HARDCORE

Cooney's Corner
Some Get It
Some state agencies get it, but others adopt laws designed to protect
non-game species while leaving hunters high and dry.
lucid Cooney
W
olves are tie-finitely
the poster critter
for some really
weinl folks, atxl if >xxi don't
believe nx-. go to tlx- Web
sites and check out tlxcomnx-nts.
I*>tb gtxxl and
hod. on ldiho's first legal
wolf hunting season. Ixx>k
especially at those directed at
Robert Milage, tlx- klalx>
hunter who took tlx- first wolf
on this hunt—scxix- really
out-of-touch-with-reality comments
made by yo-yo's olxiously
a few Ixxks slxxt of a
full load. Makes it a Ixt easier
to understand w hy we're luving
inxilik-s in vkk-
for the- confidential*)' of
certain game aixl fish records
aixl to ixohibii tlx- Itaraxv
nx-nt. intmikbiKwi, and threats
to tlx- lawful taking and control
of fish and w ildlife. At
pa-sent it kxiks like there is
link- resistance among klaho
legislators lo passing this bill.
Obviously kLilxi is one of tlxstates
that seem to get it.
Then there's California, ilxland
of fruits and nuts, and
20 Predator xtreme | June 3010 ««» [xccLtuxxtrcnx c«xn
lllustraiion by Chris Armstrong
not all of them growing on
trees and bushes.
California's Litest venture
inio tlx- wotkl of anti-fem Ls
trying close a huge chunk of
tlx- Mojave Natkxul Preserve
to hunting atxl slxxXing in
tlx- guise of protecting
California's official state reptile.
tlx- desert tortoise. The
Center for llkikigical Diversity
(CUD), in concert witli tlx-
Sk-na Club aixl a Ixw ol'
otlx-r anti-hunting groups. is
using a kit of pseudo-science
mumlx>-jumlx> to try aixl
stop small ganx- aixl varmint
hunting altogether and
severely restrict game Ixid,
deer, atxl Ixghorn sheep
hunting, suiting that hunters
are a major reason for tlxdecline
in tortoise popublions.
Ilx- 20->ear studies