Hunting

A quarter-million people poured into London on Sunday to protest a government they say threatens their rural way of life. From the grouse moors of Scotland and the green valleys of Wales and England, landowners and laborers, fox hunters and their opponents brought their diverse grievances to the capital in Britain's largest single demonstration since antinuclear marches in the early 1980s.

Re "Loaded for Bear in the Southland Mountains," Dec. 10: I am appalled and saddened that big game hunting still exists in California, especially here in the Southland. California allows up to 1,500 bears to be killed annually, and hunters such as Bill La Haye kill innocent black bears simply for sport. How would La Haye and his comrades feel if they were hunted just for sport? I feel that the black bear and the rest of the forest's lovely creatures have a right to live in tranquillity.

Re "Island Hunting Plan Misses Target," Aug. 3 The proposal by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) for a military hunting preserve is a selfish land grab for hunters like himself who want a pristine and publicly isolated area for their personal hunts. His use of the emotionally charged issue of disabled American veterans is nothing more than camouflage to attain that goal. If he is truly sincere about helping disabled vets who want to hunt, then he should propose setting aside some of the thousands of acres of federal forest that are for sale and create a refuge with the proper facilities that could accommodate disabled veterans' needs.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has called a halt to the first mountain lion season in 16 years (Part I, Nov. 24), saying that state Fish and Game Commission hadn't properly considered the consequences of the hunt. The judge's action has a welcome side effect. Judge Lucy McCabe's ruling means that, in the future, California Fish and Game will have to do a better job of analyzing the impact of hunting on all game animals. Provided, of course, the decision withstands an appeal.

Re: "For Women, the Game Is Afoot" (Jan. 10), to 15-year-old hunter Sarah Salukas, who says: "A lot of people are surprised when they learn I hunt deer, but no one has been negative about it." I say: Perhaps you haven't talked to the right people--like myself, who is disgusted, horrified and appalled that a young person would amuse herself by killing. To murder a young, healthy deer whose only crime is to be in the path of Sarah's arrow is obscene, criminal, totally unethical and a mockery of philosophical, religious, moral and just plain humane values.

Teens are hitting the malls again, and not just to hang out and shop. Job-hunting season for the summer is underway as teens scramble for coveted positions at their favorite apparel retailers, frozen yogurt shops and department stores. The best jobs are often filled by spring break. This year, with the nation's unemployment rate at 9.7% in March, expect the job market to be especially crowded, analysts say. Not only do teens have to compete with college students and recent graduates, they'll also be up against a wave of out-of-work adults ready to snap up even temporary positions.

The Fund for Animals has issued a report with a decidedly gleeful message: The number of hunters is down -- again -- and so is the number of animals being killed. Using U.S. Fish and Wildlife figures along with state wildlife statistics, the organization said the number of hunters has declined from 14 million to 13 million since 1991. Doves and squirrels were killed in the largest numbers, accounting for more than 45 million of the total.

I couldn't help being amused, although saddened, by the responses to Rich Roberts' story on the probable effects on wildlife if hunting were banned in California. That some people would carry a love of animals to the point where they suggest human beings shoot each other is amazing. But what really gets me is these people think they are innocent. They sit in their homes in the San Fernando Valley and pet their dogs and believe that the whole world operates with the same supermarket reality.

The Hunt Saboteurs think as Thoreau: "In wildness is the preservation of the world." Thoreau left no gray areas. Neither do the Hunt Sabbers. "We just don't believe in man managing animals," says Jonathan Paul, an organizer of Hunt Saboteurs CA. "We believe in animals doing it themselves. "Fish and Game really wants to annihilate all the mountain lions, and there you are destroying a whole ecosystem by getting rid of all the predators.

The former hunting retreat that Southern California Edison's first president, John Barnes Miller, built around 1918 is for sale in unincorporated Claremont. Three miles up Webb Canyon Road, Trails End Ranch offers a rare glimpse of early California from its nearly 51 wilderness acres, which include live oak, scrub oak, redwood, olive, peach and pepper trees, to name a few. Although the single-level U-shaped, hacienda-style home was built before Los Angeles County started tracking building permits, a 1918 announcement by Southern California Edison said the company would construct a number of rustic redwood residences.