Idaho debates elk farms/high fenced operations (Thoughts?)
AGCHAWK
1/13/07 4:52pm
Idaho lawmakers start debate over domestic elk following breakout
BOISE, Idaho Lawmakers today took aim at an issue likely to keep them busy this winter: What to do about domestic elk farms, some of which allow huge trophy bulls to be shot by hunters who pay thousands to kill them.
At a 2 1/2 hour meeting of House and Senate committees that oversee both agriculture and wildlife, the battle lines took shape on two fronts.
The first is whether regulations should be beefed up to give the Department of Agriculture increased authority over the state's 78 elk farms with 5,843 animals.
The second is more philosophical.
It pits fair-chase advocates bugling to close down Idaho's 14 preserves that allow penned hunts on ethical grounds, as has been done in neighboring Wyoming and Montana, against property-rights advocates who call bull on forbidding "shooter bull" operations.
The debate was kicked off in August when up to 160 domestic elk bolted from a private hunting reserve near Rexburg, 10 miles from Yellowstone National Park. An ensuing emergency hunt ordered by the state led to the killing of 43 elk.
BOISE, Idaho Lawmakers today took aim at an issue likely to keep them busy this winter: What to do about domestic elk farms, some of which allow huge trophy bulls to be shot by hunters who pay thousands to kill them.
At a 2 1/2 hour meeting of House and Senate committees that oversee both agriculture and wildlife, the battle lines took shape on two fronts.
The first is whether regulations should be beefed up to give the Department of Agriculture increased authority over the state's 78 elk farms with 5,843 animals.
The second is more philosophical.
It pits fair-chase advocates bugling to close down Idaho's 14 preserves that allow penned hunts on ethical grounds, as has been done in neighboring Wyoming and Montana, against property-rights advocates who call bull on forbidding "shooter bull" operations.
The debate was kicked off in August when up to 160 domestic elk bolted from a private hunting reserve near Rexburg, 10 miles from Yellowstone National Park. An ensuing emergency hunt ordered by the state led to the killing of 43 elk.
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Hunter292
1/13/07 6:41pm
CLose them down!!!!!!!!
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killerbee
1/14/07 9:55am
boy thats an iffy topic at best !!! i personnaly am against " hunters", if thats what they call themselves , hunting in an inclosed fence --- no matter how big it is.. but in the over all picture these people are still pro hunting rights so it might be best to let them hunt the way they like to hunt just to not detor these people to the anti- hunting side. like i said i would never even consider going high fence hunting but hunters should not fight against each other we should consintrate are efforts on fighting the people who are against hunting in any method! just my 2 cents..
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bigbuck92
1/14/07 10:25am
ive said it before and ill say it again. I HATE HIGH-FENCED HUNTS!!!
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catdogs
1/14/07 2:16pm
I think high fence hunts are a disgrace. The concern is that like killerbee says, as hunters we should support all legal methods of hunting and save are battles for the anti's. Afterall, SCI supports high fence hunts, even though most "hunters" do not agree. They are a valuable ally to all hunting. Its the attitudes of "high fence shooters" that need to be changed. Game farms are simply supplying the demand. We as "fair chase" hunters have the right to choose not to hunt game farms. I also think, that when the governement decides what you can and can not do on your own private land is never a good thing. It all boils down to more governemnt control. :>/
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killerbee
1/14/07 2:40pm
it seems it comes down to for me is once " joe-new york-high fence hunter" cant hunt on his high fence hunts where do you want his votes to go? anti hunting ?????????????????? no
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