Idaho Hunting and Fishing Rules

Perhaps it is time to roll back the clock and re-examine what hunting regulations we have and why. Back in our country's developmental stage, hunting was the way you fed your family. It wasn't sport, it was just like raising a garden, canning the results for off season. Hunting was the principle method of supplying protein to pioneer families.

In later years, over hunting caused an imbalance in the survival of these hunted animals.Another cause of regulation was the sports hunter. The ones that went out, found the biggest rack and killed just for the head and antlers. In many cases these trophy hunters left the carcass to rot, as all they wanted was the mount.

It is time, and especially in these current hard times, to remember from whence hunting came. Feeding one's family. Instead, Idaho fish & game has become an income base, rather than a conservation team. Out of state hunters flock to states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming for the great hunting. Very few of these hunters every consume their kill. It's all about trophies and the victory over an animal that can't shoot back.

Hunting and fishing for sustenance is only allowed for Indian tribes with treaty rights. This should be returned to the rest of our population as well. After all, while Indian hunting rights are based on historical hunting grounds, so should non-Iddian residents have that historical right.

The problem? Non-resident fees support a great deal of the F&G budget. These people are no longer interested in whether a family needs a kill to feed themselves. It is all about money. This is a moral outrage. Idaho lawmakers should be only concerned with Idahoans and their welfare, not acting like money changers in the temple. As the economy grows worse, families will resort to killing deer, elk and moose, not as poachers, but as potentially starving residents. Stop selling our wild game to outsiders. We have our own to feed.