A season of sunrises

Duck hunting suffers due to drought

By Guy Carl
Outdoors

Waterfowl hunters in Northern California will remember the 2008-2009 season for its clear views of many spectacular sunrises.

Warm, comfortable days with blue-bird skies were the norm this year.

Decoys could float peacefully on glass-calm ponds, undisturbed by the terrors of the wind.

Hardly a storm cloud was to be seen from mid-October’s opening day all the way through last weekend, when the season ended.

In truth, this year’s duck season was one most hunters would just as soon forget!

The number of really stormy days we had this year — the kind that get ducks moving and duck hunters excited — can be counted on one hand.

Many hunters have told me this was the worst duck season they’ve ever endured.

The cycle of drought we are going through right now is to blame for these conditions.

The Pacific Flyway’s populations of ducks and geese were good this year, but no real storms came through with rain and strong winds to stir up the birds and push them out of the protected zones.

Also, with the lack of rainfall, farmers did not have enough water to flood many of the rice fields normally used by hunters — and many fields that did have water were barely deep enough to float a decoy.

So the ducks concentrated in deeper ponds with more open water, which are most often found in the closed zones of refuges.

On the other hand, reports from Oregon and other areas farther north were quite good. Winter storms battered the Pacific Northwest throughout the season, providing great conditions for the waterfowl hunter.

For them, this year was quite a memorable season.

But for the California hunter, well, at least we can look forward to the spring turkey season!

Poachers Nabbed in Sacramento

Department of Fish and Game wardens recently arrested a third man in a deer poaching case where suspects were allegedly killing and selling deer for profit.

The proprietor of a Sacramento meat market was booked into Sacramento County Jail under suspicion of purchasing deer meat from two men already in custody who allegedly took the deer illegally.

“Poachers who sell California’s wildlife for profit can cause irreparable harm to wildlife populations,” said Nancy Foley, Chief of DFG’s Law Enforcement Division. “Commercialization of wildlife cases is a warden’s highest priority.”

Commercialization of wildlife occurs when a poacher takes fish or wildlife species and sells it on the black market as wild game, or by misleading the consumer into believing it is a domesticated species.

Deer can only be taken in California with a hunting license, a valid deer tag, and during the open season for the particular zone. Deer and other game taken may never be sold.

Over the last month, DFG wardens have conducted intensive investigations into deer poaching from Sierra Nevada deer winter ranges. These ranges serve as critical habitat necessary to allow the migratory animals to escape winter weather and survive to the spring.

Most adult female deer also carry fetuses at this time.

Starting on Dec. 4, wardens collected tissue samples from several butchered deer carcasses found in deer winter range, primarily in El Dorado County. On Jan. 3, wardens arrested the two Sacramento men who sold the deer meat to the meat market proprietor.

The wardens discovered at least 11 deer at the house and approximately 200 pounds of meat.

Also discovered at the house were abalone packaged individually with weight recordings on each bag, along with 19 squirrels and packaged blue gill all presumably for sale.

Both suspects were also observed harvesting and selling mushrooms.

Harvest and sale of mushrooms without a commercial permit is a violation of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Two vehicles were seized and are currently being analyzed under the direction of Jeff Rodzen, Ph.D., who runs DFG’s Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Rancho Cordova.

Dr. Rodzen will be able to use DNA analysis techniques to determine how many deer are actually represented within the 200 pounds of meat seized during the search warrant and whether they came from male or female deer.

He will also potentially match some of the meat samples seized from the residence with tissue samples taken from butchered carcasses found in the remote areas throughout the investigation and blood evidence swabbed from the inside of the two vehicles seized from the suspects.

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bdco

cpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.outdoors@sbcglobal.net.

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