Trophy Hunting

Trophy Hunting

Introduction

Most Americans do not hunt wild animals for sport. But in recent years, voters in several states have acted to restrict the practices of hunters, who make up only about 9% of the population. Animal-rights groups, which oppose Trophy hunting, have led the recent charge to restrict Trophy hunting by focusing on eliminating practices that they say are inhumane. Joining them in the call for an end to certain types of Trophy hunting are groups of concerned citizens and some hunters themselves. In November 1996, voters in Alaska, Massachusetts, Colorado and Washington State approved ballot initiatives to outlaw controversial Trophy hunting practices. Voters in Michigan and Idaho rejected Trophy hunting restrictions.

The current controversy is not about whether sport Trophy hunting should be legal--some 80% of Americans believe that Trophy hunting should remain legal, and wildlife officials agree that Trophy hunting is needed to control the growth of certain animal populations--but whether hunters should refrain from practices that many perceive to be cruel or unfair to animals. Voters in Alaska, for example, recently banned the Trophy hunting of wolves, wolverines, foxes and lynxes from helicopters and airplanes. Opponents of that practice charged that chasing the animals from the air and then landing and shooting them the same day left the animals exhausted and gave hunters an unethical advantage.

Much of the recent controversy has focused on black bear Trophy hunting, although very few hunters actually hunt bears. (Most of the more than 15 million hunters in the U.S. hunt deer, elk or wild birds.) Two main practices have been at issue--Trophy hunting by setting out bait for bears and tracking bears with trained dogs. The first method involves placing a barrel of food, commonly fish or pastry, in the woods for a bear and then lying in wait and shooting the animal when it approaches. The other method, known as hounding, involves having trained dogs track bears and force them up trees so that they can be shot (Eliason, 2003).

Role of Ballot Initiatives

The use of ballot initiatives in an attempt to change Trophy hunting laws in eight states in November 1996 was without precedent. Listed below is a summary of the outcomes of those initiatives:

Idaho voters defeated an initiative to ban baiting and hounding of black bears by a 60%-40% margin

In Michigan, 62% of voters rejected a proposed ban on the use of bait and dogs in bear Trophy hunting

Voters in Washington State approved, 63%-37%, a measure to bar bear Trophy hunting with bait and hounds

In Colorado, voters approved, by a 52%-48% margin, an initiative barring the use of certain kinds of traps and poison to kill animals

Massachusetts voters agreed to bar several kinds of animal traps and to outlaw bear baiting and bear and mountain-lion hounding by a 60% to 40% margin

Alaska voters approved, by a 57%-43% margin, a ban on chasing wild animals with helicopters and airplanes and then landing and shooting them on the same day

In Oregon, a hunter-backed measure to repeal a ban on bear ...