The first weekend of the firearms deer hunting season produces more than 100,000 dead deer. That’s down from last year’s opening weekend total of 124,000. A Missouri Conservation Department spokesman suggests the warm weather is to blame for the reduced kill, because hunters don’t want the meat to spoil before they get it out of the woods.
Criticism Doesn’t Stop Crack Down on Drugs in the Park
April 24, 2007 By
A bill dealing with shipwrecks and fishing, hunting and trapping on private land becomes a point of controversy, because of one section cracking down on drug dealing near parks. At least one representative contends that provision unduly targets minorities.
Anyone dealing heroin, cocaine, LSD, amphetamine or methamphetamine within a thousand feet of a park would be charged with a Class A felony, which carries a penalty of 10-to-30 years in prison and possibly even life behind bars. That provision is included in a section of HCS SCS SB 198 . And that provision sparked heated debate.
Rep. Jonas Hughes (D-Kansas City) represents an urban core district. Hughes objects to the provision, saying that it unfairly targets the inner city. He says there is virtually no part of his legislative district that would be outside that one thousand foot boundary. Hughes says that’s not the case in suburban or rural districts. He contends the provision violates fair sentencing guidelines, because it would punish drug dealers caught in his legislative district harsher than drug dealers caught in most other legislative districts.
Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee’s Summit) doesn’t agree with Hughes’ premise. He says there are plenty of parks in his district as well. Yates leads the effort to prevent Hughes from stripping that provision from the bill. Yates counters that those who deal drugs near places that families recreate should be punished more severely.
The House rejects the effort to strip the section from the bill, approves it and returns it to the Senate.
Democrats Question Which Votes Republicans Are Hunting
April 24, 2007 By
It seems a simple bill to register more Missourians to vote wouldn’t cause much of a stir at the Capitol, but it seems Democrats don’t trust majority Republicans pushing the plan.
Missourians who apply for a hunting or a fishing permit who aren’t registered to vote would get a voter registration card in the mail from the Secretary of State’s office under HCS HB 845 sent to the Senate by the House.
Assistant Minority Floor Leader, Rep. Paul LeVota (D-Independence), wonders about what motivates the sponsor, asking how he would explain the purpose of the bill. Rep. Bob Dixon (R-Springfield) responds that that’s easy; he wants to expand the voter registration lists. Dixon says he also hopes that prompts more people to get involved in the political process.
But who that might lure into the political process is the contention between members of the two political parties. Democrats question whether Republicans are simply targeting potential voters friendly to the GOP. Republicans deny the charge, stating the "hunter-voter" should be viewed the same as "motor-voter", which allows people to register to voter when they get their driver’s licenses.
House debate got tense at times, with a few heated exchanges. Democrats wanted to broaden the bill, but Dixon kept it narrowly focused on hunters and anglers. Despite the sniping, it passes on a 118-to-39 vote, and moves for the Senate’s consideration.
Hunter Education Program Talked up as Turkey Hunting Season Begins
April 15, 2007 By
Missouri’s regular Spring Turkey Hunting Season begins Monday. And, as the hunters take to the woods, the State Conservation Department is talking up the successes of one of its safety programs. The Department’s Laurna Domke says the Missouri Hunter Education program has helped to cut down on the number of hunting accidents and deaths.
Starting in 1988, the state has required anyone born after January 1st, 1967, to successfully complete a mandatory hunter education course to qualify for purchasing firearm permits. Before the training was introduced, Missouri averaged approximately 100 firearm hunting accidents a year. Today, Missouri averages about 30 accidents each year. The program is taught primarily by about 2,000 volunteer instructors, who teach and certify about 26,000 students a year.
Turkey hunting season runs through May 6th.
Team Says It Has Evidence of Mountain Lions
December 14, 2006 By
The Missouri Mountain Lion Response team says it has evidence of two more cougars in Missouri; one in north Missouri, near Chillicothe, and another in the Ozarks. A camera on a deer trail in Livingston County activated by a motion sensor has photographed one cougar. Wildlife forensics experts have confirmed a deer carcass in southeast Missouri’s Shannon County had been partly-eaten by a cougar, and then covered with leaves and brush. The response team says these are the ninth and tenth mountain lions confirmed in Missouri in the last 12 years.
