Mule Deer and Moose in Idaho are domestic livestock?

[Washington Hunter]

The Idaho Legislature will be deciding this issue. Senate Bill 1358 will amend current laws to allow mule deer and moose to be kept on game farms and used in canned hunts. |oo

Control will be taken away from Fish & Game and given to the Department of Agriculture. |oo

Elk are already on the list of "domestic cervidae." |oo

Another bill (SB 1359) provides penalties for if a person were to accidentally kill a moose, elk, mule deer, etc. escaped from a game farm. |oo

Here is the Statement of Purpose of Senate Bill 1358:

The purpose of this proposed legislation is to add mule deer
(odocoileus hemionus) and moose (alces alces) to the list of
domestic cervidae that are allowed to be privately held in
captivity for breeding or other useful purposes on domestic
cervidae farms or ranches in the State of Idaho.

Here is a link to SB 1358: http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/S1358.html

Any of you Idaho residents should be fighting this! Moosie does DHI have an opinion on this?

 

[Moosie]

Moosie does DHI have an opinion on this?

Canned Shoot Statement:

Ethical “Fair Chase Hunting” – DHI in its Fair Chase statement, advocates any hunting that is “the ethical, sportsmanlike and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animals.” DHI condemns the pursuit and killing of any big game animal kept in or released from captivity to be killed in an artificial or bogus “hunting” situation where the game lacks the equivalent chance to escape afforded free-ranging animals, virtually assuring the shooter a certain or unrealistically favorable chance of a kill.

Genetic Manipulation of Game Animals – DHI condemns artificial and unnatural enhancement of a big game species’ genetic characteristics. Unacceptable practices for genetic enhancement include, but are not limited to, artificial insemination, controlled or unnatural breeding programs, cloning, and translocation of breeding stock for canned shooting purposes.

 

[Moosie]

Moosie does DHI have an opinion on this?

Fair Chase Statement

FAIR CHASE, as defined by DHI, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animal

 

[Washington Hunter]

Great! I like that. Did you write it? "Bogus" seems like a word you might use in an official statement. So are they doing anything to try to defeat these two bills?

 

[Moosie]

DID I write it ? No..... (I.E. Stole it from another source and Modified )

So are they doing anything to try to defeat these two bills?

Besides testifying at the Public hearing meetings (in front of Senators and Representatives), Writing in opposition, Being members of the ISAC Comity to team up with all hunting organizations, making statements in the Newspaper (Coming up) and ....

Well, no, not much.

Tell me everything you’re doing ….. ??

 

[Washington Hunter]

Me? What can I do? I'm not a resident of Idaho. Just wanted to get the word out.

Good to hear you/DHI are working on it! hump

 

[Moosie]

Me? What can I do? I'm not a resident of Idaho.

...................OK.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

So DHI has a canned response on canned hunting? LMAO....

 

[Washington Hunter]

Tell me everything you’re doing ….. ??

Now that I think about it I suppose I could write a letter...I'm just not sure if they care what a non-resident thinks about it...

 

[Washington Hunter]

Did a Google search and came up with this newspaper article:

Article published Feb 11, 2006

Senate bill would change status of mule deer, moose
If bill passes, game farmers could own, import animals

An Idaho Senate bill introduced this week would allow game farmers to own, breed and raise captive mule deer and moose, and could lead to penned hunting of those animals.

Mule deer and moose are currently classified as wild game animals in Idaho. They cannot be privately owned, and domestic mule deer and moose cannot be imported from other states.

Senate Bill 1358 would allow domestic mule deer and moose to be imported and privately owned for "breeding or other useful purposes on domestic cervidae farms or ranches," according to the bill.
Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing on the bill for 8 a.m. Thursday.

A similar bill last year that would have allowed importation and ownership of domestic mule deer, moose and white-tailed deer passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate, 18-16.
Last month, the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee killed a bill sponsored by Sen. David Langhorst, D-Boise, that would have banned the importation of any domestic elk or deer into Idaho.

Tom Van Witbeck, past president of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association, said there are about 80 licensed game farms in Idaho. They own about 5,000 animals, typically elk or European deer. The industry would like more options in the types of animals they can raise and sell.

"I would say the addition of these species will definitely make the industry more viable," Witbeck said.
Mule deer are common on game farms in Canada, he said, but he was not aware of any farmer in the U.S. currently raising moose.

In recent years, many elk breeders have started hunting preserves or sold animals to hunting preserve operators. On hunting preserves, people pay to shoot elk in penned enclosures.
If domestic mule deer and moose were allowed to be imported, they could also be shot in shooting preserves because they would be private property and not regulated by Idaho's fish and game laws.

"I oppose it," said Sam Florence of Boise, board member for the Mule Deer Foundation. "With the amount of domestic livestock out there, I don't see a reason to ranch any of the big game animals that we hunt."

Hunters also fear importing domestic deer could bring chronic wasting disease into Idaho, a fatal disease that attacks the brains of deer, elk and moose. The disease could then spread to wild animals.
"We're still opposed to (the bill) because of the spread of disease, and mule deer and moose get CWD," said Cherie Barton, past president of the Idaho Wildlife Federation. "It only benefits a few businesses compared to the damage it could do."

CWD has never been found here, but in 2001, 37 domestic elk from eastern Idaho were killed after they had been imported from a Colorado ranch that had a CWD-infected animal. All tested negative for CWD.
CWD has been found in game farms in 10 states, including neighboring Montana and Wyoming, and in two Canadian provinces, according to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, a group that tracks documented CWD infections.

Last month, about 40 white-tailed bucks escaped from a Wisconsin game farm that had CWD- infected animals since 2002, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Wisconsin officials are investigating the incident.

 

[Moosie]

FYI, As of 2 hours ago... Snt. Langhurst sent out an Email to those involved saying both 1358 and 1359 both got Yanked from the Ballet.

I would like to Plug DHI and Stan Riddle for Being the first to stand up and Testify.

There Washington hunter............ a FYI

 

[Washington Hunter]

Great news...thanks for letting me know. I just hate the idea of privately owned game animals (as I'm sure you know)

 

[Ithaca 37]

Moosie, I hope you're telling everybody to support Sen. Langhorst in the next election.

 

[Bullhound]

Hey folks! My reps are getting tired of my tirades against this kind of crap. I was glad to see they got yanked.

 

[TheTone]

Great news they got yanked. Too bad they were even introduced in the first place, also too bad that the other one to kill game farms didn't make it through.