Arizona Game and Fish Promotes Its Own Hunting Contest While Banning Others
Last week, Arizona banned wildlife hunting contests that reward hunters for killing the most prey. Animal activists celebrated as contest participants grumbled. The new rule had been sought for months by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
As recently as late August, though, the AZGFD has used its website and social media to actively promote a type of hunting contest of its own. And that has both hunters and activists up in arms.
“Small game is big fun,” reads a quote on the agency’s website promoting the Arizona Small Game Challenge on August 27. The AZGFD also used Facebook and Twitter to promote the challenge, which is set to take place over the next year.
Technically, the contest is legal, even under the state’s new restrictions. That’s because it deals with small game — such as doves, grouse and rabbits — which are not identified as part of the new rule. Though the ban does explicitly cover competitions to kill “predatory animals and fur-bearing animals,” rabbits aren’t listed as fur-bearers under the state’s code.
Read more: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-game-and-fish-promotes-hunting-contests-after-banning-others-11356413
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