The Sportsmen's Act of 2012 promotes public hunting and fishing access, habitat conservation and strongly funded resource management. It had strong bipartisan support until after the election. On November 26, Senator John Thune and 42 GOP colleagues voted against the Sportsmen's Act, not because of its blatant sexism (ladies hunt, too!), but out of sheer political pettiness masquerading in technicalities. (Democrat Barbara Boxer also voted against it, because she thinks the EPA ought to maintain regulatory authority over toxic lead in ammunition and fishing tackle.)
The Obama Administration still isn't coming for your guns. And Senator Democrats are working hard to protect and expand your opportunities to use your guns for outdoor sporting activities. Senator Thune just voted quite concretely to reduce your opportunity to use your guns (and your rods). Go figure.
Protect your guns from John Thune and his anti-hunting, anti-gun, job-killing agenda!!!!
And it appears their opposition is due to an increase in the cost of a Federal Duck Stamp, but apparently that increase doesn't bother Ducks Unlimited. Those duck hunters know the money is dedicated to the protection of duck habitat. The GOP is afraid that Grover Norquist will consider it a tax increase.
Additionally the duck stamp money from the entire nation is being directed to the Prairie Pothole region of the Dakotas and Montana because this is the last best region in the US to protect duck nesting habitat. The US Fish and Wildlife Agency uses the money to buy wetland easements from landowners. Thune's tantrum on this issue is truly short sighted because he is failing to protect critical habitat and short changes SD farmers and land owners who want to protect habitat but would like to be paid for doing so for the benefit of society.
Don't duck the ducks, Johnny boy! Thanks for the insight Nick. This is the ultimate cowardly and stupid vote ... but, oh, wait. That was last week with the slap in the face to a real WWII hero Bob Dole and Thune's fear of the United Nations which trumped his concern for old veterans in wheel chairs.
And before that, there's Thune's vote to support gang-rapists' rights and his pals at Haliburton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpfQW76QDVM
While we're on the subject of ducks Nick, tell me why East River controls duck hunting in SD?
I raise ducks and pheasants on my property. My son can come home and purchase pheasant tags but ducks are a whole different story. I find it hard to understand the few non resident tags issued on a federal migratory waterfowl.
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As with the above story, I'm guessing it is never as simple as it sounds.
Charlie, forgive my 7 day flu lame brain at the moment but, do we have a chance of anything similar to pheasant happening legislatively with duck tags for non residents?
Grover Norquist first. South Dakota second. Good policy? - only if Grover Norquist says so.
Preliminary annual bird count showing downward trend:
http://www.audubon.org/newsroom/press-releases/2012/audubon-issues-winter-bird-warning
They signed a pledge to not do anything in the lame duck session.
I wonder if that would apply to a congressional pay raise.
Les, I'm not a duck hunter and just figured that the SDGF&P controlled duck hunting in SD, I'm unsure what you mean by East River controlling duck hunting. I'll assume you don't mean East River Electric Power Cooperative. As with many things if you want them changed talk to your legislator.
Les this is a very emotional and economically busy issue not often thought of with scientific data ruling the day. We need to talk. Send me an email at hmanangus@valleytel.net with your number and a good time to call.
Much more to the story then can be put on a strip of paper here.
Charlie, there's no paper here! Feel free to cc us on your explanation to Les!
East river has all the water Nick. West River gets regulated by their wishes and they don't want non resident duck hunters.
Who knows, maybe I'm alone in wanting my non resident family members to be able to come home and hunt. Long story short, it's not happening with any regularity on ducks.
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It can change either legislatively or through the commission I understand.
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125 dollar tag and anybody from Tim Buk To drives the gravel off my roads and shoots my tree rows clean of anything with feathers mostly pheasant, hardly a flyover commodity.
I too would enjoy if my out of state friends & family could go duck & goose hunting more than just the first weekend of pheasant opener...
Really, there are a lot of waterfowl regs that don't make sense... goose numbers are high, yet we still have restrictions on the number of shells we can have in the magazine... stuff like that.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it definitely feels as though fewer people hunt waterfowl these days.