Hunting Foes Picket Annual Sports Show : Wildlife: Animal rights group outside Anaheim Convention Center calls for an end to hunting. But the protests do not appear to dampen the spirits of the enthusiasts.

Ross McHenry and Mike Popp displayed pictures of dead wildlife Saturday at the 25th annual Anaheim Sports, Vacation and RV Show, but the two could not be further apart on the issue of hunting.

McHenry, one of more than 50 protesters outside the Anaheim Convention Center, waved posters of dead animals in a call for an end to hunting in the United States.

Popp was inside the convention hall, showing pictures and videotapes of animals killed by hunters at his Idaho ranch in an attempt to get outdoors enthusiasts to vacation there.

The protest, which organizers said was one of the largest of its kind in the county, did not appear to dampen the spirits of the thousands of the people who attended the first day of the show.

The demonstrators passed out flyers and carried placards with slogans such as “Hunters Need Guns to Prove They’re Men.” One protester wore a skeleton mask.

While demonstrators occasionally exchanged words with people entering the show, the protest was peaceful.

“We’re here to stop the carnage,” said Wanda Ballard, a protester from Anaheim. “I’m trying to get through to the children--to get through the brainwashing and the tradition of killing.”

Organizers said they chose to picket the show because of the many private wilderness ranches that advertise hunting vacation packages and stress the number of animals one can kill as a selling point.

The protest was organized by the animal rights group Hunt Saboteurs in conjunction with six other organizations in Los Angeles and Orange County. It marks the third consecutive year the groups have picketed the show.

But their views were not shared by many inside the show.

“I think they’re naive,” said Popp, manager of Flying B Ranch in Kamiah, Ida. “We have more deer and elk in the U.S. today than ever before. A lot of the natural predators are extinct. Without hunting, we would see overpopulation and disease.”

Popp’s exhibit was along a row of similar booths marked by towering antlers protruding from several mounted animal heads on display.

“I don’t even pay attention to (the demonstrators). I don’t like them,” said hunter Tom Engle of Anaheim as he adjusted his cowboy hat. “They better not ask me what I think.”

Not far from the hunting ranch area was the National Rifle Assn. booth, where NRA field representative Fred Romero defended the right to hunt.

“No one respects the animal more than the hunter,” said Romero, who noted that hunters pay 90% of the cost for wildlife management projects through a tax on guns and ammunition.

The Sports, Vacation and RV Show runs through Jan. 14. About 600 exhibitors of recreational vehicles, RV accessories, boats, outdoors products and wilderness getaways are attending the show, which is expected to draw 100,000 during its run.