Actually, this really IS history, since the quota was actually reached on Monday. I’ve been too slammed with stuff going on to do a lot of keeping up lately, so fortunately my hunting and blogging compatriot, John Martin over at Western Wanderer got the news out on time.
California bases their bear season on a quota system, and when the number of bears harvested and reported reached 1700 (an increase of 200 over last year), the season closes. If the quota isn’t reached by the end of December, the season ends anyway, but over the past few years the quota has been hit prior to the end of the month.
The state has plenty of bears, and plenty of bear hunters. Some of you may remember that I joined their ranks for the first time this season, picking up my tag and then facing a chip shot on a nice bear my very first time out. If you read the story, you know the details, but bottom line, I still had a tag to fill. While I kept the idea alive, I never made it back out… and now it’s too late, of course. That’s probably just as well.
Anyway, just a reminder to all of you who, like me, still have unfilled bear tags… as per the law, you have to mail them back in by February 1. Don’t put it off.
