"Congratulatins ! ...
Be sure to attend to optional DFW orientation meeting in Alturas the day before the season opens. Lots of good information. ..."
Very true. Here is an interesting story about when my partner and I, and a bunch of other hunters attended the DFG orientation meeting in Alturas. This was in 1981, long before there was any such thing as a "cell phone."
The orientation at the Alturas H.S. gym was given by a couple of F&G game wardens. Also there on the stage was a very attentive and serious looking Lassen Deputy Sheriff. After the game wardens finished, the Deputy got up and explained some of the laws regarding trespass, etc. He then said, "All you hunters from Unit Four, meet me outside when this is over."
About nine or ten of us went out to meet him. This Deputy looked like the perfect picture of a USMC Gunnery Sgt.
He said to us, "You'll probably be camped out in the Madeline Plains area or Observation peak area. That's BLM land and is very remote and lonely country. There have been a bunch of hippies and outlaw bikers who have moved into some of those secluded canyons out there where there are springs. They're squatters. They're from San Francisco and Los Angeles. They grow weed and deal other forms of dope, doing some stealing from local ranchers and campers and raising Hell. There have been three murders in this area recently and several assaults."
One of the hunters asked, "How do we know who they are?"
The Deputy answered without hesitation. "If they look like pukes, they are pukes."
Another hunter asked, "What should we do if they come around?"
The Deputy said, "You're out there all by yourself. Do not let them in your camp for any reason whatsoever."
I said, "Deputy, are you saying what I think you're saying?"
He looked me in the eye and stated emphatically, "Do. Not. Let. Them. In. Your. Camp."
Another hunter said, "What if they try to come into camp and we have to ... uh... do something?"
The Deputy said, "After you finish what you have to do, you go into Ravendale or Madeline and call the Sheriff's Office. I'll come take care of things."
He was as serious as a heart attack, I assure you.
Later, my partner and I were camped way out there, near the Nevada border. Using our binoculars we saw some bikers in the distance coming out of a secluded canyon, but never had any run ins with anyone. Mighty glad we didn't, too.
I have no idea what the situation is there now. As I said, that was 1981, back before "political correctness" was the rule.
L.W.