|
February 23, 2006 12:56 pm
Elk, deer in sights of lawmakers
Some New Hampshire lawmakers passed a bill that would allow hunters or other game meat buyers to go onto a farm, choose their animal, shoot it and take the carcass home for meat.
By Jason Schreiber
CNHI News Service
DERRY, N.H. — To state Rep. David J. Bettencourt, shooting farm-raised red deer and elk is like walking into a seafood restaurant, picking out a lobster from a tank, and having it served on a platter.
“This is not about hunting whatsoever,” the Salem legislator said.
But Bettencourt was in the minority Wednesday when the House passed a bill 217-98 that would allow hunters or other game meat buyers to go onto a farm where red deer or elk are raised and choose their animal. They could then shoot it and take the carcass home for meat.
Supporters argued this was a way to support an alternative form of livestock farming when the cost to take these animals to federally approved slaughterhouses is prohibitive.
Plaistow state Rep. Norm Major was among the supporters, saying the idea could help keep New Hampshire farms alive because it would be more cost-effective.
“We’re losing farmland at quite a large rate. If this is going to preserve more open space and keep the state more rural, then so be it,” said Major, a former hunter.
Supporters also said farmers who raise red deer and elk are suffering in a market that no longer allows them to ship animals to other states because of concerns about contagious chronic wasting disease that kills deer.
“It’s a way for them to stay in business,” Nashua Rep. David Smith argued in front of lawmakers. He said there are about 600 red deer and 300 elk being raised on 22 farms around the state. Potential buyers would make appointments to view the animals for sale and could shoot them from 15 to 50 feet.
Bartlett Rep. Gene Chandler, who sponsored the bill, said buffalo and certain specialty deer such as sika and fallow deer can be taken this way, and red deer and elk should be treated the same way.
But the measure, which now heads to the Senate, has been met with opposition from hunting advocates and the state Fish and Game Department. Some argued it’s an unfair form of hunting.
Like other hunters, Scott McClory of Raymond said he doesn’t like the idea of shooting deer and elk at a farm. For him, it’s more about the sport.
“I don’t want to hunt a caged animal. I do prefer going out into the woods and tracking and stalking,” McClory said in an interview.
Still, McClory said he wouldn’t want to see game hunting farms lost to development. “I support keeping open land. Every time there’s a farm, these critters can jump over the fence, meaning there’s more game in the woods. The farms just benefit the wilderness,” said McClory, a member of the Chester Rod and Gun Club.
Chester hunter Bruce McLaughlin said the only time he would support red deer and elk farm hunting is if the hunter were disabled and unable to venture deep into the woods.
But even then, most disabled hunters would probably rather “get on a buggy and go down a trail” to find an animal using a fair chase hunting method, said McLaughlin, a member of the Chester Rod and Gun Club’s board of directors.
Opponents also objected to propping up a business that might be failing.
“It’s the responsibility of the producer to know his costs of getting his product to the market. It is not the responsibility of the state of New Hampshire. There are USDA inspected slaughterhouses available,” New Castle Rep. Dan Hughes argued.
Nashua Rep. Mary Ellen Martin said that the velvet on deer and elk antlers was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac, and this led some speculators to invest in the animals.
“They thought there was going to be a real whopping market,” she said. “Then Viagra cut that off at the knees.”
Jason Schewiber writes for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
|
