j-bird
Moderator
Gov. Pence signed to bills into law recently. SB109 which legalizes hunting preserves and treats captive deer as livestock and not wild animals. HB1231 allows the use of 5 high powered rifle calibers to be used to hunt deer.
My issue with the rifles is that the legislature should NOT be the mechanism to implement this change. The DNR found a 50/50 split among hunters for and against them and as such did not implement the change and suggested against it. Those applying pressure to the DNR for the use of HPR's then went to the legislature to get this accomplished. I see no NEED for HPR's in Indiana. The DNR has already set liberal bag limits, added additional seasons and expanded weapons to include x-bows and handgun cartridge rifle use. Allowing the legislature to dictate to the DNR what can and can not be used is NOT a good idea. What happens when the next group with enough political pull wants to end deer season altogether?
As for the captive deer bill I don't support it either. Deer behind a fence is a bad idea. They link CWD to these places all the time. These places are not going to be the one to foot the bill when CWD spreads across IN. The wild deer suffer, hunters will suffer and the entire tax paying base of Indiana will foot the bill. Hardly seems fair to me.
If I see anything it's that it isn't about "fair" anymore. It's about who ever has the most money using the political system to get what they want. The legislature voted against it's own state DNR....Who does that? We are no longer represented by people interested in the "greater good" or by folks that will admit that it isn't there place to make those sorts of decisions. They are simply lining their pockets and only interested in their own self preservation and their own agenda. Natural resources as a whole are up for sale in this country - you just have to grease the wheels of the political system with enough money to get what you want. As you can see I am just more than a little upset by all of this.
My issue with the rifles is that the legislature should NOT be the mechanism to implement this change. The DNR found a 50/50 split among hunters for and against them and as such did not implement the change and suggested against it. Those applying pressure to the DNR for the use of HPR's then went to the legislature to get this accomplished. I see no NEED for HPR's in Indiana. The DNR has already set liberal bag limits, added additional seasons and expanded weapons to include x-bows and handgun cartridge rifle use. Allowing the legislature to dictate to the DNR what can and can not be used is NOT a good idea. What happens when the next group with enough political pull wants to end deer season altogether?
As for the captive deer bill I don't support it either. Deer behind a fence is a bad idea. They link CWD to these places all the time. These places are not going to be the one to foot the bill when CWD spreads across IN. The wild deer suffer, hunters will suffer and the entire tax paying base of Indiana will foot the bill. Hardly seems fair to me.
If I see anything it's that it isn't about "fair" anymore. It's about who ever has the most money using the political system to get what they want. The legislature voted against it's own state DNR....Who does that? We are no longer represented by people interested in the "greater good" or by folks that will admit that it isn't there place to make those sorts of decisions. They are simply lining their pockets and only interested in their own self preservation and their own agenda. Natural resources as a whole are up for sale in this country - you just have to grease the wheels of the political system with enough money to get what you want. As you can see I am just more than a little upset by all of this.