Nevada Hunters Association

 

In July, 2005 a couple riding on ATV’s discovered 22-24 dead desert sheep carcasses at the McCullough #3 water development in southern Nevada. At least 3 of the sheep were very large rams in the Boone & Crockett category. All the sheep appeared to have died in a close time range of each other.

hunters and fishermen can expect improvement in their favorite outdoor activities in the not too distant future, thanks to passage of AB307, restructuring the state's Wildlife Commission. The Commission, originally all sportsmen, was changed, starting in 1979. Out of nine members, four remained sportsmen representatives, and the other five were divided amongst several different groups. The Governor got to make all the selections to the board. The sportsmen agreed to these changes, based on the assurance that the state would now help fund a large portion of the wildlife budget. In retrospect, the sportsmen were naive and got taken to the cleaners. What happened? Well, the sportsmen still paid virtually all the bills; the Governor appointed a bunch of political cronies with limited interest or background in fish and game matters; and, the Commission and the fish and game agency they were supposed to guide began to follow an increasingly environmentalist direction, with a corresponding decline in programs that would directly benefit the average guy who hunted or fished in Nevada.

HUNTER'S ALERT again has shown it can get the job done. A.B.307, a HUNTER'S ALERT sponsored bill, was recently signed by Governor Miller. It is a giant step forward in the effort to improve hunting in our state. A.B.307 will add another sportsman to the Wildlife Commission. Even more important is that the five sportsman representatives must have held a Nevada hunting, fishing, or combination license for three of the four prior years as a prerequisite. Other parts of the bill will help sportsmen in our state. We did not get everything that we wanted but you never do. What we did get was a great starting point.

A few years ago when HUNTER'S ALERT was founded, we were labelled as radicals and malcontents by some of the Wildlife Commissioners. This was because we felt there was a strong smell of antihunting in the Nevada Department of Wildlife. We had our reasons. Quite obviously, when you see the director of NDOW sitting with and being supported by antihunting groups, you must suspect something. In addition, we felt that when our Governor's appointed Wildlife Commissioners are setting hunting regu­lations and seasons for all Nevada hunters, they should have some experi­ence. When they have never hunted in their lives, it makes one wonder where their experience has developed to prop­erly do this important task.