Outdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : State’s Decision on Lead Shot Expected Today

Hinting at possible legal action, the state Fish and Game Commission has chosen to wait until today--deadline day--to decide whether to ban the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting in northeast California and four Sacramento Valley wildlife refuges.

A decision will be made at 1 p.m. when the five commissioners are polled by phone, a commission spokeswoman said.

Today is the deadline set by the Interior Department for an answer to its demand that only steel shot be used for waterfowl hunting on federal refuges in the state. Refusal means hunting closures on all federal refuges in California.

The commission is under pressure from hunters, who prefer lead pellets over steel. They say that lead is more accurate, cripples fewer birds and causes less damage to gun barrels.

The Interior Department’s opposition to lead is shared by environmentalists, who argue that lead poisons the environment and poses a threat to bald eagles and other predators that eat poisoned waterfowl.

A federally ordered lead ban in California would affect hunting in all of Lassen and Modoc counties, eastern portions of Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama and Plumas counties; the Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa and Sutter national refuges; the Grizzly Island Wildlife area in Solano County, and the Cibola refuge in Imperial County.

Sources said that the commission is still considering the possibility of court action to counter the federal government’s threat. As of Thursday, barring legal moves, the choice for the commission appeared to be restricting hunters to steel shot or having no hunting season.

Do fish have memories? You bet they do, says a University of Oklahoma zoologist, who has studied feeding patterns of North American freshwater game fish.

“Some people think a fish can’t remember, that it relies only on instinct,” said Dr. Loren Hill. “They think fish forget things in a matter of minutes, but that’s not true. We’ve found through our studies that a fish does have a memory.

“For example, if a bass is caught on a spinner bait one day, it’s almost impossible to catch that fish on the same lure the next day. And if it is exposed to that bait every couple of days for a week or so, it could be 20 days before it will strike that lure again.”

He added, however, that there appears to be one lure that doesn’t register on a bass’ memory. “For some reason, the plastic worm doesn’t stimulate the same memory response that other lures do.”

The Department of Fish and Game reminds hunters that this year’s opening day of the dove season, Sept. 1, falls on a Monday. The opening day, the DFG said, will not be adjusted to allow hunting on the previous two weekend days.

Arizona biologists are exploring the possibility of reintroducing the Mexican wolf to remote Arizona areas.

The wolf was exterminated in the Southwest before 1900, when it was a significant predator of livestock. Today, the species is believed to survive in the wild only in small numbers in remote regions of Mexico. In addition, 33 breeding Mexican wolves are maintained at a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in Texas.