OUTDOOR NOTES : Open Season on DFG in Sacramento Court

While hunters’ sights are trained on bears, and animal-rights activists take aim at the hunters, major attention will be focused on California in the latest round of the anti-hunting feud unfolding in Sacramento today.

Superior Court Judge Cecily Bond will hear arguments on whether to allow the hunting of black bears, as approved by the state Fish and Game Commission.

Hunting opponents have picked California as the battleground for a cause they hope to carry from coast to coast. They have already had some success in disarming the state’s hunters for mountain lions, bears and tule elk, although this year they declined to challenge the tule elk hunt in court when the Department of Fish and Game produced a strong environmental document supporting its conservation aspects.

Mark Wasser of McDonough, Holland and Allen, will be representing the DFG, backed by attorneys hired by the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, the California Houndsmen (bear hunters) for Conservation and other hunters’ groups.

Jim Moose of the Sacramento law firm of Remy and Thomas will represent the Fund for Animals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Wildlife Conservancy.

California hunters are 0-5 in court, including Bond’s decision in August that zapped bow-hunting of bears this year. But fearing that the anti-hunting movement could steamroll over all hunting, they are starting to stir.

Mountain lions, bears and tule elk are the quarry of a relatively few hunters, and it could be a different game if hunting opponents went after the three big D’s--deer, doves and ducks.

“Many of the people who support duck and dove hunting are also clients of (Remy and Thomas),” Wasser said.

After showing some unrest over this year’s proposed migratory bird and waterfowl regulations, the opponents of hunting failed to challenge them.

And the loss of the 1990 bear hunt, scheduled to run from Oct. 13 to Dec. 30, should not be considered inevitable, Wasser said. Remember, Bond commended the DFG on its bear document, but then voided archery hunting because the DFG failed to address the matter of bears that would be less than mortally wounded by arrows--a reference to cruelty to animals.

“The basis for the judge’s decision on archery is not a problem,” he said. “It was a technical failure to fully comply with (California Environmental Quality Act) procedures.”

The issue, then, may be whether the California bear population can stand a hunt. Houndsmen say they have seen more bear tracks and signs--if not bears themselves--than ever during the current deer and squirrel seasons, and the ones they see are big and healthy.

The Fish and Game Commission posted a quota of 15,000 tags. The hunting success rate is only about 10% to 12%. In 1988, only 1,359 of the 12,561 issued tags were filled, and the kills have averaged 1,245 annually.

The DFG received only 3,700 applications for tags as of this week, but hunters are believed to be awaiting the court decision.

The outlook for Saturday’s Southern California D zone deer season opener:

Zone D11 (Los Angeles County)--Deer are abundant but skittish because of the high number of visitors to the Angeles National Forest. Suggestion: hunt quietly in as remote an area as you can find.

Zone D13 (Northern Ventura County)--DFG suggests Alamo Mountain, Frazier Mountain and Quatal Canyon areas within the Los Padres National Forest. Thorn Meadows and Matau Flats might also be productive.

Zone D16 (Western Riverside and San Diego counties)--San Jacinto Mountain range of the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County and the Palomar and Descanso districts of the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County are recommended.

Briefly

LOCAL FISHING--Yellowfin tuna are still cooperating for fishermen with San Diego’s overnight fleet, which has been traveling about 70 miles south of Pt. Loma. Bigeye and bluefin tuna and dorado are being caught. Bluefin tuna between 30 and 500 pounds are still being taken by anglers fishing Southern California’s outer banks. Long Beach Sportfishing is making regular trips. . . .The First Inshore Fishing Festival--featuring boat and tackle displays and demonstrations from experts on all aspects of inshore fishing--will be held Oct. 13 at the new recreational facilities at Newport Dunes in Newport Bay.

BAJA--Sailfish are extremely abundant in the East Cape region, with some hotel boats reporting up to 11 a day, most weighing between 60 and 70 pounds. Jesus Sousa and Abel Ramos of Thousand Oaks returned from Baja claiming to have caught nine sailfish and a striped marlin in one day. Dorado to 40 pounds are being taken with the sailfish--10 miles off the beach. Light-tackle beach fishermen report the showing of sierra mackerel. Cabo San Lucas reports good fishing for sailfish and dorado, with some yellowfin tuna to 40 pounds.