high country
Well-Known Member
For those of you who don�t know or haven�t heard yet there is a move on by our local government to make it illegal to harvest a bear in Unicoi County with a bow. What it boils down to is local bear hunters got together and petitioned the Unicoi County Commission to outlaw the practice of killing bears with a bow citing it to be curl. The commission unanimously voted to make it illegal to kill a bear in Unicoi County with a bow through a private act which would override what the TWRA/TWRC says and got the District Representative David Hawk to put it forth in a bill marked House Bill 2119. We bow hunters here in Unicoi County have been fighting this since we caught wind of it and have successfully got it held in the Wildlife Subcommittee of the House Conservation and Environment Committee until more information is gathered. I�m asking my fellow bow and deer hunters to help us in this fight because if they can do this with bears they can do this with deer and any other game specious. I have attached a correspondence between myself and David Hawk also a link to another message board that is also helping in the fight. If you�d like to continue the rules and regulations being set by the TWRA/TWRC and not local county governments please join our fight.
This is a copy of an e-mail I sent David Hawk:
Mr. David Hawk, my name is Mike Allen a life long resident of Tennessee and of Unicoi County and an avid bow hunter and outdoor sportsman. I must say I am deeply disturbed at the article I read in the Erwin Record Tuesday March 31st in reference to bear hunting in Unicoi County. I read several quotes that said you were supporting the Unicoi County Commission on there stance against bow hunting bears in Unicoi County because they are elected officials and they are doing what is best for their constituents. You were also quoted as saying that you would support the private act as long as the Unicoi County Commission supports the private act. Now I must say what makes you thank that our or any local government (you included) has the biological data or biological expertise to make that kind of decision. I�m not aware of any wildlife biologists that are on the Unicoi County Commission. You say that the voters voted them in place and that must mean that is what the majority of voters want, that�s a bunch of bull, we were never even asked. As far as I�m concerned the Unicoi County Commissioners and our District�s State Representative are all in jeopardy of losing votes over this matter, mine included. I can�t even believe this has even become an issue. I never dreamed that a county commission would do anything that could override a state agency like the TWRA and then to get support from the district representative without even asking what the TWRA or the public thought about it. I sure hope you don�t make all your decisions this way.
Now I�m not very interested in killing a bear with a bow or gun for that matter but I firmly believe this is a very dangerous and slippery slop to be on. I don�t think local government should be setting game laws that would override what the TWRA and TWRC establishes as game laws for the state of Tennessee. If this is the case then who�s to say other counties wont soon follow with what they think should be the game laws for their particular county. They may decide that bow hunting for deer should not be allowed or that coon hunting with a dog should not be allowed and I would hate to think what extremist groups like PETA & HSUS would do if they caught wind of this and I just pray they have not or we�re all in trouble. Local governments do not have the resources or biological data to be setting game laws. We as hunters pay our license fees to have the professional staff at the TWRA and the TWRC set our game laws for what is best for our wildlife and like I stated before I don�t think local government should override what a TWRA biologist says is best for any particular species of wild game. I plan on calling and/or e-mailing all state and local government officials that has anything to do with the wildlife regulations and letting the local bow hunters know what our county commission is trying to do without asking for public input or the opinion of the professionals at the TWRA. It is my understanding that private act 2119 is now on hold but I along with a lot of other Tennessee bow hunters will not rest until this referendum is withdrawn and game regulations are put back into the hands of the biologist at the TWRA and kept out of the hands of local governments.
Here is his responce:
Mr. Allen,
Thank you for your email.
Unicoi County Government voted unanimously on this issue, and I have an obligation to respect a local elected body's wishes. You will be pleased to hear that I have worked with our Commission and that they are now better informed on the issue and have asked me to place a hold on the issue until more information is gathered.
I understand your emotion on this issue, but please know that your thoughts are being considered.
Sincerely,
Rep David Hawk
Here is a link to a message board on outdoors-411, there is a lot of information on here that can guide you in what to do or just contact your local representative and ask them to oppose House Bill 2119.
http://www.outdoors-411.com/phpbb/viewt ... 9de413f0a2
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This is a copy of an e-mail I sent David Hawk:
Mr. David Hawk, my name is Mike Allen a life long resident of Tennessee and of Unicoi County and an avid bow hunter and outdoor sportsman. I must say I am deeply disturbed at the article I read in the Erwin Record Tuesday March 31st in reference to bear hunting in Unicoi County. I read several quotes that said you were supporting the Unicoi County Commission on there stance against bow hunting bears in Unicoi County because they are elected officials and they are doing what is best for their constituents. You were also quoted as saying that you would support the private act as long as the Unicoi County Commission supports the private act. Now I must say what makes you thank that our or any local government (you included) has the biological data or biological expertise to make that kind of decision. I�m not aware of any wildlife biologists that are on the Unicoi County Commission. You say that the voters voted them in place and that must mean that is what the majority of voters want, that�s a bunch of bull, we were never even asked. As far as I�m concerned the Unicoi County Commissioners and our District�s State Representative are all in jeopardy of losing votes over this matter, mine included. I can�t even believe this has even become an issue. I never dreamed that a county commission would do anything that could override a state agency like the TWRA and then to get support from the district representative without even asking what the TWRA or the public thought about it. I sure hope you don�t make all your decisions this way.
Now I�m not very interested in killing a bear with a bow or gun for that matter but I firmly believe this is a very dangerous and slippery slop to be on. I don�t think local government should be setting game laws that would override what the TWRA and TWRC establishes as game laws for the state of Tennessee. If this is the case then who�s to say other counties wont soon follow with what they think should be the game laws for their particular county. They may decide that bow hunting for deer should not be allowed or that coon hunting with a dog should not be allowed and I would hate to think what extremist groups like PETA & HSUS would do if they caught wind of this and I just pray they have not or we�re all in trouble. Local governments do not have the resources or biological data to be setting game laws. We as hunters pay our license fees to have the professional staff at the TWRA and the TWRC set our game laws for what is best for our wildlife and like I stated before I don�t think local government should override what a TWRA biologist says is best for any particular species of wild game. I plan on calling and/or e-mailing all state and local government officials that has anything to do with the wildlife regulations and letting the local bow hunters know what our county commission is trying to do without asking for public input or the opinion of the professionals at the TWRA. It is my understanding that private act 2119 is now on hold but I along with a lot of other Tennessee bow hunters will not rest until this referendum is withdrawn and game regulations are put back into the hands of the biologist at the TWRA and kept out of the hands of local governments.
Here is his responce:
Mr. Allen,
Thank you for your email.
Unicoi County Government voted unanimously on this issue, and I have an obligation to respect a local elected body's wishes. You will be pleased to hear that I have worked with our Commission and that they are now better informed on the issue and have asked me to place a hold on the issue until more information is gathered.
I understand your emotion on this issue, but please know that your thoughts are being considered.
Sincerely,
Rep David Hawk
Here is a link to a message board on outdoors-411, there is a lot of information on here that can guide you in what to do or just contact your local representative and ask them to oppose House Bill 2119.
http://www.outdoors-411.com/phpbb/viewt ... 9de413f0a2
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