State Budget+Hunting=?

[m1fan]

With the knuckleheads in Sacto pushing the state down the drain, how will this change the F&G or the hunting experience???

 

[sageadvice]

I look for our tags, licenses, fee"s... to all go up 10%

Wouldn't care if i knew the $$ was going back into our wildlife, conservation, and enforcement programs instead of the State General Budget.

Aside from that, the hunting experience, for me, has always been just that. I get to get out and hunt. I'm not blessed to live in an area where quality animals are easy to come by. There are fewer deer in the areas i hunt...but there are enough deer to hunt, so far.

I'd like to see more money spent on State hunters and trappers thinning out the major predator, mt. lion..., populations in some of our state and federal lands. This could have immediate positive effects toward our decreased or decreasing deer herds, possibly allowing deer to recover to habitat capacity.

Joey

 

[mtnview]

Considering the state announced this week that they intend to "borrow" 30 million from the Wildlife Preservation Fund, the outlook is not good.... although they said they will pay it back! It is apparently one of the last funds they can raid without legal complications on the repayment.

http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/1618533.html

 

[larrbo]

Joey, your post has too much common sense. If anyone in our state government had any, maybe they would be doing some of these things aready. I'm not getting warm and fuzzy feelings in the direction I see them taking us.

 

[eelgrass]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-18-09 AT 09:04PM (MST)[p]Since they don't do anything anyway, having no money should have no effect on hunting this year either.

Maybe we'll luck out and get more fires this year.

Edit: I saw a warden the other day in a brand new truck, so maybe Joey is right, a tag fee increase this year?

Eel

 

[califhuntn]

Joey you couldn't be more wrong. How dare you suggest that we thin out the harmless mt lion? Our state is in fine shape as far as the deer population goes and financially. We could not use the extra money that out-of-state hunters would bring if our state could attract hunters like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Utah does. We have too many other industries that can produce. We are the 5th largest economy in the world. Who needs that blood money.

But seriously just imagine if our deer (Muleys and Blacktail), elk (Tule, Roosevelt and Rcky Mtn), sheep (Nelson)and antelope herds did in fact reach capacity. What if we had could hunt both bear and mt lions. California has the gene pool and sustainable land capable of amazing things.

It is just too f-ing sad that we live amongst too many self righteous thinkers that make decisions using there emotions instead scientifically. They can't get past the thought of hunters killing harmless animals and can't see the big picture.

All I can do is just imagine.

JR

 

[Califelkslayer]

HIGHER FEES!!!!

Nothing else they can screw up. They did that years ago!!!

 

[D13er]

my prediction......they will have the F&G beat down so far that in a few years you'll hear talk of ending hunting...because there is nothing for management and law enforcement


great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-20-09 AT 01:15AM (MST)[p]JB, Other than killing the goose that laid the golden egg, that certainly is a possibility. I can't see it though. The only way i see an end to hunting in Calif is if the bleeding big city liberals somehow can get their whole anti hunting agenda wrapped up in one pretty package and put before the states voters. Even then, some unseen before votes and support from rural homeboys may save the day. If there were no Game management and enforcement;

1) there would be no need to buy lead free ammo

2) there would be no threat of getting caught

3) Open season by anyone and everyone who always wanted to be a professional hunter.

4) we would finally get an end to our mt lion problem

5) i might finally get a chance to shoot a calif elk.

6) No seasons, no tags, no revenue...in the end, no wildlife

One thought; They spend Millions every year to unsuccessfully try and stop the pot growers yet there is only one or two Game Wardens to cover a huge area in this part of our state. Something is wrong with that!

Joey

 

[nickman]

Sage......what part of "money" don't you understand? You keep trying to apply common sense to our State government.....

My guess would be that the pot growers actually return more dollars to the States' economy than do hunters and fishermen. Why would they want to mess that deal up?

The pot is sold and resold and the cash is eventually spent on gas, food, clothing, real estate, etc......and taxes.

Planting bitterbrush, or trout...generally speaking, is a dead horse, creating no cash flow, by comparison.

I figure we have about 5 years before DFG is a total washout. They will rob our DFG funds faster than we can replace them. Arnold don't hunt!

I wish there was a way that all hunting and fishing license buyers could skip a year and not buy their license. Talk about a wakeup call!!!!Not possible, I know.

 

[Wiszard]

"I wish there was a way that all hunting and fishing license buyers could skip a year and not buy their license. Talk about a wakeup call!!!!Not possible, I know."

If this happened then I may actually get a chance at the ever elusive G3 tag, eh?! SUCKERS!!


Steve

 

[sageadvice]

Nickman, I hear you! You make some good points, especially concerning what bring in money and what doesn't.

I've been concerned with the way Calif has been steadily taking away our sportsman's heritage. Seems every year we get cut back one way or another, tags, season length, or bag limit, across the board and our fees go up. Not just deer but upland for example, not too many years ago we had awesome hunting for wild pheasant in our state. Chucker, mt quail, valley quail, dove, wild pidgon...

Yes there are still some hot spots to hunt these critters but we would find much better game populations and diversity if temporarily, our prey were hawks, eagles, coyotes, fox, coon, skunk, bobcat, bear, and mt lions. We are at a high in the cycle of the predator, both wing and fur. Being there is little chance to have sportsmen buy tags and allowed to quickly adjust to predator prey ratio, looks like we're going to have to wait until the cycle runs it's course naturally.

I vividly remember my Grandfather telling me of when he was a boy and seeing the first deer ever spotted on the ranch that he grew up on. Imagine that, knowing every nook and cranny of a place and then one day coming across a deer. In those days there were predators galore. By the time i came along as a young man, there were no or few predators but lots of deer and upland game. Now there is some game but the predators again out number the prey and it's going down hill fast. The cycle has turned full cycle in the course of about 80-90 years. This was just one ranch but it was a big one and i think it serves as an example of what i'm seeing in a lot of places statewide.

Another of our problems is that the rest of Western USA is ready to cut us loose. Many figure the battle is lost in Calif., don't want to waste their support, and give us up as already having lost the battle. I suppose they have good reason to think we have lost with all the anti's that live here. The anti get the ink and mostly, we just complain, feeling our voices are going unheard.

I'm not one ready to cut and run. I am one of them though that still think that the real battle to protect or hunting heritage, our claim of being able to balance the wildlife, and our ability to support the programs, if done correctly and without our governors hand in the pot, through hunters and fisherman's hard earned dollars will not only work but be the right way to get it done.

Yes, i suppose i'm too much of a believer in common sense but just maybe enough guys are still around that saw it when it was good and want it to be again like that for our future generations. We can and have to get it done. Save the day, save the future of generations to come. I'm hoping we can all arise, get our voice heard above all that bad ink and non-support from the rest of the country to get it done. All it takes is common sense.

Joey

 

[nickman]

Well Joey, unfortunately, I have not seen your name on the ballot or on the Governor's list of appointees for DFG commissioner.

You would have my full support.

Until you are appointed or elected, I will just have to keep my membership active in EVERY organization in this state that supports hunting and gun rights. That is all we can do.

At a political level, hunters as a group swing no weight in this state....we pay everything related to wildlife programs, but I venture to guess, not one person in a hundred is aware of that fact, nor aware of the financial numbers.

Basically, we're history.

I am just going to make the most of the opportunities we have left and hopefully get another 5 years out of this state.

After that we will have no DFG, no parks, no public lakes, no anything that requires state operation or financing.

 

[m1fan]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-22-09 AT 09:04AM (MST)[p]If I were going to stay in CA, I would buy a Lifetime License. This would lock in the price and get your deer tag. But I am Hasta La Bye Bye in about 5-6 years. Looks like they are looking at a lead ban state wide too. So if you are hoarding ammo, might take that into consideration.