Alright folks, it’s coming down to the wire. As of now, unless you are south of Highway 84, you’ve got ten days left of deer season. It’s hard to believe that the season has flown by this fast. Of course, time always flies when you’re having fun. To make it even worse, I feel like the weather has just now started to be somewhat consistent. But hey, stick that in the bag of things we can’t control and move on. But if you’re still trying to put that target buck in the cooler, you’re running out of time. It would probably be a good idea to call in sick at work for a few days and stay in the woods.
Speaking of calling in sick to work, those of us in the hunting community would probably be better served if a few of our politicians called in sick for a few days. In what feels like a yearly cycle of stupidity, our elected leaders have introduced another bill to waste the time of legislators across the state. It wasn’t that long ago when they spent actual time on the clock fighting for hunters to be able to wear pink. I guess orange was too gender neutral. I know one thing, I’ve got to stop saying, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I think politicians hear that and take it as a challenge.
Within the last week, a new bill has been introduced that screams government overreach in the outdoor community. House Bill 828 was introduced by Representative Justin Keen of District 006. Called the Mississippi Fair Chase Act, the bill has two parts. The first part is to create a law against hunting, trapping, or taking any game or furbearing animal that is damaging crops or personal property without obtaining a depredation permit. The second part of the bill is to make hunting with dogs only possible on private land that has a minimum of 2,000 contiguous acres.
Let’s pick apart the first portion of the bill. First, it disables farmers from being able to take care of their livelihood without adding another government tax. Like we aren’t all taxed to the gill already. This would keep a soybean farmer from being able to pop a wild hog rooting up his crop. It would prohibit your neighbor that has three rows of corn in his backyard from trapping raccoons that are stealing food from his family. The author of this ridiculous bill is supposedly from the party of less government. Yeah, right.
Since I’m not a farmer, the second part of the bill bothers me more than the first. Now, I don’t hunt deer with the use of dogs. I don’t particularly care for hunting deer with dogs and haven’t done it in over twenty years. However, I do believe that there is a place for dog hunters in our state. It’s been passed down from generation to generation, and it should remain. Those in support of this bill will say that they aren’t taking away hunting with dogs, but in reality they are. By confining it to private land only and with a minimum of 2,000 acres the longstanding tradition of hunting with dogs will be dead. How many private landowners do you know in Mississippi that have 2,000 acres of contiguous land? This is an absolute attempt to end hunting with dogs by once again, the party of small government.
Another thing to think about regarding this abomination goes beyond deer hunting. The bill doesn’t even say deer hunting. This bill would kill hunting rabbits, as well. What about ducks? I know the dogs don’t actually flush the ducks for you to shoot, but technically you are hunting with the aid of a dog. The same goes for doves. Who is going to go tell Delbert Hoseman that he has to wade out in the water and retrieve his own ducks now? Squirrels? Better not take that little feist with you to tree those squirrels or the big bad government man is coming after you. It’s just stupid. I don’t know a better way to put it.
Can you imagine the outlaws this bill would create? The MDWFP has to be sweating bullets right now because there is absolutely no way they have the manpower to enforce this. In reality, this bill, like so many other insanely stupid ideas (check out the proposal to prohibit police officers to carry tasers) will die. But we’ve got to ask ourselves, if this is the kind of crap that our elected leaders are bringing to the table each year, why in the heck do we keep electing these people? I’m guilty of it. Heck, I voted for one of the guys that backed this bill. You can bet your sweet rear end that he won’t get my vote next go around.
And it’s not just because of this bill, it’s because these people waste time and money on things that do not matter. Then, we will all hear about how hard they’ve been working. Most of these folks wouldn’t know what hard work looked like if it punched them in the face. Can you imagine how much quicker things would get done if bills like this didn’t waste time and effort?
If you’re serving, and I use that word loosely, in the legislation, do us all a favor and put this bill exactly where it belongs...in the trash. Come up with something that doesn’t take away the freedoms that Mississippians currently enjoy. Come up with something that doesn’t cost an already overburdened taxpayer more money out of their pockets. And if you can’t come up with anything that fits those parameters, do us all a favor and resign.
