The Wildlife Commission met today and although the official minutes have not been posted the news from the meeting is that these two proposals were shot down. As I reported before there was over whelming support for a statewide two buck limit with most opposition coming from the hound hunters. It seems the commissioners have sided once again with the dog lobby which really doesn’t surprise me but it is disappointing. No matter where you side on this issue you have to be concerned that a small minority with a lobbyist can sway the commissioners to vote against the majority opinion of sportsmen as well as their own biologists.
The other proposal that went down in flames that really surprises me is the one to open up falconry on Sundays. I heard of very little opposition to this proposal at the hearing I was at and from those I have talked to about other hearings from across the state. Many in the hunting community were looking at this as a stepping stone to open bow hunting on Sundays in the near future. Sunday hunting was endorsed by the Wildlife Commission briefly about a year ago with the completion of the Sunday Hunting Study and a recommendation to change the law seemed close. Then after a brief recess they undid all that and passed the study on without any comment. I really thought this would pass but obviously someone got to them or a lot of write in comments came in against it.
As far as the other 80 or so proposals go I haven’t heard anything so we’ll have to wait for the minutes to get posted.
