DFG Target of Surprise Protests : Conservation: The commission expected to face anti-hunting opposition, not angry hunters, at a hearing on game limits.

The protests that the California Fish and Game Commission expected from anti-hunting groups at the final hearing on mammal hunting regulations for 1990-91 came instead from the other side--the hunters.

Houndsmen--hunters who use dogs to pursue game--concerned about restrictions on bear hunting, and archers, seeking a more liberal season for deer hunting near San Diego, dominated testimony before the commission Friday in Long Beach.

Finally, when Commission Executive Secretary Hal Cribbs asked for any additional comment on game mammals, not an anti-hunting voice was heard.

“They didn’t need them,” said Tony Andrade Jr. of Visalia. “They had us.”

This was the last opportunity for public comment before the commission adopts the proposed regulations April 26. There was speculation that anti-hunting groups, which went to court to halt proposed hunting of bears, tule elk and mountain lions in recent years, might take that course again.

In the past year, the DFG had adhered to the California Environmental Quality Act by preparing biological documents supporting eight types of mammal hunts--for deer, bear, elk, tule elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, fur-bearers and hunting with dogs.

The hunters who appeared Friday thought that the proposed regulations go too far in attempting to protect the state’s living resources and would do more harm than good.

Some examples:

--Bear hunters objected to a proposal, added during Friday’s session, to cut off the hunt when 1,250 bears were killed, suggesting that would prompt hunters “to shoot the first bear they see,” including young ones.

--Other houndsmen objected to the continued closure to running dogs in a section of Fresno County and in the Holcomb Valley area behind Big Bear Lake because the DFG says it is bear habitat--although residents insist there are no bears there.

--Archers objected to a San Diego archery deer season shortened from nearly three months to about five weeks at a time when biological data indicate that the herds there are already starving because of limited forage.

Of the restrictions on bear hunting, Commissioner Everett McCracken of Carmichael indicated that the commission was being cautious because of previous lawsuits. “We’re walking through a mine field,” he said.

The houndsmen claimed that many of their numbers don’t kill bears, they merely pursue them.

“We just like to run our dogs,” said Mike Wingo of Modesto. “Some houndsmen couldn’t catch a bear if they wanted to.”

A pure pursuit might not be possible if the hunt was curtailed at the proposed limit. Because that amendment was added Friday, after the proposed regulations calling for a limit of 15,000 permits had been published and distributed, Wingo said that the houndsmen felt betrayed.

“We strongly supported the department’s recommendation,” Wingo said. “This isn’t what I told my bunch.”

Mike Michael of Fresno said that by closing certain areas to dogs, “what the commission is doing is protecting marijuana habitat. It’s as if the dope growers know we won’t be using the area.”

Bud Hemman of Sanger, president of the California Houndsmen for Conservation, said: “We appreciate the crumbs you throw to us. . . . But all we get is crumbs.”

He later said: “The commission is punishing us for our resistance. But the environmentalists aren’t the only ones that can file lawsuits.”