Penn Supreme Court Rules Game Commission Must Control 'Canned Hunts'

[dukkillr]

http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Supreme/out/J-122-2005mo.pdf

My favorite part of the opinion:
Notably, the Commission does not dispute Appellant’s assertion that Tioga drugs or
otherwise disables wild boar to facilitate easier kills, nor does it argue that, were it bound to
enforce the law against Tioga, the alleged conduct would be permissible. The Game and
Wildlife Code makes it illegal to hunt through use of poison or chemical of any kind. 34
Pa.C.S. § 2308(9). Thus, the Commission effectively argues that the hunting of captive
animals on fenced, private property may be undertaken by means such as drugs or
restraint that violate, at a minimum, the spirit of the Game and Wildlife Code. This is an
untenably narrow interpretation of its statutory mandate.

I've said it before, to much uproar from the knee-jerk non-thinking crowd:  If hunters don't police themselves, someone else will.  The 'if it results in a dead animal it must be hunting' will be the death of a great number of legitimate hunting opportunities if we just keep spouting the same old non-sensical dogma.  Hunting is a privilege that exists at the continued indifference of the non-hunting majority of Americans.  Those Americans WILL NOT continue to tolerate killing tame animals in pens.  It's time we take control of our destiny and not go down with the sinking ship.  I personally applaud states like MT that have taken the initiative.  If a resident there wants a kill without the work of hunting, they can drive to Texas for their elk.  I hope other states follow, and it seems popular sentiment is following my opinion.  That will not change, the only question is how hunters deal with it.

[dukkillr]

Interesting Review I found after writing the above.  What a tough "hunt"http://www.huntinfo.com/reviews/outfitter_reviews.php3?Action=Read&areview=1128653561:

I booked this wild boar hunt for a present for my father. It was only a few hour drive so we did not spend the night at the lodge. I knew it wasn't going to be a real "hunt" when our "guide" had on jeans, a t-shirt, an orange vest and still smelled like he was working on the farm. As we were out in the woods he stumbled over rocks not seeming to care how much noise he made. We did shoot two decent boars. With a handgun this would have been more challenging, with a rifle it was too easy. The preserve is 1500 acres, it's just divided into sections, and the section we were hunting in was less than 100 acres. I'm glad we were'nt hunting elk there. The elk were almost tame and I walked to within 100 feet of one to take some picures, at least the boar ran around. Maybe I should've asked more questions. I paid to have them butcher our boars. Little did i know they butcher the boar, and throw all of the cuts into a huge plastic bag, mixing the two boars up, and leaving us to wrap and label all of the meat. That is what peeved me the most. They seem like nice enough people and the country side is quite beautiful. If they made a better effort this could be a great place. The "guide" told me they push through over 1100 hunters per year. 1100!!

[ironglow]

dukkillr;
    Wow, I couldn't agree with you more..we must police ourselves. The non-hunting public would be extremely outraged if they knew all behind the staged "hunts".
   Obviously, a great cross section of hunters don't like them..we have no reason to expect the general public to be charmed by such a practices!
         My son worked with a taxidermist when he was a teenager, and one of these boars was brought in. Nice looking animal but when the "hunter" was questioned
     about the "hunt", he said he would not go again. He said that shooting a pig out from under a wagon of dried ear corn..really wasn't the hunt he expected !