HTRN57
New member
For those of you following this post, after several unanswered voice mail messages, and multiple email requests I finally did receive a response from the state regarding my request to extend the night hunting season to year-round status. Here is the response (Points 1 through 7) from the Wildlife management office:
1 - As much as everybody loves to hate coyotes, we view them as more than a target with a heartbeat.
2 - Conservation means “wise use” of a natural resource. The current season for night hunting coincides with the absolute limits of fur primeness. Extending the season dates would promote wanton waste because furs have no commercial value.
3 - Our argument about wanton waste seems to make little sense when you can kill coyotes legally 365 days per year from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. This provision allows livestock producers to address losses quickly with no red tape. We see this as a common sense and sensitive approach to the needs of livestock producers rather than a provision that promotes recreational harvest during a period when furs are worthless (although, admittedly, it doesn’t prevent it).
4 - We’re sensitive to the needs of our constituents. That’s why we already extended the closing date for night hunting from January 31 to February 15.
5 - We recognize that the old saw about “controlling coyotes” is just that. People have been trying to “control” coyotes for a couple of hundred years with no success. In a nutshell, for every 5 coyotes killed, the survivors make 5 more. Liberalizing season dates will not improve our ability to manage this resource.
6 - As a public agency, we are often forced to evaluate narrowly defined requests in a much broader context. People are more active as weather warms in the spring. It’s hard to account for their whereabouts when shooting at night, and the sound of a high-powered rifle is apt to make them uncomfortable – even if the shot does not travel in their direction.
7 - As a public agency, we are held to the laws of the State that establish procedures for setting season dates, hours, etc. through administrative rules. I understand that our Office of Legal Council provided you with those procedures, and we welcome your participation with providing public comment when the section of Part 550 that addresses hunting hours is open to amendments.
My Take: Some of these points make good sense to me but others do not. Maybe extending it a few weeks earlier and few weeks later would be the better option. However, considering the hunting digest is likely already printed or in process for the 2012-2013 season I think I will let it go and try again this fall, say around September. At that time I plan to send the documentation as noted in point 7 to legal, and I will email the appropriate individuals in the wildlife management office. However, this time around I will give everyone on the forum the contact information so we can all get involved. Hopefully the larger volume of emails will convince them to take some action. Stay tuned for the post to pick back up this fall. Kevin
1 - As much as everybody loves to hate coyotes, we view them as more than a target with a heartbeat.
2 - Conservation means “wise use” of a natural resource. The current season for night hunting coincides with the absolute limits of fur primeness. Extending the season dates would promote wanton waste because furs have no commercial value.
3 - Our argument about wanton waste seems to make little sense when you can kill coyotes legally 365 days per year from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. This provision allows livestock producers to address losses quickly with no red tape. We see this as a common sense and sensitive approach to the needs of livestock producers rather than a provision that promotes recreational harvest during a period when furs are worthless (although, admittedly, it doesn’t prevent it).
4 - We’re sensitive to the needs of our constituents. That’s why we already extended the closing date for night hunting from January 31 to February 15.
5 - We recognize that the old saw about “controlling coyotes” is just that. People have been trying to “control” coyotes for a couple of hundred years with no success. In a nutshell, for every 5 coyotes killed, the survivors make 5 more. Liberalizing season dates will not improve our ability to manage this resource.
6 - As a public agency, we are often forced to evaluate narrowly defined requests in a much broader context. People are more active as weather warms in the spring. It’s hard to account for their whereabouts when shooting at night, and the sound of a high-powered rifle is apt to make them uncomfortable – even if the shot does not travel in their direction.
7 - As a public agency, we are held to the laws of the State that establish procedures for setting season dates, hours, etc. through administrative rules. I understand that our Office of Legal Council provided you with those procedures, and we welcome your participation with providing public comment when the section of Part 550 that addresses hunting hours is open to amendments.
My Take: Some of these points make good sense to me but others do not. Maybe extending it a few weeks earlier and few weeks later would be the better option. However, considering the hunting digest is likely already printed or in process for the 2012-2013 season I think I will let it go and try again this fall, say around September. At that time I plan to send the documentation as noted in point 7 to legal, and I will email the appropriate individuals in the wildlife management office. However, this time around I will give everyone on the forum the contact information so we can all get involved. Hopefully the larger volume of emails will convince them to take some action. Stay tuned for the post to pick back up this fall. Kevin