Anti’s Ask Wisconsin Judge to Ignore the Law

On December 5th, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation along with its partners in the case (Safari Club International, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, and United Sportsmen of Wisconsin) filed our final arguments in the Wisconsin lawsuit seeking to ban hunting wolves using dogs.

You can read much more background information about the case here and here.

We made several arguments why Judge Anderson should dismiss the case and allow wolf hunting with dogs to move forward.  But here’s the best one – Wisconsin law does not permit the Department of Natural Resources to create the unreasonable restrictions on hunting wolves using dogs that the anti-wolf hunting groups want.  Here’s why:

Antis Claim Hunters Use Dogs As Wolf Bait

Earlier this month, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation reported on an anti-hunting lawsuit aimed at stopping Wisconsin’s wolf hunt.  The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of Wisconsin humane societies and several individuals, against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), claims that the use of dogs to hunt wolves violates the state’s animal cruelty laws and seeks to block the issuance of all wolf hunting licenses.  Despite the fact that the State’s animal cruelty laws do not apply to hunting, the groups claim that hunting wolves using dogs will result in dog fighting and that it violates the animal cruelty law.

Apparently worried that their case could be thrown out, the anti-hunting groups have filed an amended complaint with some new allegations about wolf hunters and hunting.  The claims are so outrageous that I’m not sure whether sportsmen should be furious or just laugh.  Here they are:

Four Reasons Hunting Really Matters in the 2012 Elections

Unfortunately the vast majority of elected officials are not hunters.  So it is up to sportsmen to convince them why they should care about our issues.  Of course there are roughly 20 million hunters in America, so that is a huge start.  But what about the many candidates for office who represent areas where we just don’t have a lot of sportsmen and women?

If you live in one of these places you need to be armed with some good reasons why your elected official should care about hunting.  For many of them, hunting just doesn’t seem like a big deal.  Many dismiss it as a second-class issue.

Here’s why hunting is in the same class as the economy, jobs, healthcare, and the budget:

Hunting, Politics, and … Baseball?

The classic 1888 poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer made me think of important lessons for sportsmen who want to Protect What’s Right when we are under attack.

The “mighty” Casey was the star player of the Mudville baseball team.  With Mudville down big in the ninth he is their last hope to win the game and goes to bat with two outs.  Casey’s so confident that he’ll have the game winning hit he just ignores the first two strikes, not even lifting the bat off of his shoulder.  On the third pitch, his demeanor changes, he digs in, takes a mighty swing, and …strikes out.