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Lawmakers Question Whether Deer Preserves Should Be Allowed

Bloomington-Monroe County Deer Task Force
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https://bloomington.in.gov/deertaskforce

The showdown over high-fenced deer hunting preserves in Indiana could be coming to a head as lawmakers investigate the issue in preparation for the 2015 session. At issue is whether the preserves should have the right to operate in Indiana.

Groups such as the Quality Deer Management Association, the Indiana Wildlife Federation and the Indiana Deer Hunters Association want the high-fenced deer hunting industry outlawed, particularly asking for a ban on the import of captive deer from other states.  They say captive deer hunting puts Indiana at greater risk of exposure to chronic wasting disease, or CWD, which is ravaging deer populations in other states.

Indiana Sportsmen’s Roundtable president Gene Hopkins says captive deer operations threaten the state’s wild deer population.

“Do these four or five people really mean more than the 250,000 hunters who pursue wild white-tailed deer in our state and who risk losing our hunting heritage if…I should say when things go wrong?” says Hopkins.

But North American Deer Farmers Association executive director Shawn Shafer says every deer that goes into a hunting preserve gets tested for CWD, as opposed to a small number of wild deer who are tested and just as much a risk for spreading the disease.

“Because the science does stand behind us on this and that’s why it is such a successful industry across America,” says Shafer. “As long as they look at the science I think we’ll be okay on this.  I think they’ll keep and put good regulations, science-based regulations in place.”

A bill that would have allowed high-fenced deer hunting preserves to operate in Indiana under legislative regulation failed last session.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.