For decades in California there was a $50 bounty on Mountain Lions, when $50 would buy a new rifle. A few hardy souls made a living hunting them.
Then the liberals took over and decided that hunting was a bad thing, and fishing, and cutting down trees, and lots of other things. It's apparently ok if little Johnny smokes pot, and little Suzy is on the pill, as long as they don't want to learn about guns or hunting. And Johnny can stay inside all the time, where it is safe, and play video games for hours and look at porn on the computer. But don't let him hike in the hills or go into the woods, because it might be dangerous.
And today in California the Mountain Lion is protected, and is treated like a Sacred Cow. In many areas they are over-populated and take a heavy toll on deer and small livestock. Instead of a bounty, now one may recieve a heavy fine and lose his gun for shooting one. And hides from Mountain Lions legally taken in other states may not be brought into California. Heaven forbid!
I once saw the official answer from a CA state official to the question: Is it legal to kill a rattlesnake in California? The answer was a page and a half long all about when it was and when it wasn't, and where it was and where it wasn't. And how it could be and how it might be and when it might not be. I never saw such a crock of hooey in my life.
Pigs can be shot day or night all year round, no limit. Must be vermin. Except you have to have tags, and tag them. And you get the tags five at a time. Sounds like game.
Scrub Jays are vermin; Crested Jays are songbirds. Jack rabbits are vermin; cottontails are game. Gray foxes are vermin; red foxes are game.
So don't bother asking California what is a game animal and what is not, and why. It is not surprising that dozens of county sheriffs signed a letter to the CA Dept of Justice complaining that the state's assault weapons laws were totally incomprehensible.
I guess game is game when it is, except when it is not.
