Sacramento Bee RSS Feed
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2009
- Messages
- 442
- Reaction score
- 1
Opponents of a proposed special doe hunt around the communities of Granite Bay and Loomis say they will fight on after state officials recommended that the number of deer allowed to be killed in an existing youth hunt be tripled in order to decrease deer populations.
"We will be protesting," said Janet Thew, an opponent of the deer hunt. "It's very disappointing."
Alarmed at the number of vehicle/deer accidents, Placer County officials went to the state Department of Fish and Game for a solution. One solution discussed was allowing teens – armed with shotguns or bows and arrows – to kill a few dozen female deer around Auburn-Folsom Road.
But in a letter dated Aug. 18, Craig Stowers, the department's deer program coordinator, recommends that rather than create a new highly focused hunt, that starting in 2010 the existing "Blue Canyon" J17 special hunt for kids 12 to 16 be tripled in number, from 25 tags to 75 tags. Female deer or "antlerless" deer would be the target under the proposal.
The weapon used by hunters would be governed by existing hunting rules, said Josh Huntsinger, who staffs the Placer County Department of Fish and Game.
The J17 hunt covers a wide area north of the American River and south of the Bear River. It includes portions of Placer, Sacramento, Yolo, Yuba and Nevada counties.
In the letter, Stowers says the state would work to find suitable hunting grounds within the target area.
"This should accomplish the objective of removing more antlerless deer from the target area through hunting while maintaining hunting opportunity in other areas of Placer County," Stowers writes.
He wrote that making the hunt for females only will aid in collecting data on the weight and health of the deer – a concern when an area is overpopulated.
Stowers is expected to discuss the plan at a county fish and game commission meeting Aug. 26.
"It's a step in that direction," Huntsinger said. "It should help with the situation."
Thew said neither she nor other members of her group, "Ban the Bogus Deer Hunt," knew about the youth Blue Canyon hunt.
"We are finding out all kinds of things," she said. "There is all kind of hunting that most people aren't aware of."
More...
"We will be protesting," said Janet Thew, an opponent of the deer hunt. "It's very disappointing."
Alarmed at the number of vehicle/deer accidents, Placer County officials went to the state Department of Fish and Game for a solution. One solution discussed was allowing teens – armed with shotguns or bows and arrows – to kill a few dozen female deer around Auburn-Folsom Road.
But in a letter dated Aug. 18, Craig Stowers, the department's deer program coordinator, recommends that rather than create a new highly focused hunt, that starting in 2010 the existing "Blue Canyon" J17 special hunt for kids 12 to 16 be tripled in number, from 25 tags to 75 tags. Female deer or "antlerless" deer would be the target under the proposal.
The weapon used by hunters would be governed by existing hunting rules, said Josh Huntsinger, who staffs the Placer County Department of Fish and Game.
The J17 hunt covers a wide area north of the American River and south of the Bear River. It includes portions of Placer, Sacramento, Yolo, Yuba and Nevada counties.
In the letter, Stowers says the state would work to find suitable hunting grounds within the target area.
"This should accomplish the objective of removing more antlerless deer from the target area through hunting while maintaining hunting opportunity in other areas of Placer County," Stowers writes.
He wrote that making the hunt for females only will aid in collecting data on the weight and health of the deer – a concern when an area is overpopulated.
Stowers is expected to discuss the plan at a county fish and game commission meeting Aug. 26.
"It's a step in that direction," Huntsinger said. "It should help with the situation."
Thew said neither she nor other members of her group, "Ban the Bogus Deer Hunt," knew about the youth Blue Canyon hunt.
"We are finding out all kinds of things," she said. "There is all kind of hunting that most people aren't aware of."
More...
