Earlier this year, The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s petition to let a decades-old ban on the practice stay in place.
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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. That includes, in part or in whole, Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marathon, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano, Oneida and Vilas counties.
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.
The ruling allows the 5,100 members of Chippewa tribes to hunt deer at night from November. 1 to the first Monday in January.
The DNR has stressed the need to establish safety precautions that protect the well-being of all citizens and their property. The code would require tribal hunters to take a certification course, hunt in a surveyed location, file a shooting plan, use a light and shoot only in an approved lane. The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission says on its web site there have only been 2 or 3 hunting accidents from night-time deer hunting since 1989.
Tribes are also allowed to hunt certain animals at night in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.
Night hunting will not be allowed during the state’s general nine-day gun hunt around Thanksgiving. She says, “And they are prepared to institute a highly regulated, safe, night hunt. we’re especially pleased because it gives an opportunity to our tribal members another opportunity to get the necessary venison they are after”.
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It covers hunting by tribe members across a large part of northern Wisconsin in a territory they ceded to the USA government in the 19th century before Wisconsin became a state.
