Spear-hunting bill likely dead, number of bills following suit

Hunters won’t be able to chuck spears

at game after all. A bill that would have legalized hunting with a

spear is likely dead in this legislative session, along with a host

of other interesting, if not downright controversial bills.

Senate Bill 112, sponsored by Sanders

County Republican Greg Hinkle would have made a spear a legal means

of taking game.

The bill passed the Senate on a 27-21

vote, with help from Flathead Republicans, but earlier this month

it was tabled in the House Fish and Game Committee.

A bill that gets tabled usually dies,

or is revised significantly before its brought back to life.

Several other fish and game bills are

dead or have been tabled as well, including:

• House Bill 174 would have repealed

restrictions on the use of “silencers” on firearms while hunting.

Proponents claimed the bill would have reduced hearing loss.

Opponents said it would make poaching easier. The bill, sponsored

by Republican Krayton Kearns of Laurel, was tabled in the Senate

judiciary committee.

• A bill to nullify the Endangered

Species Act, also introduced by Kearns, was recently tabled in the

House Appropriations committee. The bill gained popular support by

lawmakers after the gray wolf was put back on the Endangered

Species List. But passage of the law also would have resulted in

forfeiture of nearly $1 billion in federal funding, the bulk of

which goes toward road construction and maintenance.

Federal law ties highway funding with

state compliance of the Endangered Species Act.

• A bill that would have put a

moratorium on land purchases by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

was tabled by the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee. Senate

Bill 301 would have put a moratorium on FWP land purchases over 100

acres or $100,000 until 2013. Sponsored by Sen. Rick Ripley, of

Wolf Creek, it passed the Senate on a 29-21 vote.

There are many fish and game bills that

are still alive. For example:

• Senate Bill 402, introduced by

Bozeman Republican Joe Balyeat, would allow for a spring hunt of

wolves. A spring hunt presumably would further reduce wolf

populations in the state, as that’s when wolves are rearing pups.

The wolf hunt would allow be allowed if the state has met its

minimum number of breeding pairs and it does not allow for hunting

of females.

Unlike bears, which are usually

accompanied by cubs in the spring, female wolves will often hunt

alone. Discerning sex is difficult.

The hunt would also only be allowed if

there was not a wolf hunt the previous fall. In other words, if

wolves are delisted soon, there could be a wolf hunt this spring.

The federal government and environmental groups recently struck a

deal to delist wolves, but it still requires court approval.

• Senate Bill 157 would establish a $1

voluntary fee on a deer, antelope, elk, or wild buffalo license for

a “hunters against hunger” program. This program would allow

hunters to donate wild game to food banks. The funding would go

toward implementing the program and costs associated with properly

processing the meat.

• House Bill 621 would strengthen

aquatic invasive species laws. Sponsored by Helena Republican Duane

Ankney, it would allow for funding to control non-native aquatic

weeds.