If you’ve been reading my blog for any time at all I’m sure you know my disgust for those “hunters” who kill animals restrained in pens. So it may come as a surprise to you that I’ve been a member of Safari Club International for a few years now. SCI maintains the tame-animal record books and at least historically has been the only major organization to give haven to that fringe element of the outdoor world. Even today a brief look at their magazine shows that a significant amount of their advertising and corporate sponsors are tame animal farms…

So what gives? Well, as I became a more diverse hunter I realized that, despite the whole tame animal killing thing, no one else supports real hunting like SCI. No one has done more to provide free range opportunities in developing markets and countries that have limited sport hunting tradition. No one has spent more time and money defending the relatively rare North American hunts like polar bears. Maybe I’ll never get a chance to do some of these things, but I enthusiastically support those who do.

Finally, they are on the ground level for many local hunts and hunting opportunities. To that end they filed suit in New Jersey yesterday (10/14/09) in an effort to get black bear hunting reinstated in New Jersey.

Despite the best efforts of the state’s Fish and Game Council (Council), New Jersey’s Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has refused to approve a new comprehensive black bear management policy (Black Bear Policy) that includes hunting as a management strategy. Under New Jersey law, without a policy in place, the State cannot hold a black bear hunt. The Commissioner’s inaction has lead to a drastic increase in bear incidents state-wide since the last bear hunt in 2005.

SCI President Larry Rudolph said, “A well regulated hunt is essential for the sound and responsible management of black bear in New Jersey and for the safety of the general public. The goal of our lawsuit is simply to put legal pressure on the Commissioner and the Council to take the necessary action to adopt a Black Bear Policy. Forcing action on a policy will allow the Council — the people entrusted under New Jersey law to manage wildlife — to decide whether a hunt is both the appropriate means of managing the state’s bear population and a valued recreational experience

Here is the whole release.

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