants can be taken. Shooting hens is illegal, and Brana warned that if a warden cannot identify the gender of a bird in the bag, a hunter can be cited for violation of Fish and Game Code Section 3660, "possession of pheasant carcass that sex or species cannot be easily determined."

To avoid this common error, Brana suggest when cleaning birds, hunters leave the head attached until meal preparation time so that wardens can always identify gender. Brana said additional pheasant hunting violations wardens encounter each year include shooting with an unplugged shotgun, hunting without an upland game bird stamp, and possession of a loaded gun in a vehicle. Brana reminded hunters that a "loaded gun in a vehicle" can mean a loaded gun laying on the hood or leaning up again a door, both unsafe practices for which wardens can issue citations.

Littering is a significant contributor each year as well, to not only the citation count, but also the closure of future hunting access granted by landowners weary of cleaning up trash and feathers from cleaned birds left by thoughtless hunters in local fields and canals. Pheasant bag limit rules are a bit different than with most game birds. Only two male birds can be taken for the first two days of each season, then three rooster pheasants daily are allowed during the remaining 28 hunt days. Possession limit is twice the daily bag limit. Hunting ends at sunset each day, and pheasant season concludes Sunday, Dec.10.

Pheasants Forever barbecue, fundraiser set for Nov. 10

EL CENTRO -- Pheasants Forever is hosting a fundraiser barbecue on the eve of this year's pheasant season opener in Imperial County. The event will be held at Rio Bend RV Park at Interstate 8 and Drew Road in El Centro beginning 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 10. Cost is only $10 per person for the carne and pollo asada barbecue buffet. Hunters must make reservations no later than Nov. 3 by calling (619) 447-1340 or sending an e-mail note to muscat@earthlink.net. There will be a raffle for a Browning BPS 12-gauge shotgun and other items, and hunters can also purchase tickets for the Pheasants Forever President's gun raffle to be held at its March 3 annual banquet. This gun is a Fabarm Classic Lion Grade 12-gauge. Hunters who plan to stay at the Rio Bend RV Park for the pheasant opener are also encouraged to make reservations in advance by calling (760) 352-7061.

WATER FOR WILDLIFE -- matthews column 11oct00

With the National Park Service threatening to remove desert water sources from the East Mojave National Preserve and drought drying up guzzlers throughout Southern California, there is a critical need for action within the state to improve the water situation for wildlife. I have a couple of modest proposals that would help solve the problem in the short term and keep water sources brim-full well into the future.

First, the Department of Fish and Game and sporting groups should work to get legislation passed that mandates there be “no net loss” of desert water sources for wildlife on public lands in the state, including the East Mojave National Preserve. Since the park service is being rather bullheaded in working with the state agency in drafting a management plan that works with the DFG on hunting and management, statewide legislation would force the Park Service’s hand in allowing for the maintenance of all the guzzlers and historic stock watering devices in the East Mojave that have made this region a wildlife Mecca. It would assure that windmills and cattle tanks will remain in place for all wildlife.

It would also give the Forest Service an incentive to make permanent its funding for a pilot program, funded with Adventure Pass money, that is inventorying and performing maintenance of all wildlife water on the four Southern California forests. It would also encourage the DFG to work cooperatively with federal agencies to maintain the water. Just on