Outdoor Notes : Hot, Dry Weather Expected for Deer Hunters

The weather is expected to be hot and dry for deer hunters with Zone A buck tags when the 1987 general deer hunting season begins Aug. 8.

Substantial numbers of hunters, each with two buck tags, are expected to try their luck in one of the four southernmost counties of the 26-county coastal zone during the season, which runs through Sept. 20.

Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties accounted for about 1,800 of the total Zone A buck kill last season. A similar record is expected this year.

The Department of Fish and Game officials say that because of the dry weather, most deer have been spotted at lower elevations than is normal and near water sources.

The officials also say that although the most productive habitat is located on private property, where written land owner permission is required, there are ample opportunities to be found on Los Padres National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and military lands.

So far, about 31,000 tags have been issued for Zone A, an area that encompasses all or portions of 26 coastal counties from Ventura County north to the Humboldt-Mendocino county line.

Southern California hunters are attracted to the zone because of its close proximity, its 44-day season and its two-buck limit.

Last year there were 6,937 bucks killed in the zone.

Advance reservations are required for the opening weekend of the waterfowl hunting season on Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the California portion of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

There will be 200 permits issued for Tule Lake Marsh, 600 for Tule Lake Field and 600 for Lower Klamath. The hunting season dates will be set by the Fish and Game Commission in late August. Applications must be received by Aug. 15.

Up to four hunters may apply as a party, but only one application--on a standard post card--is permitted whether applying as an individual or as a member of a party. Send to Refuge Manner, Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges, Route 1, Box 74, Tulelake, Calif., 96134.

Two Shasta County men were sentenced to 90-day jail terms, fined $750 apiece and ordered to pay the state $2,590 for three deer they killed and sold to an undercover officer in January.

Timothy David Frase, 19, of Milleville, and Clayton James Walker, 19, of Redding were sentenced in Central Valley Justice Court by Judge Gregory Caskey, who also put the pair on three years’ probation, during which they are prohibited from hunting or possessing a firearm.

Both men pleaded guilty to charges of illegally selling and killing deer.

Briefly The Department of the Interior has published preliminary findings indicating that fishing was the favorite American recreational activity in 1985, when 46.6 million adult Americans went fishing, spending $28 billion. . . . For information regarding the Channel Islands Invitational Broadbill fishing tournament Aug. 22-29, call (805) 984-7625. . . . The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary announced that it is offering safe boating classes each Monday for the next four weeks at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. . . . CalTIP: The DFG would like to hear from people who witness fish or wildlife violations. To report such a violation, call (800) 952-5400. . . . To register for the West Coast Decoy Collectors Assn.’s sixth annual show and sale Aug. 27-30 at the Monterey Beach Hotel, call Jerry Rosenthal at (408) 395-9504.