He says Judge Barbara Crabb’s decision authorizing the hunt was more about tribal treaty rights than simply hunting deer at night… It includes, in part or in whole, Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marathon, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano, Oneida and Vilas counties.
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A northern Wisconsin Native American leader says the recent federal court decision permitting tribal members to hunt deer at night has sovereignty at its core.
The DNR said tribal night hunting brought up safety issues, though the DNR had authorized night hunting for wolves in 2012.
The DNR has stressed the need to establish safety precautions that protect the well-being of all citizens and their property.
The Chippewa tribe will be using regulations similar to those being used for tribal night hunts in Michigan and Minnesota. The regulations mandate that hunters take a 12-hour training course; hit a 6¼-inch bull’s eye from 100 yards eight out of 10 times in the dark; ensure hunting sites have earthen backstops; and submit shooting plans with safe zones of fire.
The tribal deer hunting season starts November 1.
Judge Crabb, in 1991, declared that night-time hunting was too unsafe. The tribes retained their hunting rights when they handed the territory over to the government in the 1800s and she blocked them in 1991 only because she felt the practice was unsafe, she wrote.
“Member tribes welcome the night hunt as an additional opportunity for members to put meat on the table”, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission said in a statement. Crabb ruled against the commission, citing a threat to public safety.
Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country, said the Chippewa have long hunted on reservation land and have been getting ready to expand where they can harvest deer.
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But the federal appeals court saw things differently.
