Steel Shot Required at Tule Lake

The Department of Fish and Game reminds waterfowl hunters that they’ll be required to use steel shot at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and at some adjacent private and state lands for waterfowl hunting this season.

Steel will also be required for all hunting on the state’s Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in Solano County but will not be mandatory on any other hunting area in the state, the DFG says.

The steel requirements were imposed as a result of a recent federal court decision, following a lawsuit against the federal government by the National Wildlife Federation. The group contends that spent lead shot on marsh bottoms causes lead poisoning not only in bottom-feeding waterfowl species but also in raptors such as bald eagles, which eat waterfowl.

The DFG says it has been assured by a major shot shell supplier that ample supplies of 20 and 12 gauge steel shot ammunition will be available in the Tule Lake and Fairfield areas of the state during waterfowl season.

Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Jackpot Tournament will be held Nov. 14-16 at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Entry fees for the tournament, to be headquartered at the Hacienda Hotel, are $1,000 per team. Two purses will be paid out, the tournament and Calcutta purses. The event will benefit a private school in Cabo San Lucas, Patronato El Camino. About 200 fishermen are expected to sign up. Registration is being handled by Bisbee’s Sportfishing Headquarters, 406 So. Bayfront, Balboa Island, Calif., 92662.

Department of Fish and Game biologists report a three-day aerial survey of Owens Valley tule elk indicate that the population is holding its own, with 600 animals counted. The total was slightly less than the record 609 counted last year. The DFG estimates 490 to be the optimum population for the valley. The agency plans to capture and transplant about 200 tule elk to other parts of the state. A roundup of the animals is scheduled to begin in late October.

The Coast Guard reminds boaters that it has established a restricted safety zone on the south side of Santa Cruz Island owing to Sept. 3-Nov. 30 naval operations. Periodic openings will occur, but permits will be required to enter the zone during the openings.

Higher fees being paid by California hunters for deer tags this season will help launch a concerted rehabilitation project at key Lassen County deer winter range areas, burned off earlier this year. The DFG says it will seed the burn areas with bitterbrush, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will supply several thousand bitterbrush seedlings for fall planting.

One of the worst fires was a 2,500-acre blaze last month at the DFG’s Bass Hill Wildlife Area, a critical element in the winter range for the large Doyle deer herd south of Susanville.

The legislature approved fee increases for this season that hiked a single resident deer tag from $4.25 to $7.50. Next year, it jumps to $10.

Briefly The Newport Beach Chapter of Ducks Unlimited holds its fund raising dinner Thursday, Oct. 3, at Orange County Fairgrounds. . . . Arizona wildlife law enforcement officers checked 3,476 hunters on the recent opening weekend of the dove season and issued 246 citations and seized 685 doves. . . . Deadline is Oct. 2 for waterfowl hunting reservations at the state’s Honey Lake or Butte Valley wildlife areas. . . . Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a volunteer group dedicated to the preservation of the Bolsa Chica Bay Reserve, conducts its annual Bolsa Chica Trash Out Sept. 28.