No Taking License and Giving Land
Two interesting stories in hunting news caught my attention this morning. One deals with the taking of hunting and fishing license by authorities in Oklahoma and the other is about a donation of land for wetland management in North Dakota.
Oklahoma Governor Henry vetoed a bill that would have allowed authorities to take hunting and fishing license from sportsmen who were trespassing to hunt or fish. His reasoning was that the bill was too broad, which seems to be the case most of the time in situations where proposed bills deal with outdoor sports. It seems for every one thing good, there has to be numerous bad proposals slipped in with it to try to get them passed as well.
I, for one, wouldn’t have a problem with license being taken from someone not obtaining permission to hunt or fish on someones private property. As landowners, they have the right to decide on happens on their land and who gets to do it. As responsible and ethical sportsmen, we have the responsibility to respect someones property and gain permission before we hunt or fish. It’s just the right thing to do and if it isn’t done, then we need our right to do so anywhere taken away. Maybe not forever, but at least long enough to make us stop and think before doing it again.
Ducks Unlimited turned over 400 acres of wetlands donated to them to the North Dakota Game and Fish Commission. It is smack in the middle of some of the best duck nesting habitat on the continent. The land will be open to public hunting and will be managed by the Game and Fish Commission.
This type of donation is something I would like seeing more of. If a person no longer wanted a piece of land that was still in it’s natural condition, it would be nice to see it remain that way instead of being sold off for some type of development that destroyed it and the wildlife habitat. Granted, it’s but a pipe dream, since the money from the sale is usually to important, but it never hurts to wish, right?
hunting, Ducks Unlimited, North Dakota, land, license, trespassing, fishing, Oklahoma, Governor Henry
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Hey Cliff - I’m tagging you for a meme. Check it out at Marian’s Hunting Stories..
http://mariandeer.blogspot.com
May 24th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Hey Cliff i enjoy the site and want to say keep up the good work.I would like to point out an exception to this although in most cases i agree.With hound owners needing to get their doogs after say ten oclock pm,they should be able to retreave their dogs as long as they are quick,carry no gun and cause no harm.Thanks
Your brother Robert
May 24th, 2007 at 7:17 am
Excellent point, Rob. One I totally agree with, as we have had one too many instances where those type of situations created a problem when they shouldn’t have, haven’t we?
Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m really glad you like what I’m doing, even though I feel I need to do it a better a lot of the time.