By Terry Knight — The Outdoorsman
The general A zone deer season gets under way on Saturday and as in the past few years hunters can expect only a so-so year. It”s the old story of a continuing loss of habitat and low deer numbers.
We”re a long ways from the “good old days” when Lake County was one of the top buck producing counties in the state. For the past 20 years the county”s deer population has been in a slow decline and today it”s barely holding its own.
All the deer in Lake County are of the blacktail species. Biologists say the blacktail is a close cousin of the mule deer, but others disagree and still others say that thousands of years ago the whitetail crossed with a blacktail and produced the mule deer. Either way, it”s one of the smallest North American deer and a mature blacktail buck will weigh only about 130-150 pounds alive.
The deer herd in Lake County reached its maximum numbers in the late 1950s. In 1955, the estimated deer kill in Lake County exceeded 2,000 bucks. Compare that to last year when fewer than 250 bucks were taken.
To survive and reproduce, deer require food, water and cover. As more and more people move into the county, suitable wildlife habitat disappears. A half century ago the sheep population along the North Coast was peaking and ranchers provided water, food and predator control which, while helping the sheep, also benefited the deer. Another factor was the timber harvests in the Mendocino National Forest. There were also unlimited control burning during that era. With all these ideal conditions, the deer herd literally exploded.
By the 1970s, sheep ranching declined to a trickle and predator control just about vanished. The result was that the coyote population soared and the deer herds went into a decline. Timber harvests were also being cut back because of environmental concerns and control burning was severely curtailed. The past five years have seen the deer herd leveling off and today it”s static. Much of the deer range along the North Coast is now at its maximum carrying capacity. The Mendocino National Forest is a good example. In the 1960s it wasn”t unusual to see 25-60 deer per day. Now if you see five deer per day it”s considered a lot.
Control burning on public lands is also a major factor in deer survival. Years ago the local ranchers and hunters annually control burned the vast Cow Mountain Recreational Area and the deer thrived. Typically on the opening weekend of hunting season more than 40 bucks would be taken. Now only about 10 bucks are taken from the 60,000-acre area the entire season. It”s little more than a giant brush patch and supports little wildlife of any type.
Many people think because they see dozens of deer on the local golf courses and in the backyards that the county is awash with deer. Not so. The reason the deer hang around the golf courses and local residences is because there is an abundant food supply of flowers and shrubs. However, the back country is often a virtual desert.
Of all the species of deer, the blacktail is the most challenging to hunt. They test not only the hunter”s endurance, but his patience as well. As one hunter remarked, “You have to be some kind of masochist to enjoy hunting during the Zone A deer season. The weather is usually near the century mark, you”re hunting in brush so thick that you can often see only a few yards, and all for a buck that usually is only a forked horn and weighs under a 100 pounds.”
No other hunting sport challenges the hunter like the coastal deer zone. And yet, it is one of the most popular deer hunting zones in the state.
Without question the blacktail buck is a worthy opponent. He would rather hide than run and more than one hunter has walked within a few feet of a buck and never known he was there. He thrives in the hot, dry terrain under miserable conditions. He spends most of his day in the thick brush or deep canyons, and unlike his muley cousin who often stops and stares when flushed, all most hunters see of a blacktailed buck is his rear end as he goes over the hill. When a hunter bags a blacktail buck ? be it a forked horn or four-pointer ? he has earned his trophy.
As in past years on the opening weekend the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) game wardens will be out in force and will be using the deer decoy to nab hunters who illegally shoot after dark with a spotlight. The decoy, which resembles a three-point buck, has fooled more than one poacher.
The wardens will also be enforcing the loaded weapon in a vehicle law. A weapon is considered loaded by the DFG when there is a shell in the chamber. The wardens will also be looking for trespassers. The law says that if a property is posted, fenced or under cultivation you must have written permission from the owner to hunt on it. It goes without saying that you must have a valid hunting license and the appropriate deer tags in your possession while hunting.
