Outdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : Warm Weather Is Blamed for Drop in Deer Hunting

Department of Fish and Game biologists are blaming unseasonably warm, dry weather for a recent drop in deer hunter success in 21 Northern California hunt zones.

A survey of the zones, where most of the state’s deer kill occurs, showed that hunter success was running 14% ahead of last season--until recent dry weather dropped the hunter success rate 3% behind.

The latest tally of tag returns showed a buck kill of 15,752 for the 21 zones, compared to 16,202 at the same stage of the season a year ago. Statewide, the buck harvest is down from 31,182 to 29,323.

Final results will be tallied later this month.

Meanwhile, the DFG is recommending to the Fish and Game Commission that 1,000 permits be issued next year for an antlerless deer hunt for Shasta County’s Cow Creek herd. Biologists say an antlerless hunt is warranted because more than 7,000 fawns produced each year by the herd die within a year.

If present DFG proposals are adopted, hunters would be able to choose from as many as seven either-sex or antlerless hunts next fall.

The Fish and Game Commission voted final approval of 1987 California sportfishing regulations last week, including one that provides for two salmon closures on the upper Sacramento River, designed to protect the small run of winter king salmon.

The commission, however, postponed consideration of a request by the Sacramento River Preservation Trust and the Tehama Fly Fishers for listing the winter-run salmon as a candidate for endangered species status.

The closures are between the Deschutes Bridge in Shasta County and Red Bluff Diversion Dam, from Jan. 1 through June 30, and from the Red Bluff dam to Knight’s Landing, Jan. 1 through June 1.

Also affecting many of the state’s 2.5 million licensed fishermen is a change in the bag limit for Crowley Lake, in the Eastern Sierra. The bag and possession limits for trout were changed from seven fish daily and seven in possession after two days of fishing to five fish per day, 10 in possession, during the general season.

Slim pickings are predicted for Southern California’s band-tailed pigeon hunters, as Saturday’s opening day of the Dec. 13-Jan. 13 hunting season approaches.

DFG personnel have spotted fewer birds than usual in usually popular shooting areas such as Frazier and Alamo mountains in Ventura County, and Mt. Palomar in San Diego County.

The acorn crop, a staple of band-tailed pigeons, is down in much of the state this year, biologists said.

Briefly Two Newport Beach men, Robert E. Pautsch, 66, and Lawrence R. Harris, 58, have been ordered to appear in Mount San Jacinto Municipal Court Jan. 14 to answer charges of unlawfully shooting a whistling swan. They were hunting at a private club in Hemet when, witnesses said, one of them shot and killed a swan. Whistlers are game birds in some Western states, such as Nevada and Wyoming, but not in California. . . . San Francisco hunter George Constantine shot a Roosevelt elk with an 8 x 7 rack on Santa Rosa Island recently that unofficially measured as the No. 1 Roosevelt elk ever, according to the Safari Club International record book. . . . New outdoor books: “Southern California Atlas & Gazeteer,” DeLorme Publishing Co., $12.95. A map book that can be turned into an 11 x 16-foot wall map of Southern California by removing the pages. “Hunting Guide to California,” by Paul S. Webster, $14.95. A comprehensive California hunter’s guide for game animals, birds, seasons, guides and locations.