Shooting Nationals Are Tryouts for U.S. Teams

The national shooting championships in Olympic-style rifle, pistol, shotgun and air gun competition are under way at the 1984 Olympic site, Prado Tiro, in Chino.

The 25th U.S. International Shooting Championships, which run through July 6, are the tryout competitions for U.S. shooting teams competing in September at the World Moving Target Championships in Italy.

Olympic medalists Matt Dryke, Ed Etzel, Pat Spurgin, Ruby Fox, Dan Carlisle and Wanda Jewell are competing, along with 600 other rated men and women shooters. Competition is held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

A celebrity trapshoot, featuring entertainment figures and Rams and Raiders players, will be held Saturday starting at 10 a.m.

Judging from some experiments with caged bears at the University of Montana, red pepper sprays are believed to be effective in warding off grizzly bear attacks, according to an article in the July issue of Backpacker Magazine.

According to the article, researchers provoked caged grizzlies to charge. When sprayed with red pepper spray, they stopped abruptly, rubbing their eyes and nose. One product, Animal Spray, manufactured by Bongard Protective Systems of Florida and distributed by Bushwacker Backpack and Supply of Arlee, Mont., is effective. Cost: $20 for 50 grams, $30 for 400 grams.

The Department of Fish and Game has issued a report showing that catch-per-angler hours at the Salton Sea averaged 1.46 for shore, jetty and boat fishermen during a study involving 19,053 fishermen in 1983.

The 1.46 catch rate includes four main Salton Sea species--orangemouth corvina, sargo, tilapia and croaker. The report concludes no other state warm water reservoir or marine fishery matches that of the Salton Sea’s.

The hunting season on brush, cottontail and pygmy rabbits and varying hare opens Monday and continues through Jan. 26. Feed and water appear to be plentiful in most rabbit hunting areas and shooting should be more productive than last year in most areas, DFG biologists predict.

Nevada biologists will soon begin live-trapping about 100 desert bighorn sheep in the Black Mountains, near Lake Mead.

Five rams are to be sent to Utah to bolster populations there, and up to 25 will be sent to Colorado and released. The remainder will be released in three new southern and western Nevada sites.

Fatalities were down, but boating accidents increased 20% in California in 1984, according to the state Department of Boating & Waterways. A total of 791 recreation boating accidents were reported, resulting in 337 injuries and 93 deaths.

Statistics showed the most common causes of boating accidents involving fatalities were boating on hazardous water, improper weight distribution or overloading, faulty equipment and operator carelessness. In most cases, the cause of death was drowning, and victims were not wearing life jackets.

Briefly The DFG mailed deer hunt tag applications, hunting licenses and copies of the hunting regulations to sporting goods dealers around the state June 13 and 14. . . . Anglers report a brisk fishery in kokanee salmon at Boca Reservoir in Nevada County. The state stocked the reservoir with 52,500 kokanee finglerlings in 1982. . . . The DFG says applications for fall deer and wild pig hunts at Camp Roberts are available. . . . Ron Arra, Sandwich, Mass., cast a 5-ounce sinker 656 feet, 1 inch recently to win a long-casting tournament at Phoenix. . . . Wayne Holmes, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., won the Military Bass Grand National Tournament at Lake Havasu with a 6.26-pound stringer. . . . California-Nevada Rocky Mountain mule deer have traveled 20 to 55 miles since biologists from the two states placed collar transmitters on 20 does in Western Nevada last January. Ten of the deer (five have died) have moved to California summer ranges. . . . DFG offices have a new publication: “White Bass, A Threat to the Delta Fisheries.” The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates over four million American shotgunners now reload their used shells and save from one half to three-fourths the cost of new shotgun shells. . . . Arizona game wardens in the Pinetop area are looking for someone who is illegally capturing golden eagles. One caller reported seeing a recreation vehicle with four live eagles inside.