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Summer 2014

California DeerThe Official Publication of the California Deer Association

4 California Deer

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California DeerAssociation

Summer 2014

The California Deer Association is a nonprofit, tax-exempt wildlife conserva-tion organization whose principal goal is to improve our California deer herds and other wildlife through direct finan-cial support for habitat improvement and research projects. Seventy-five per-cent of the net profit from fundraising events goes to projects benefiting deer and other wildlife within California.

Founder - Alex Ramoz

Board of DirectorsJerry Springer — President

Donn Walgamuth — Vice PresidentMatt Rogers — Past President

Doug Brown — Director Rennie Cleland — Director

Ron Lara — Director Larry Smith — DirectorRyan Smith — Director

Chief Executive OfficerRoman Porter

Field Directors/Chapter Development

Pat Fitzmorris - (916) [email protected]

Rodney Torres - (209) [email protected]

California Deer EditorJerry Springer

[email protected]

CDA Website — www.CalDeer.orgElizabeth Keller

[email protected]

California Deer Association820 Park Row, PMB 671Salinas, CA 93901-2406

1 888 499-DEER www.CalDeer.org

California Deer magazine is published four times a year by California Deer Association. California Deer, copyright 2014 by California Deer Association. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of information appearing in this magazine is prohibited unless permis-sion has been granted in writing from the publisher.

CDA President’s Message

Jerry SpringerPresident

The Future Looks Bright for CDA!

California Deer 3

It has been another banner year for CDA. With only one banquet left on our schedule, this year’s chapter banquets have been awesome and everyone has raised a lot of money in order to help California’s deer herds. As I write this message the date is fast approaching for our annual Project Committee meeting. All submitted project proposals will be discussed at the meeting and voted on for funding by CDA. We have received many good proposals and we look forward to funding many of them and getting the money that everyone worked so hard to raise, on the ground to benefit deer. Another milestone occurred in the last month with the hiring of Roman Porter, CDA’s first Chief Executive Officer (CEO). While everyone in CDA has done a great job over the years raising money and running the organization, it’s just not possible to run a multimillion dollar organization with volunteers only. There are many things that need the attention of a full-time person to maximize our efforts in order for us to do an even better job than we have been doing — the members and chapter committees deserve it and California’s deer need it. The Board and I look forward to working closely with our new CEO and we expect to see some

major changes and improvements for the organization. When you have a chance, please take a moment to call, email or meet with Roman Porter. He is very interested in your thoughts and ideas about CDA and its future direction. Also, along with a new CEO, the Board has decided that it is time for CDA to quit living out of a P.O. Box and Directors’ homes, so we hope to soon announce that CDA also will have its first official office, which will be in Sacramento. This will be a place where members can come to talk with CDA staff in person — no longer will your call be answered by an answering service, get their membership questions answered and purchase CDA merchandise. The new office will be a loca-tion for meetings, planning, presentations and decision making. As CDA completes its first 18 years, we can be proud of how and where the volunteers, Field Directors and Board have taken our organization. Now as we are taking these major steps of hiring our first CEO and establishing an official CDA office, we can all look forward to making CDA the number one conservation organization in California and doing an even better job for California’s deer herds. Join us all in the bright future ahead for CDA!!!

These two bucks are displaying nice sets of antlers in velvet. Can

you imagine how much larger their racks will be at the end of the grow-ing season?!?

The Cover

4 California Deer

CDA Has Chief Executive Officer

The California Deer Association (CDA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Roman Porter as CDA’s first Chief Executive Officer. “Roman’s talent, experience and energy will enable us to provide

better services to our members, increase the support given to California’s deer herds and other wildlife, and help CDA become the number one conservation organization in California,” said CDA President Jerry Springer. Porter has broad management experience and is well versed in the creation of legislation and regulations. After serving in the Marine Corps, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from California State University. He then worked as a Legislative Aide to a California State Senator, followed by a gubernatorial appointment as the Communications Director for the California Fair Political Practices Commission where he went on to serve as its Executive Director. After leaving state service, Porter spent time

as the Administrator for the United Auburn Indian Community. “It’s a rare opportunity to work in a position that combines professional and personal interests, and I’m excited to work with the Board, staff and all of the great volunteers of CDA to help lead the organization as we grow in the areas of membership, economic diversification, scholarship, and most importantly, solidifying our position as California’s preeminent conservation organization,” said Porter. Porter, his wife and their young son live in Sacramento. When he is not with his family or doing CDA work, he enjoys stalking the woods for those elusive California bucks during archery season.

Save The Dates! The dates for many of our chap-ters’ banquets have already been scheduled for 2015. Be sure to lock in the dates on your calendar for those banquets you won’t want to miss!

Redding - January 17Santa Rosa - January 17Turlock - January 17Tulare Ducks & Bucks - February 20Woodland - February 20San Jose - March 7Merced - March 14 Tulelake/Butte Valley - March 14Mount Diablo Blacktail (Concord) - March 20Bakersfield - March 21 Chico - March 21Salinas Valley (King City) - March 28Antelope Valley - April 11 Mount Shasta - April 11Lodi - April 18North Valley (Colusa) - April 25 Mount Saint Helena - May 1Redwood Coast (Eureka) - May 9Eastern Sierra (Bishop) - June 20Placer County (Loomis) - June 27

These two bucks are taking advantage of the shade provided by our Redding Chapter’s trailer. Photo by Donn Walgamuth.

Yes! CDA Even Provides Shade For Deer

Don’t Forget... Deadline to apply for CDA Scholarships is August 31st

http://www.caldeer.org/scholarship.htm

California Deer 3

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6 California Deer

2014 Sharing the Tradition Entry FormName:________________________________________________________________________________Address: _____________________________________________________________________________City:___________________________________________________ State:__________ Zip:___________Telephone:________________________________ Email Address:________________________________Junior Hunting Lic #:______________________ Age:_______ Sex: Male or Female (circle one)Adult Contact: Name___________________________ Telephone___________ Email:_________________Have you ever hunted deer or hogs? Yes or No (circle one) Have Taken: Deer Hog None (circle)What caliber rifle will you be shooting? ______________________ (required for ammunition order)DEER Hunt Date: December 8-9 HOG Hunt Dates: December 9-10, December 10-11 (If you can hunt on more than one date, list the dates in order of preference.)Hunt Date Choices: 1st ________ 2nd ________ 3rd ________(Hunts begin at 10:30 a.m. on first day and conclude at noon of the second day.)

Send entry form to: Sharing the Tradition Entry Deadline: September 30, 2014 P.O. Box 7708 Stockton, CA 95267-0708 ( OK to duplicate Entry Form )

The California Deer Association is pleased to announce its 11th Annual Sharing the Tradition Junior Hunts. Junior hunters have a chance to win one of five fully guided antlerless deer hunts or one of 10 fully guided hog hunts on the famous 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch. This is a free drawing that is open to all junior hunters with a valid 2014/2015 California junior hunting license and an unfilled deer tag or pig tag. The normal hunt or access fees will not be charged. Lodging on the ranch is included.

Rules and Requirements • Prior year hunt winners are not eligible — only one hunt can be won per junior hunter. • Limit of one entry per junior hunter (list hunt dates in order of preference). • Applicant must possess a valid 2014/2015 California Junior Hunting License. • Applicant must possess a valid unfilled 2014 California deer tag (any zone) or deer tag application to exchange for the Tejon Ranch PLM deer tag. Hog hunters must have a pig tag. • Listed hunt dates cannot be changed. • Hunts are nontransferable. • Hunt acceptance must be confirmed by October 4, 2014. •Applicant must be accompanied on the hunt by an adult. (Space limitations limit this to one adult only.) •Transportation to the Tejon Ranch is not included and is the responsibility of the winner and his/her accompanying adult. • Only winners will be notified by telephone. • Incomplete entries will not be included in the drawing.

Five junior hunters will hunt deer on the first hunt date and five junior hunters will hunt hogs on each of the two following dates. This is a random drawing conducted by the California Deer Association. Entry deadline for this year’s drawing is September 30, 2014.

15 Free

Guided Hunts

2014 Sponsors

Sharing the TraditionCalifornia Deer Association’s 2014 Junior Hunt Drawing

California Deer 7

Boots on the Ground Will Put Plants in the Ground for Deer

CDA, in cooperation with De-partment of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Great Basin Institute (GBI), is working this summer and fall on the first year of a three-year project to help restore bitterbrush and moun-tain mahogany in areas devastated by the Rush Fire. This project was made possible by a grant from the DFW’s Big Game Management Account, with addition-al funding from CDA’s Habitat Fund. The Rush Fire was started by lightning on August 12, 2012, and burned for 17 days. The fire covered more than 320,000 acres of high des-ert, most of it public land managed by the BLM in Lassen and Washoe counties. The fire took place in a large portion of the highly coveted X5B deer zone and the Zone 4 Lassen

pronghorn antelope zone. Bitterbrush and mountain ma-hogany sites, which are important food sources for deer, were lost in the fire. While fire can be good in some habitats of California, the Rush Fire was devastating to the habitat needed for the deer in this zone. Jim Cook, Grant Project Manager for CDA, and Valda Lockie, a BLM Ecologist, are working together on this project which entails the following: ● BLM interns will be scouting back-country areas this summer for burned bitterbrush sites. ● BLM will be ordering seedlings for delivery in late October to early November. Currently 7,000 ante-lope bitterbrush and 1,200 mountain mahogany seedlings are available and BLM may find additional seedlings.

● BLM will establish a planting schedule with GBI. ● BLM will provide GBI, CDA and DFW a detailed map of the planting sites by the end of August or early September. ● GBI crews will plant the seedlings in the designated sites. For this project BLM does not want to use Vexar tubes and pins. Vexar tubes are plastic mesh tubes that protect seedlings from being eaten by deer and other browsers. BLM’s rationale for not doing this is that these tubes become litter if they are not collected. This is an issue for BLM staff, especially with this project as most of the sites will be very remote. The concern is that if 15,000 Vexar tubes are put out in the backcountry in the next three years, they will not be collected in a timely manner. In addition, the Rush Fire burned 320,000 acres. Deer are present in the burn but the populations have been greatly reduced since the fire. BLM is not overly concerned that the seed-lings will be browsed to the point of project failure. Drought is a bigger concern to project success. The logistics of getting the tubes and pins on site and the time neces-sary to install them are also issues to be addressed. Also, funds not used to purchase Vexar tubes and pins could be used to purchase more seedlings. CDA is looking forward to work-ing with DFW, BLM and other part-ners to improve California’s habitat for our deer herds and the resultant benefit this work also does for other wildlife.

As these photos show, most of the X5B deer zone was devastated by the Rush Fire in 2012. CDA will be working to restore this area for deer and other wildlife.

8 California Deer

Who Reads CaliforniaDeer?

Andy McCormick does! McCormick is a hunter and also the President of Legacy Sports International. McCormick enjoys going after deer, turkey and hogs in California. Because his company is headquartered in Reno, Nevada, he also likes pursuing deer, ante-lope and varmints in Nevada. Legacy is the supplier of Howa rifles and Escort shotguns, plus Citadel, ISSC, Puma and Pointer brand firearms.

Every three months CDA selects a current CDA member at random to be the winner of a new rifle. Fred Knoles of Carmichael was our most recent winner. Fred won a complete Howa rifle package in .270. The rifle has a two-stage trigger system. Both the scope and rifle are in Kings Camo. The scope is 3-10x42. You need only to be a current CDA member to be automatically entered in each drawing. Here is hoping that you will be the lucky member who we call after our next drawing this coming Fall. Thank you to all our CDA members for your sup-port.

Latest Member Appreciation Winner!

California Deer 9

Habitat for Deer Wild Pig HuntHunter #1Name:________________________________________________________________________________Address: _____________________________________________________________________________City:___________________________________________________ State:__________ Zip:___________Telephone:____________________________Email Address:_____________________________________Hunting Lic #:______________________ Age:_______ Sex: Male or Female (circle one)Have you ever hunted wild pigs? Yes or No (circle one) What caliber rifle will you be shooting? _________Hunter #2Name:________________________________________________________________________________Address: _____________________________________________________________________________City:___________________________________________________ State:__________ Zip:___________Telephone:____________________________Email Address:_____________________________________Hunting Lic #:______________________ Age:_______ Sex: Male or Female (circle one)Have you ever hunted wild pigs? Yes or No (circle one) What caliber rifle will you be shooting? _________Wild Pig Hunt Dates in 2015:January 5-7, 7-9, 12-14 February 2-4, 11-13 March 9-11, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27 April 1-3 Hunt Date Choices: 1st __________________ 2nd __________________ 3rd __________________ Note: Hunts begin at 12:00 noon (Jan-Feb); 1:30 p.m. (Mar-Apr) on first day - Hunts end 10:00 a.m. last day or when tags are filled.Send entry form to: Habitat for Deer Wild Pig Hunt Entry Deadline: September 22, 2014 P.O. Box 7708 Stockton, CA 95267-0708 ( OK to duplicate Entry Form )

Here is your chance to help Cali-fornia deer habitat and at the same time have an awesome guided pig hunt. Pigs on the famous 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch are having a nega-tive effect on the habitat, which has resulted in reduced deer numbers in the area. Consequently, the number of deer hunts available on the ranch for CDA’s annual Sharing the Tradition junior deer hunts have been reduced. CDA was able to obtain a grant from the DFW Big Game Manage-ment Account to help improve the habitat in the area of Tejon Ranch for deer and other wildlife. This will be done by having 40 guided wild pig hunts (20 two-party hunts) on the ranch which will be given away in a free, random drawing conducted by CDA. Applications must be for a party of two hunters — no single hunter applications will be accepted. The hunts will be two hunters per guide. The ranch’s normal hunt or ac-

Rules and Requirements • Only non-lead ammunition can be used on this hunt. • Limit of one entry per hunter. • List hunt dates in order of preference. • Applicants must possess a valid 2014/2015 California Hunting License. • Applicants must possess a valid pig tag(s). • Listed hunt dates cannot be changed. • Hunts are nontransferable. • Hunt acceptance must be confirmed by October 4, 2014. • Space limitations limit this to just the two hunters drawn for the hunt. •Transportation to the Tejon Ranch is not included and is the responsibility of the winners. • Only winners will be notified by telephone. • Incomplete entries will not be included in the drawing.

cess fees will not be charged. Lodging and meals on the ranch are included. Hunters will have an option to shoot a second pig but they must pay $250 for this opportunity. These are two-day hunts and

California Deer Association’s Habitat for Deer Wild Pig Hunts

conclude after two days or when you have taken your pig/pigs. This is a random drawing con-ducted by the California Deer As-sociation. Entry deadline for this drawing is September 22, 2014. To apply via the Internet, go to caldeer.org/deerhabitatpighunt.

40 Free WildPig Hunts!

Justin Thigpin collected this great 26-inch D7 4x4 buck with his

Tikka T3 Lite in .270. Justin was shooting Barnes Tipped Triple

Shock ammo. His shot was 185 yards across a canyon. He took the

buck on September 24, 2013.

Attention CDA Members!Share your days afield with other mem-bers by emailing your photos to [email protected] California Deer

Members Afield

CDA member Mark Towe bagged this beautiful 4x3 buck on the 2nd-to-last weekend of the 2013 A Zone rifle season while hunting on private land in Santa Clara County. He used his Ruger .270 with 130-grain Federal Premium bullets to make the shot, which was ranged the next day at 382 yards. He was glad to be hunting at the time with his cousin Greg Anagnoston.

Fred Bennett was the high bidder for a whitetail buck hunt in Mon-tana while attending the Bishop Chapter Banquet. Fred’s hunt was in 2013 and he bagged his buck on the first day of the hunt. The hunt was made possible by Adventures West Recreation.

Members Afield

California Deer 15

Tom Moss from the North Valley Chapter tagged this awesome buck while hunting in Northern Califor-nia on October 10, 2013. Tom used his Browning A Bolt rifle in .300 Win Mag to fill his freezer.

Former CDA Board Director Oscar Ramirez (left) and his brother Edgar pose with Oscar’s X3B 4x4 mule deer buck taken the first week of the 2013 season. Oscar was shooting .30-06 Remington Core-Lokt ammo in his Remington Model 700 rifle. A well-placed shot at 240 yards did the trick. Edgar also tagged out with a 3x3 buck on the same hunt.

The D6 Zone was the place to be for Jon Stewart in 2013. Jon dropped this ter-rific 4x4 blacktail buck using a custom Remington Model 700 in .300 Win Mag. His buck measured 26 1/2-inches wide by 18-inches high.

Phot

o by

John

Mc

Mill

an

12 California Deer

2014-2015 CDA Projects

The following are the projects which the CDA Project Committee and Board of Directors have chosen to fund for the 2014-2015 year.

#001-14 Carson River Deer Herd Study - $9,500 This study is a continuation of an existing study which will delineate current distribution, migration pat-terns and mortality factors affecting this herd (X8) through the use of GPS collars. Several collars were lost or failed, resulting in lower numbers of deer for this population study. These funds will be used to refurbish collars and re-collar more deer.

#002-14 CDLO Hunting and An-gling Education Program - $10,875 Through this project, CDA will spon-sor and provide facility and infra-structure maintenance to put on two junior turkey hunts (10 youths), two wild pig hunts (10 youths), one up-land game hunt (5 youths), one deer

hunt (5 youths), one auctioned deer hunt (1 youth), a fishing program (ap-proximately 50 youths), and Hunter Safety Classes (4-6 classes; about 20 juniors each class) on Cañada de los Osos Ecological Reserve (CDLO) in fiscal year 2014-2015.

#003-14 CDLO Education Room - $1,039 This project’s funding is for equip-ment to be used to educate youth par-ticipants about the outdoors, wildlife management practices and wildlife research on Cañada de los Osos Eco-logical Reserve.

#004-14 East Boundary Prescribed Burn Project - $10,000 This project will utilize prescribed fire to help preserve and promote local pine-oak woodland habitat used by local deer for both summer and winter range. The project area is located along the east boundary of National Park Service’s Whiskeytown National

Recreation Area south of High-way 299W.

#006-Highway 89 Stewardship Team Collar Refurbishment - $10,500 Funds for this project will be used to refur-bish collars and re-collar some of the Loyalton-Truckee Herd deer to evaluate the effectiveness of the fencing and undercross-ing on Highway 89 and the pro-posed Sagehen undercrossing.

#008-14 3-Gates Year-Round Deer Water Project - $12,500 This project will provide a per-manent water source for deer and other wildlife within the Chimineas Reserve. Placement of a new storage tank and adjacent trough utilizing 4,000 feet of pipeline terminating in another wildlife water trough will create year-round access for wildlife.

#009-14 Pacific Deer Herd Telemetry Project - $46,000 Twenty adult female mule deer in the D5 Zone will be captured within the eastern portion of the Pacific Deer Herd range and fitted with GPS satellite collars. The deer will be captured on their summer ranges in order to determine where and when they travel to their winter range. This is a three-year study that will capture data for up to 30 deer.

#010-14 Musser Hill Wildlife En-hancement Project - $7,910 This is a prescribed burn project that will burn approximately 223 acres of U.S. Forest Service lands in the Ph

oto

by D

on F

orth

uber

Photo above by John Mc Millan

California Deer 13

2014-2015 CDA ProjectsMusser Hill area of the Weaver-ville wildland/urban interface and the Weaver-ville Community Forest.

#011-14 Knox-ville Wildlife Area Grassland Restoration - $16,300 This project plans to convert a 60-acre portion of the Knoxville Wildlife Area from invasive noxious weeds to a combina-tion of native grasses, forbs, oaks, and wild-life food and cover plants. Through the use of herbicides and re-seeding,

invasive star thistle will be reduced or eliminated. This will improve the area for deer fawning and for addi-tional foraging habitat.

#014-14 Black-tailed Deer Popula-tion Assessment - $6,000 The primary purpose of this project is to obtain a reliable baseline estimate of the black-tailed deer population within the Grasslands Ecological Area. CDA funds will be used to purchase 20 trail cameras, data cards, reusable batteries, and mounting equipment. All data collection and analysis will be performed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Califor-nia Department of Fish and Wildlife.

#015-14 Point Ranch Conservation Easement - $35,000 This project will support the acquisi-tion of a large 2,500-acre conservation easement at the south end of scenic Bridgeport Valley of Mono County, to increase the amount of perma-nently preserved habitat for the East

Walker and Mono Lake deer herds and greater sage grouse. Preserva-tion of the prop-erty would ensure a key linkage for an estimated 4,000 mule deer that utilize the area as a high-quality mi-gration corridor, holding area and summer range habitat. Funds used for this project will be used as “seed money” to start the acquisition process.

#018-14 Aerial Telemetry Support for Mule Deer - $13,500 Funding for this project will provide aerial telemetry support for a new mule deer project. Funds will be used to pay a private pilot, working out of the Bishop area, to conduct fixed-wing telemetry surveys.

#019-14 Tejon Ranch Apprentice Hunt Program - $5,300 This project will allow CDA’s Shar-ing the Tradition hunts to continue for the 11th year. In the first 10 years, 182 junior hunters were able to participate in very successful deer/pig hunts. Wild pig hunts have been included in the program since 2012.

#020-14 Chimineas Ranch Junior Hunts - $3,000 This project continues to be a highly successful junior buck hunt with 100% of the juniors taking bucks and learning about wildlife and hunting op-portunities on the Chimineas Ranch.

#021-14 Spring and Guzzler Restoration - $4,000 Restore the concrete surface and holding tanks on small-game drinkers in the East Mojave National Preserve.

#022-14 Lower Cottonwood Creek Guzzler Project - $3,200

The purpose of this A Zone project is to replace the storage tank of an existing guzzler at Lower Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area.

#023-14 Beaverside Timber Sale and Fuel Treatment - $25,000 This B1 Zone project will enhance habitat for deer. Funds for this project will be used for mastication of brush in ponderosa pine and oak wood-land. Phase 2 of this project will use a prescribed burn to remove understory. Deer will be attracted to the fresh sprouts for their palatability and high crude protein content.

#024-14 Lassen Creek Conservation Area Education Center - $5,000 These funds have been awarded for the purchase of seed collection equip-ment for restoration demonstrations and construction of an additional interpretive kiosk.

Photo by John Mc M

illanPhoto by Don Forthuber

Photo above by John Mc Millan

14 California Deer

2014 CDA Banquets!North Valley Chapter

California Deer 15

Turlock Chapter

2014 CDA Banquets!

ComeJoin Us!

16 California Deer

Junior Hunting Opportunities2014 Chimineas

Junior Deer Hunt The Department of Fish and Wild-life, in cooperation with the California Deer Association (CDA), will be host-ing apprentice deer hunting opportuni-ties on the 30,000-acre Chimineas unit of the Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve in San Luis Obispo County. This year’s annual hunt will be held on September 13th and 14th.

Three apprentice hunters will be chosen by lottery and then attend a mandatory hunter orientation that will be held in the evening on Friday, September 12th. Overnight lodging will be available at the main ranch house on the ecological reserve on both Friday and Saturday nights. Selected apprentice hunters must be accompanied by an adult. Partici-pants will receive classroom, range and field training in gun handling tech-niques and safety, deer hunting and game care. Hunts will be led by CDA volunteers. CDA will provide dinner on Friday night, along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, as well as breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Applicants must submit a postcard with the hunter’s name, address, tele-phone number and 2014-2015 junior hunting license number to: Chimineas Apprentice Deer Hunt, Department of Fish and Wildlife; 3196 South Higuera St., Suite A; San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401. Applicants can only submit one post-card. Applications must be received in the office by 5 p.m. on August 8. Late or incomplete applications or multiple applications per hunter will not be en-tered in the draw. Successful applicants will be notified by phone and will re-ceive additional information, including maps and special regulations, prior to the hunt.ContactsRobert Stafford, DFW Associate Wild-life Biologist, (805) 528-8670Rocky Thompson, DFW Senior Wildlife Biologist, (805) 594-6175CDA Contact: Larry Smith, CDA Board Director, (805) 423-5925

2014 Cañada de los OsosJunior Deer Hunt

In 2014, five junior hunters will be drawn at random to particpate in apprentice buck deer hunts on the 5,800-acre Cañada de los Osos Eco-logical Reserve (CDLO). The hunts this year will be Sep-tember 13-14. Application due date is August 21, 2014. This is a high success hunt with all juniors taking a buck each year. These hunts are guided and the junior hunters will see a lot of wild-life on this property. This hunt program was started by CDA and CDA continues to support these hunts through the funding by the CDA Project Committee. For additional information on this deer hunt and other hunts on CDLO, visit https://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/hunts/CDLO/

2014 San Antonio ValleyJunior Deer Hunt

The Department of Fish and Wild-life opens San Antonio Valley Ecologi-cal Reserve on a limited basis for gen-eral pig hunts and collaborates with California Deer Association (CDA) on apprentice deer, pig, and upland game hunts. The reserve is located in the San Antonio Valley, east of Mount Hamilton and south of Livermore. The area is not open to the public except for scheduled tours and these special hunting opportunities. This year’s deer hunt is on Septem-ber 20-21, 2014. Application due date is August 28, 2014. For additional information on this deer hunt and other hunting opportu-nities on the San Antonio Valley Eco-logical Reserve, visit https://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/hunts/SanAntonio/

2014 Sharing the Tradition Junior Deer and Pig Hunts

This year 15 fully guided junior hunts will be given away on the Tejon Ranch. For details and to apply, see page 6 in this magazine.

Good Luck Junior Hunters in These 2014 Drawings!

California Deer 17

Chico Chapter Brochure Helps Young Wildlife CDA’s Chico Chapter has recently produced a brochure entitled, “If You Care... Leave Them There.” (Front cover of brochure is shown on right.) Studies show that 40% or more of the deer fawns picked up by concerned people are not orphaned or injured, but are merely “stashed” by their mothers. The brochure is scheduled to be sent to the northern U.S. Forest Service offices, several regional California Fish and Wildlife offices, and the northern BLM offices. The Chico Chapter was also able to get Chico Unified School District to include a blurb in its mailing about leaving fawns alone. It is working with several Northern California newspapers to run the ad pictured above. Great idea, Chico Chapter!

For a list of Rehabilitation Centers by county in the State

www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/WIL/rehab/facilities.html

Or call your CDFW Regional OfficesSee inside for information

California Department of Fish & Wildlife Regional Offices

Northern Region ............................. (530) 225-2300North Central Region ...................... (916) 358-2900Bay Delta Region............................ (707) 944-5500Central Region................................ (559) 243-4005South Coast Region ....................... (858) 467-4201Inland Desert Region ...................... (909) 484-0167Marine Region ................................ (831) 649-2870

www.wildlife.ca.gov

WHAT TO DO If humans are in immediate physical danger

from an aggressive animal CALL 911

Report Wildlife Mortality to CDFWBut, DO NOT TOUCH!

Report Wildlife problems to your Regional CDFW office

For Injured or Orphaned Wildlife, consult a Rehabilitation Center

California Deer Association820 Park Row, PMB 671

Salinas, CA 93901www.caldeer.org California Deer Association

IF YOU CARE...

LEAVE THEM THERE

Your Region

Studies show that 40% or more of the deer fawns

picked up are not orphaned or injured but “stashed” by their mothers. Fawns are left alone for long periods of time and will lay motionless to avoid being found by predators.

18 California Deer

Field Notes

As I write this, it is 106 degrees in Placer County and we just celebrated Independence Day, the 4th of July. Let’s make every day Independence Day and honor America and the out-door lifestyle and freedoms we enjoy by recognizing the sacrifices of the many patriotic Americans who have given so much for our great country. Let’s also protect our way of life for all those who follow us. I am proud that at our banquets we honor our veterans and active military with the Wings of Freedom statue. This statue is sponsored by Andy and Margo Wood of Chico and was initially the idea of Rodney Torres. You all may recognize Andy Wood’s name as our Past President

and longtime Board of Directors mem-ber, and Rodney Torres is our Field Director in the central and southern part of the state. Thank you Margo and gentlemen for this important trib-ute to our service men and women. The primary mission of CDA is to improve our California deer herds and other wildlife through habitat improvement and research projects. Our Project Committee will have met by the time you receive this magazine and they are debating the funding of 24 project proposals. My hat is off to both the Project Committee and the Support Committee members for tak-ing on this important task and to Larry Smith for chairing this important work. I have often said of the Project Committee that it is “where the rubber meets the road” because its members make the hard decisions on where our habitat monies will be spent. Summertime is a great time to think Hunter Education Classes, which emphasize the basic rules of firearm safety and sportsmanship. These classes are having a positive effect on making hunting a very safe sport and I am proud to say that many local CDA chapters teach or sponsor Hunter Education Classes. This is a great way to give back to the sport and I applaud our chapters doing this. Check out our website at www.caldeer.org and click on education at the top of the page — a list of classes in your area will be easily found. If you have a child who is interested in

the class, get them enrolled; that is one of the most important ways I can think of to pass on our outdoor heritage! I also would like to welcome Roman Porter to the CDA family as our new Chief Executive Officer. Our Board spent a lot of time with this re-search and interview process and we thank them for that. Roman comes to CDA with a wealth of experience in government and communications strategy in and around our state capital and is a perfect fit to foster the continued growth of our great organization. The 2014 banquet season is winding down but we are starting to plan our 2015 banquets. Chapters are already meeting to plan how to make their next year’s event even better. We have many habitat projects going on this summer and several youth events as well. Check our website for youth hunts as they are always posted there. If you aren’t already, please get involved on the chapter level. Work-ing to help deer and other wildlife in our great state of California can be very rewarding and meeting new friends who share your passion of the outdoors is a great thing! Best regards and I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Pat FitzmorrisCDA Field Director

Firearm Safety Through Training and Education The Chico Chapter of the Califor-nia Deer Association paid for three courses of “Young Guns” firearm safety training at the Down Range Indoor Training Center in Chico. The courses took place in July and were for youths between the ages of 8 and 11. The courses included classroom time, range time, plus use of rental guns and ammunition. These were two-hour courses which instructed them on firearm safety. This is also the required course for youths be-tween the ages of 8 and 11 to be able to utilize the facility. All three classes were filled in advance.

California Deer 19

DFW staff was a very important part of this project.

Chimineas Ranch 28 Tank Project Water is the name of the game — without it there would be no wildlife. This project is part of a master plan to supply water to all 46 sections of the Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve. The 28 Tank Project is located in the southern half of the Chimineas Unit of the Reserve, which is north of High-way 166 in San Luis Obispo Coun-ty. Past water projects on the Re-serve have proved to be very suc-cessful in improving the Carrizo Plains Deer Herd and other wild-life. As the deer and other wildlife numbers increase, they can be ex-pected to venture into the adjacent forest and BLM lands. That will result in better hunting opportuni-ties for the general hunting public. This project took place in the Red Rock Canyon area of the southern half of the Reserve. This area has been without a year-round water source for wildlife for more than 15 years. This is phase three of an ongoing project of which the ultimate goal is supplying water for wildlife to each section of the southern half of the Reserve. This area is used by deer, tule elk, pigs and other wildlife. Phase one was completed in 2011 and phase two in the summer of 2013. Project funds were used to buy 3,500 feet of piping, fittings, valves, gravel and supplies. The piping

was run underground to feed the water. A new replacement tank foundation was built and a new 5,000-gallon water tank and water trough were also installed. With the drought that Califor-nia finds itself in, this water means survival for wildlife in the area. In an effort to continue im-provement of wildlife numbers on the Chimineas Unit, CDA also recently approved funding for the Three Gates Project to supply year-round water to another area of the unit.

Shown is the wildlife-friendly concrete water trough.

This trail camera photo shows that this bull tule elk only needed a couple days before he began using the water trough.

20 California Deer

Deer Tag Draw Results Why You Did or Didn’t Get Drawn for a 2014 California Deer Tag

For many there was a look of dispointment on your face when you found out you didn’t get that cov-eted deer tag. But for some lucky hunters the grin was huge, just like the big buck you hope to put a tag on this coming season. Again, the G3 Goodale Buck Hunt drew the most interest with 5,093 marking their application for that hunt. Those 735 hunters with maximum preference points (12) went after the 32 tags. That left more than 5,000 trying for the three re-maining tags in the random drawing. This year there were

only four other hunts that wouldn’t guarantee you would draw a tag even if you had the maximum preference points of 12. Those hunts were the G37 Anderson Flat Buck, G39 Round Valley Late Season Buck, M3 Doyle Muzzle-loading Rifle Buck, and M9 Devil’s Garden Muzzle-loading Rifle Buck. So use the stats in the lists on this and the next page to see what hunts might give you the best luck in 2015 for one of the tags in the Big Game Draw. Someone has to get them, why not you?!?

Phot

o by

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HuntCode

Hunt Tag Description Is JuniorHunt

QuotaQuantity

PreferencePoint Quota

Quantity

RandomQuota

Quantity

TotalApplicants

Max 12 PointsApps

PD Preference Point Only - Deer No 0 0 0 6,901 188

C C ZONES GENERAL SEASONS - BUCK No 8,150 7,335 815 5,490 0

D9 ZONE D9 ARCHERY AND GENERAL SEASONS - BUCK No 2,000 1,800 200 757 0

D12 ZONE D12 ARCHERY AND GENERAL SEASONS - BUCK No 950 855 95 938 0

D16 ZONE D16 ARCHERY AND GENERAL SEASONS - BUCK No 3,000 2,700 300 1,296 0

D17 ZONE D17 ARCHERY AND GENERAL SEASONS - BUCK No 500 450 50 637 0

X1 ZONE X1 GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 769 693 76 2,958 0


X3A ZONE X3A GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 274 247 27 1,822 0

X3B ZONE X3B GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 794 715 79 3,102 2


X5A ZONE X5A GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 65 59 6 993 2





X7B ZONE X7B GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 134 121 13 944 1

X8 ZONE X8 GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 209 189 20 695 0


X9B ZONE X9B GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 325 293 32 779 0

X9C ZONE X9C GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 325 293 32 515 0

X10 ZONE X10 GENERAL SEASON - BUCK No 400 360 40 335 0


G1 LATE SEASON BUCK HUNT IN ZONE C4 - GENERAL METHODS No 2,710 2,439 271 3,168 0

G3 GOODALE BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 35 32 3 5,093 735

G6 KERN RIVER DEER HERD BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 50 45 5 1,267 3

G8 FORT HUNTER LIGGETT ANTLERLESS - GENERAL METHODS No 10 9 1 172 0

G12 GRAY LODGE SHOTGUN EITHER-SEX No 30 27 3 119 0

G13 SAN DIEGO ANTLERLESS - GENERAL METHODS No 300 270 30 721 0

California Deer 21

HuntCode

Hunt Tag Description Is JuniorHunt

QuotaQuantity

PreferencePoint Quota

Quantity

RandomQuota

Quantity

TotalApplicants

Max 12 PointsApps

G19 SUTTER-YUBA WILDLIFE AREAS EITHER-SEX - SHOTGUN/ARCHERY/CROSSBOW No 25 23 2 241 0

G21 VENTANA WILDERNESS BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 25 23 2 97 0

G37 ANDERSON FLAT BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 25 23 2 1,685 146

G38 X-10 LATE SEASON BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 300 270 30 298 0

G39 ROUND VALLEY LATE SEASON BUCK - GENERAL METHODS No 5 4 1 433 34

J1 LAKE SONOMA APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 25 13 12 134 0

J3 TEHAMA WILDLIFE AREA APPRENTICE BUCK - GENERAL METHODS Yes 15 8 7 351 0

J4 SHASTA-TRINITY APPRENTICE BUCK - GENERAL METHODS Yes 15 8 7 215 0

J7 CARSON RIVER APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 15 8 7 42 0

J8 DAUGHERTY HILL WILDLIFE AREA APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 15 8 7 82 0

J9 LITTLE DRY CREEK APPRENTICE SHOTGUN EITHER-SEX Yes 5 3 2 17 0

J10 FORT HUNTER LIGGETT APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 65 33 32 260 0

J11 SAN BERNARDINO APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 40 20 20 78 0

J12 ROUND VALLEY APPRENTICE BUCK - GENERAL METHODS Yes 10 5 5 758 0

J13 LOS ANGELES APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 40 20 20 76 0

J14 RIVERSIDE APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 30 15 15 51 0

J15 ANDERSON FLAT APPRENTICE BUCK - GENERAL METHODS Yes 10 5 5 243 0

J16 BUCKS MOUNTAIN-NEVADA CITY APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 75 38 37 90 0

J17 BLUE CANYON APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 25 13 12 55 0

J18 PACIFIC - GRIZZLY FLAT APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 75 38 37 112 0

J19 ZONE X7A APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 25 13 12 167 0

J20 ZONE X7B APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 20 10 10 87 0

J21 EAST TEHAMA APPRENTICE EITHER-SEX - GENERAL METHODS Yes 50 25 25 168 0

M3 DOYLE MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 20 18 2 820 102

M4 HORSE LAKE MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 10 9 1 66 0

M5 EAST LASSEN MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 5 4 1 105 2

M6 SAN DIEGO MUZZLELOADING RIFLE EITHER-SEX No 80 72 8 76 0

M7 VENTURA MUZZLELOADING RIFLE EITHER-SEX No 150 135 15 225 0

M8 BASS HILL MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 20 18 2 92 0

M9 DEVIL'S GARDEN MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 15 14 1 647 36

M11 NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA MUZZLELOADING RIFLE BUCK No 20 18 2 587 2

MA1 SAN LUIS OBISPO MUZZLELOADING RIFLE/ARCHERY EITHER-SEX No 150 135 15 168 0

MA3 SANTA BARBARA MUZZLELOADING RIFLE/ARCHERY BUCK No 150 135 15 136 0

A1 ARCHERY HUNT IN C ZONES - BUCK No 1,945 1,751 194 544 0

A3 ARCHERY HUNT IN ZONE X1 - BUCK No 130 117 13 343 0


A5 ARCHERY HUNT IN ZONE X3A - BUCK No 30 27 3 128 0

A6 ARCHERY HUNT IN ZONE X3B - BUCK No 70 63 7 228 0












A21 ANDERSON FLAT ARCHERY BUCK No 25 23 2 101 0

A24 MONTEREY ARCHERY EITHER-SEX No 100 90 10 249 0

A25 LAKE SONOMA ARCHERY EITHER-SEX No 35 32 3 176 0

A26 BASS HILL ARCHERY BUCK No 30 27 3 460 0

A27 DEVIL'S GARDEN ARCHERY BUCK No 5 4 1 161 0

A30 COVELO ARCHERY BUCK No 40 36 4 284 0

A31 LOS ANGELES ARCHERY EITHER-SEX No 1,000 900 100 483 0

A33 FORT HUNTER LIGGETT LATE SEASON ARCHERY EITHER-SEX No 25 23 2 67 0

Trail Camera Tips by Jerry Springer

The Angle

22 California Deer

Most trail camera instructions ad-vise you to mount your trail camera three to four feet off the ground on a tree or post, and pointed down at a slight angle in order to get the best photos. While this is usually good advice, sometimes you aren’t able to do this or there are other reasons not to follow those instructions. Here are some examples of why that advice is not always best: Not a Level Surface: The area you want to cover is sloping — some-times a steep slope. In this case, put the camera at the bottom of the tree and use the laser light that some trail cameras have or just eyeball it from the possible animal’s position to ver-ify the angle is correct. You can also use rocks or limbs to prop or wedge behind your camera to give it a steep angle. Some companies also have accessories to attach to your camera which allow you to tilt and swivel it.

Those Darn Cows: If your area has cattle, for some reason there are always one or two that are not cam-era shy or have an itch that they need to scratch. Having your trail camera mounted lower than the top of a cow’s back or nose can lead to a tilted cam-era… or worse, a broken camera. It is also not just cows as some bears don’t like trail cameras either. So if there are cows where you have cameras, try piling brush, limbs, etc. around the bottom of the tree to try to keep them away,

A great photo of this buck was missed because the trail camera was set up to focus on the water source in the distance. The buck was walking down a road in front of the camera. There is a big portion of the upper part of the photo that has little value so the camera should have been mounted lower, or angled down, which would have produced more of the buck in the photo without missing the water source. The trail camera is a Cuddeback Black Flash.

but even that doesn’t always work. If you can mount the trail camera higher in the tree and angle it toward your target, that should work as the last time I checked, cows don’t climb trees… but you still might have an is-sue with bears. These higher mounts may require that you have a ladder to position your camera, but the good thing is that so will the person who might try to steal it. Photo Check: If you can, always look at some or all of your photos when you return to check your trail cameras. If you just swap out the SD cards you may not realize until you get home that you have angle problems with the camera and your photos are not capturing the whole or any part of the animal. The angle could have changed because the fas-tening straps on the tree have slipped over time, animals such as squirrels could have crawled on it, the rock or limb wedges you used slipped, or maybe you bumped the camera when you opened and closed it to replace the SD cards. I have experienced all of these. One final tip, always double-check that you have turned your trail camera on before leaving it. You will always wonder what awesome photos you missed the next time you return to check it and find the power wasn’t turned on.

Next to bears, cows can be the worst enemies of trail cameras. They rub on them, move them, knock them around, and sometimes break them, plus give you a lot of photos you usually don’t want.

California Deer 23

The above two photos were taken by Bushnell Moon Phase Trail Cameras. Both cameras were on the same water tank but the one on the left was mounted higher on the left pole and the one on the right was mounted lower on the right pole. The angle of the left camera only gets a portion of the California turkey vulture whereas the one on the right gets the whole bird in the photo.

These two photos were taken with the same Bushnell Moon Phase Trail Camera. Notice the small bear taking a bath on the left. After the camera is bumped, possibly by a squirrel, the photo no longer gets the entire water tank.

The two photos above were taken with a Moultrie 990i and the ones to the left and right with a Bushnell Moon Phase Trail Camera. Because of the placement and angle, animals in the foreground and distance are captured. The photo to the left is a fox with a gray squirrel in its mouth.

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