HUNT CLUB GETS FINAL GO-AHEAD BY SUPERVISORS; SHOOTING EVENTS WILL CONTINUE IN A.V.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

Los Angeles County supervisors approved a hunt club in the far western Antelope Valley, despite opposition from neighbors who say they don't want to hear annoying gunfire.

County officials say the area has always been open for shooting - and is one of the few such places left in the county - and borders Angeles National Forest, where hunting is also allowed.

``This is not in an area where hunting and shooting is prohibited. It's not like you're bringing in hunting and shooting into an area where it is not allowed,'' said Dave Vannatta, an aide to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. ``This is one of the few areas where shooting is permitted on private property.''

Bringing in farm-raised pheasants and quail for hunters to shoot at in addition to the native quail, the High Desert Hunt Club has been operating for three years on 8,000 acres owned by the Tejon Ranch Co. between Highway 138 and Pine Canyon Road, about 10 miles west of Lake Hughes.

Started before its operators found out they needed a conditional use permit from the county, the hunt club has been allowed to keep operating while officials considered their application. The permit was approved by the county's Regional Planning Commission last year, but the decision was appealed to the supervisors.

Set among rolling hills covered with grass, oak tees and pines, the club sends hunters out with dogs and handlers to hunt for pheasant, chukar, bobwhite and valley quail, and puts on monthly ``continental style'' pheasant shoots in which hunters standing at at hay-bale shooting stations fire at birds driven toward them.

Under the approval granted Tuesday by the supervisors, the club can also open a ``sporting clays'' target shooting area where shooters will fire at moving clay targets thrown by mechanical launchers.

One of the site's attractions is its scenic nature, as well as its nearness to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, said Lisa McNamee, who operates the club with her father, Philip.

``Being only 60 miles from Los Angeles, it gives people an opportunity to get up in the morning, come up and hunt with us and be home for dinner,'' McNamee said.

The hunt club's 30-year lease means the land will be kept in its natural condition, she said.

``It's going to be a recreation park; the government, the county or the state don't have to spend any money on it,'' she said.

Three opponents who own property near the hunt club spoke at Tuesday's hearing before the Board of Supervisors, playing a videotape on which the sound of shotguns during a test was audible.

The gunfire will annoy people hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, the Mexico-to-Canada hiking trail which borders the hunting area's eastern edge, and could spook horses, said attorney Louis Bell, who has lived in the area for 20 years and owns 1,100 acres bordering the hunt club range.

``I definitely feel it's a dangerous situation involving horses on the trail,'' Bell said

While the area has been open to hunting, the number of hunters has always been very few, far less than the club will bring in to shoot at farm-raised birds, Bell said.

``Nobody was bothered,'' said Bell. ``I never really heard shots other than an occasional shot up in the mountains during deer season.''

The gunfire does not violate county noise regulations, according to two sets of tests done, said Vannatta, who visited the site twice.

``It was audible. You could hear pop pop pop,'' Vannatta said.

In approving the club, the supervisors enlarged buffer zones to keep shooters at least 250 yards away from the Pacific Crest Trail, and 250 yards away from an opponent's property to the west.

The number of hunters allowed is limited to a maximum 100 a day, though the daily average can be no more than 60, and they can use only shotguns - not rifles whose bullets would travel a greater distance.

``There's a likelihood the case will find itself in Superior Court. We want to make sure we crossed all the t's and dotted all our i's,'' Vannatta said.

The club will open Friday for its fourth season and will run Tuesdays through Sundays through March or early April, though the permit lets it operate from Sept. 1 to April 30, McNamee said. The weather is too hot for the dogs during the summer, she said.

The club can have as many as 40 hunters at its monthly continental hunts, or as few as four doing field hunting during the week, she said.

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Map: High Desert Hunt Club