Posted by JB22 on March 13, 2001 at 11:14:42:
I frequent this site often, but rarely post a message.
As for the 'no take zones', one has to be REAL careful. On the surface, it sounds very good and well. However, there is always more. Often an 'uninformed' group will push their 'decisions' onto others, affecting many or all of us, not based on scientific facts, bt based on their own beliefs/values. I am also a hunter, and can site MANY examples of this: Mountain Lions (AKA Cougars) were NEVER endangered or threatenned in California, however, since the 1986 ban on hunting of mountain lions, their numbers have sky rocketted. Just because you don't see them (like you would see a deer) does NOT mean that they are NOT there. I see more and more tracks of Cougars now than I ever did before. Ironically, I see less and less deer and deer tracks than ever before.... How convenient for 'anti-hunters'. I would anticipate either a ban or a severaly restriced hunting on deer and other game because now we don't have a high enough surplus of them, and the lions will 'starve' if humans were to take the deer.
Similarly, let's look at some of the other abuses: Wild Pigs were said to be a problem for the local Flora at Catalina and Santa Cruz islands. Instead of letting hunters help out with the problem (even for a moderate fee) that would also generate some income, they paid professional hunters to eradicate the wild pigs (supposedly). Now, Catalina has turned into a 'private hunting preserve', where you can go on a 'guided' hunt for deer/wild pig for a price tag of $1500 (I believe). Let's not even talk about Santa Cruz. Some members of the 'Nature Conservancy' have turned it into their own 'private' pig hunting 'hot spot', while it remains closed to hunting to you and I. The same goes for large parcels of public land in central and northern California, where there are 'no hunting' zones, that once more, become private hunting spots for the DFG officers and their friends and family, while remaining closed to the general public.
These are just some things to consider, before jumping on the 'sugar coated' conservation efforts.