Canned Hunt FRIENDly legislators Note: The Senate acted with appropriate moral governance and put an end to this ridiculous bill which would make millionaires of 12 operators in this state. Good for them! The article below was written before this bill was "euthanized" in the Senate. Still makes for good reading: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search February 12, 2006 outdoors: skip hess Latest fenced hunting bill has veterans in crosshairs February 12, 2006 The lawmakers who introduced House Bill 1349 in the Indiana General Assembly might think they are nickel slick, but they have to get out of bed a lot earlier if they want to bamboozle their fellow Hoosiers. This is a bill that returns in some form to the Indiana General Assembly year after year, only to stall in some committee. Many lawmakers have been reluctant to vote on the bill, which deals with the controversial shooting of deer and elk held captive by eight-foot fencing at commercial preserves. There are 10 of the facilities in the state where clients pay thousands of dollars to kill a trophy deer or elk, purely for bragging rights and to hang its antlered head on a wall. The Department of Natural Resources contends the businesses are illegal, although they have been allowed to operate for several years. Indiana sportsmen groups have adamantly opposed this form of shooting deer and elk because it flies in the face of fair chase. Last year, DNR director Kyle Hupfer took a stand on the issue in his first year on the job and proposed that all deer and elk shooting preserve operations be shut down this year, subject to approval by legislators. This year's bill, co-sponsored by state representatives John D. Ulmer (R-Goshen), William J. Ruppel (R-North Manchester), Paul Robertson (D-Depauw) and Jerry Denbo (D-French Lick), sailed through the House (53-29) after dying in past sessions, although it was even more pro-shooting preserve than in the past. Why the change this year? The first clue is in the synopsis of the bill. The preserves are now called "hunting" instead if "shooting" facilities in HB 1349. It sounds better, even though there is very little hunting and a lot of guaranteed shooting success going on. The bill proposes that clients cannot hunt closer than 150 yards from an artificial feeding site and calls for a smaller hunting area of 80 contiguous acres surrounded by an eight-foot fence. Here's a hint to how much "hunting" will be going on. The bill states that the facility "may not sell a specific deer or elk to the hunter." However, a facility owner may charge either a basic hunting fee or "a fee based upon the antler size of the deer or elk taken by the hunter." Here's where an attempt to bamboozle comes into play. Before the hunting facility wording in section two of the seven-page bill, look at what pops up in boldface lettering at the bottom of page four in section one. It reads: (f) The director shall issue a lifetime hunting, fishing, and trapping license without charge to an individual who has applied for a lifetime hunting, fishing, and trapping license and who: (1) is a resident of Indiana; and (2) has served in and received an honorable discharge from the armed forces of the United States (as defined in IV 5-9-4-3). That explains a lot about the lopsided vote. Sixteen legislators with honorable discharges from the service excused themselves from voting on the bill because they would have been voting on something that would benefit them. If you were a state representative running for re-election during a time of war, would you want your opponent to remind voters that you voted against a lifetime free hunting, fishing and trapping license for men and women who served their country? Bill sponsors say that in fairness to shooting facility owners who have sunk tons of money into a business, they shouldn't be shut down overnight. The bill proposes that facility owners who were in business after 2003 be allowed to operate until 2013 to recover their financial investment. However, the DNR contends the facilities are illegal. If the Senate doesn't pass the bill, DNR authorities say they will close the shooting preserves July 1.