ND Vote Could Ban Big Game Hunting on Fenced Land

From the Blaze.com - LISBON, N.D. (AP) — Butch and Deb Dick’s lifelong dream was to open a big game hunting preserve and after years of preparation, they expected to welcome the first customers to their southeastern North Dakota ranch this month. Voters will decide next month whether to shut them down. Measure No. 2 on the Nov. 2 general election ballot seeks to abolish fenced preserves where people pay to shoot big game such as deer and elk. Supporters of the measure say the practice is unethical because the animals can’t escape. Opponents say it’s free enterprise. There are thousands of big game breeding operations in the United States. Although it’s not clear how many offer hunting, there’s no federal law banning fenced hunting and a majority of states allow it. “I think it comes down to property rights,” Butch Dick, 34, said quietly, gazing from a ridge that overlooks his wooded and hilly Dragon Creek Ranch in the surprisingly rugged Sheyenne River Valley 8 miles west of Lisbon. Most of eastern North Dakota is flat farmland. About a dozen of the state’s more than 100 game preserves offer hunting for a fee. The cost of a hunt depends on the size of the animal, but some packages can run more than $10,000. Read more

ND Vote Could Ban Big Game Hunting on Fenced Land