Chris
05-25-2004, 05:42 PM
Many of us have tried for years to get the Forest Preserve District to allow bowhunting in the Forest Preserves. Well, recently we thought it was going to happen. Well, we were wrong. After numerous Forest Preserve meetings, speakers & finally a public hearing, they decided sharp shooters where going in.
Many people told the FPD that they had a deer problem in certain areas. A few on the county board said they weren't so convinced. What was the actual count. 295 deer per square mile in some areas. That's 295! The DNR recommended count is 25 per square mile.
So what do they do, they qualify their FPD employees as sharp shooters. They allow them to shoot these deer at night, over bait, and on taxpayers time. In our state, baiting is illegal and hunting deer at night is illegal. However, they were allowed to do it.
The sharp shooters killed 300 deer. Besides being angry that I was not allowed to hunt these deer, my biggest question, as a taxpayer, was how much did this cost me? $59 thousand dollars, this is not a typo.
The FPD could have easily charged a permit fee to allow hunters to take these deer. I know many people that would have easily paid $50-$100 for a permit.
Based on the latest newspaper article, it appears that the FPD is going to take another look at controller hunting to handle this situation. I don't understand why we have to spend $59k before someone wakes up and says we could make money doing this instead of spending it.
If the FPD can afford to waste that much money, I think it's time for a referendum calling for a tax cut.
Is anything like this happening in other areas of the country?
Many people told the FPD that they had a deer problem in certain areas. A few on the county board said they weren't so convinced. What was the actual count. 295 deer per square mile in some areas. That's 295! The DNR recommended count is 25 per square mile.
So what do they do, they qualify their FPD employees as sharp shooters. They allow them to shoot these deer at night, over bait, and on taxpayers time. In our state, baiting is illegal and hunting deer at night is illegal. However, they were allowed to do it.
The sharp shooters killed 300 deer. Besides being angry that I was not allowed to hunt these deer, my biggest question, as a taxpayer, was how much did this cost me? $59 thousand dollars, this is not a typo.
The FPD could have easily charged a permit fee to allow hunters to take these deer. I know many people that would have easily paid $50-$100 for a permit.
Based on the latest newspaper article, it appears that the FPD is going to take another look at controller hunting to handle this situation. I don't understand why we have to spend $59k before someone wakes up and says we could make money doing this instead of spending it.
If the FPD can afford to waste that much money, I think it's time for a referendum calling for a tax cut.
Is anything like this happening in other areas of the country?