Chapter 6 Chapter 6 – Game and Other High-Interest Species The childhood training of hunters is not so much practical training as the opening of spiritual doors.... Hunting had put a premium on physical good health, on sensitivity to environment and to the nuances and clues in a delicate and beautiful world, on independence, confidence, persistence, generosity, and had given them a powerful sense of the non-human creation. — Paul Shepard (1973) There is a value in any experience that exercises those ethical restraints collectively called ‘sportsmanship.’ Our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is a voluntary limitation in the use of those armaments... a peculiar virtue of wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact. — Aldo Leopold (1966) Key Questions nia head for the lakes, where a variety of popu- • What is the current status of major lar sport fish are planted. These lake fisheries game and other high-interest animal are primarily managed by local water districts populations in the coastal mountains and the California Department of Fish and of southern California? Game (CDFG), usually with minimal involve- • What are the primary management ment from the public land management issues for these species? agencies. For this reason we do not address lake sport fish in this report. For those who This chapter examines the current status prefer flowing waters, there are many fishable and trends of the most popular game animals mountain streams. The primary sport fish in in the region as well as several other species these streams is the rainbow trout. that are of particularly high interest to people. Hunting and fishing are popular activities in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) the assessment area. State and federal land and Status and Distribution: Rainbow trout resource management agencies invest consid- occur throughout the assessment area. A few erable time and effort managing habitats and populations of native steelhead remain (an monitoring populations of game species. anadramous or ocean-going rainbow trout; see Many of the same habitats that are important “Fish” section, chapter 4) primarily in the Los to rare and at-risk species are also important Padres National Forest where some are now to game animals. landlocked by downstream barriers to the ocean. However, most of the trout found in southern Fish California today are stocked hatchery fish. Many The majority of anglers who go to the streams in the region are regularly restocked to mountains and foothills of southern Califor- maintain a recreational fishery. 317 A few local streams that support produc- Birds tive, self-sustaining trout populations have Quail, turkeys, and pigeons are addressed been designated as “wild trout streams” by the in this section because they are the most com- CDFG. These include Sespe Creek and Piru monly hunted game birds in the assessment Creek in the southern Los Padres, the West area. Waterfowl and doves are not addressed Fork of the San Gabriel River in the San because, although they do occur in the moun- Gabriel Mountains, and Deep Creek and Bear tains, they are not found in large numbers and Creek in the San Bernardino Mountains few people go to the mountains to hunt them. (Deinstadt et al. 1990). These streams have special fishing regulations, including catch- California Quail (Callipepla californica) and and-release requirements and barbless hooks. Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) Wild trout management plans have been de- Status and Distribution: California quail veloped for Deep Creek and Bear Creek and mountain quail are native gallinaceous (Hoover 1983; Hoover and Deinstadt 1989). birds found throughout the assessment area Several other local trout streams have the in a wide variety of habitats. California quail special catch-and-release and barbless hooks range from sea level to about 5,000 feet, while regulations. These include the San Antonio mountain quail extend from below 2,000 to River, South Fork of the San Jacinto River, over 9,000 feet (Garrett and Dunn 1981). The and Pauma Creek and the West Fork of the range of these two species overlaps broadly, San Luis Rey River on Palomar Mountain. but they have distinct habitat and behavioral Habitat: Rainbow trout can tolerate a va- differences. Mountain quail occur in more riety of water conditions but prefer cool waters. densely vegetated habitats and are dispersed They do best in streams that have deep pools in relatively small coveys of fewer than fifteen and a well-developed canopy of riparian trees birds. California quail prefer more open habi- that shade the water (Deinstadt et al. 1990). tats and typically form coveys of forty to sixty Aquatic vegetation provides excellent cover for birds, with some containing well over one trout. hundred (Leopold et al. 1981). California Management Issues: The biggest issue for quail tend to burst into flight to escape a threat, the region’s trout streams is maintaining ad- while mountain quail have a greater tendency equate stream flows. Most of the wild trout to flee on foot. The larger coveys, propensity streams lie below dams, and their survival is to fly, and occurrence in open habitats make dependent on sustained water releases from the California quail more desirable to hunt those impoundments. Organizations such as and thus a much more popular game bird. Cal Trout, Trout Unlimited, and San Diego Habitat: Mountain quail typically inhabit Trout have played a major role in persuading forested habitat and dense chaparral, while water agencies to commit to sustained water California quail tend to frequent openings and releases in these systems. Trout stocking pro- edge habitats (Leopold et al. 1981). Prime grams must increasingly consider the effects habitat for mountain quail is extensive and well of this activity on native fish and amphibians, represented on public lands within the assess- many of which are rare and declining. The ment area. This is less true for California quail; special regulations applied to keep wild trout commonly called “valley quail,” they reach waters from being overfished generally seem peak abundance in valley and foothill bottom to be working. Many of these streams are in lands where there is a good mix of openings, back-country areas that are relatively difficult brushy cover, and water. These productive to access. This helps reduce fishing pressure bottom-land habitats are predominantly in on these waters. private ownership and many acres have been converted to croplands and subdivisions that support few quail. California quail do occur in the chaparral-covered hills but mostly at low 318 Chapter 6 densities. Biswell et al. (1952) found 100 quail niques have improved substantially over the per square mile in unbroken chaparral, with last thirty years and wild turkey populations numbers increasing to 250 per square mile in are now established in many parts of Califor- areas where small openings had been created nia, particularly along the west side of the by burning. Sierra Nevada and in the northern and cen- Management Issues: The California tral coast ranges (CDFG 1990). quail’s popularity as a game bird, combined Turkey populations have been well estab- with the fact that much of its prime low- lished for many years in the foothills of elevation habitat has been converted for other Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and northern uses, make it a higher priority for management Santa Barbara counties (Smith and Browning attention than mountain quail. California 1967; Garrett and Dunn 1981). The south- quail do best in habitat mosaics that contain a ernmost mountains of California are some of mix of open feeding areas and protective the last areas of potential habitat in the state brushy cover. Small clumps of trees and shrubs to have self-sustaining wild turkey popula- scattered among open feeding areas provide a tions. A population was successfully maximum of “edge” and are ideal for quail established in the San Bernardino Mountains when water is available (Leopold 1977). Large, north of Lake Arrowhead in 1988. It is now a continuous blocks of a single vegetation type very popular resource that attracts hunters provide poor habitat. Thus large stands of from throughout southern California and unbroken chaparral support low numbers of Nevada (S. Loe, San Bernardino NF, pers. quail. comm). In 1993, turkey populations were es- The most commonly encountered habi- tablished on private lands at several locations tat limitations for quail on national forest in the mountains of San Diego County. In- system lands are lack of water and lack of suit- troductions are also proposed for the able openings in the chaparral. Over the years, Cleveland National Forest but have been de- a large number of water developments (e.g., layed by litigation over the potential impact guzzlers and catchments) have been installed on native species. However, the turkeys to improve habitat for quail. Local chapters planted on private lands have dispersed widely of Quail Unlimited have been particularly in- and some presently occur on the Cleveland strumental in organizing and implementing National Forest. these projects. Prescribed burning has been Habitat: Turkeys can occur in a variety of used to create openings and increase age-class habitats but are found primarily in pine, oak, diversity in the chaparral. and mixed hardwood/conifer woodlands. Im- portant habitat components include large Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) roost trees, openings that contain herbaceous Status and Distribution: This popular plants, and the production of mast crops, es- game bird is native to much of North America pecially acorns. Water is a critical habitat but was not present in California at the time requirement for turkeys; they need to drink of its discovery and settlement by Europeans at least once a day and thus require a depend- (Burger 1954).