Here is just 1 reason for not keeping the fight headed in one direction! Im sure NADEFA will be on this one!
Indiana must say no to canned hunting
Mar 22, 2013
In a recent article in The Indianapolis Star, we have learned that once again an effort is being made by some legislators to legalize canned deer hunting in this state. This is the shooting of farm-raised domesticated whitetail deer and elk in fenced enclosures. As sportsmen and women we know that these animals have been bred specifically for abnormally large antlers and exhibit little to no flight instincts which you would expect of a wild animal. In other words, they are tame.
It has been reported that Rep. Matt Ubelhor of Bloomfield is going to amend Senate Bill 487 to include the legalization of “canned” deer hunting operations in Indiana. Rep. Ubelhor authored a bill earlier in the session but it failed to get a hearing as there was an intense media focus on the Connersville couple and “Dani” the deer. That saga ended with Gov. Mike Pence requesting that the DNR drop the charges against the couple or a pardon for Dani’s saviors.
Now ironically, as reported by The Star, Gov. Pence says that he is open to the idea of captive or “canned” deer hunting in Indiana. This is a reverse of previous Gov. Mitch Daniels’ position. In 2006, then Gov. Daniels strongly condemned “canned” hunting and signed into law rules to clarify and ban the practice that was always considered illegal by the state. Gov. Pence, it seems, believes that these businesses, five which still exist because of a pending lawsuit, “were allowed but then had the rug pulled out from under them.” The rug has not been pulled out from under them. The DNR has always had rules against these practices as evidence of legislative efforts by Rep. Bill Friend since 1999 on behalf of his constituent Russ Beller who was convicted in federal court in 2005 for running illegal canned hunts.
Sportsmen and women believe you don’t shoot farm animals and we are greatly concerned about disease risk to Indiana’s wild deer. Twenty-three states have Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a fatal deer disease present in either their wild or captive herds, or both. It is believed movement of deer to and from captive facilities is the primary reason the disease is spreading across this country. Cost to States’ agencies and taxpayers are astronomical. Wisconsin has spent over $50 million in an effort to manage CWD disease. In Indiana we have had tuberculous found in several captive deer facilities, a Harrison County hunting facility, a Wayne County farm, and a Franklin County farm. As a result of the TB found, many wild deer had to be shot by sharpshooters and tested. We also learned last year, as reported by The Star, several farm-raised captive deer brought into Indiana from Pennsylvania had been exposed to CWD. When state authorities traced the deer to an Indiana captive deer farm, it was found that several of the deer had escaped. To date, not all the deer have been recovered for CWD testing. Until all the escaped deer are found and all tested for CWD, it will not be known whether CWD has spread to Indiana.
Tell your legislators to say “No” to “canned hunting” in Indiana. The risk to wild deer is too great and the hunting ethics too poor for Hoosiers
