The DFG said it is asking the state Fish and Game Commission to cut the season from 37 days to 30 days, making this year's rifle hunting dates September 16 to October 15.

Ratios of between 8 and 11 bucks for every 100 does have been recorded over the past three years during surveys conducted in November, department biologists report. The management strategy goal for the western Siskiyou black-tailed deer area is a ratio of 30 bucks per 100 does.

Fish and Game said overall deer numbers remain relatively stable in the popular hunting area, but have shifted to a higher percentage of does.

The agency said it considered, but rejected, alternative recommendations that included cutting the season two weeks or separating zone B6 from the six-zone "big green" area of northwestern California and establishing a separate tag quota on the area.

At present, hunters who buy a generic "B" deer tag may hunt in any of the six zones during periods when they are open for hunting.

The DFG said western Siskiyou County deer herds blossomed during the late 1980s and into the early 1990s after forest fires cleared large areas of old, decadent brush and induced growth of young, nutritious plant life. In the past few years, however, the brush has again reached a thick, less valuable growth stage, Fish and Game said.