LINCOLN, Neb.—Night hunting with spotlights and limitless hunting without permits by landowners and their family members are no longer being considered as strategies for reducing Nebraska’s deer population.
Lawmakers gutted the proposal that included those ideas Friday, and instead advanced a measure at the committee level that would allow the secretary of the state Game and Parks Commission to extend deer seasons by issuing executive orders, among other things.
“The deer can breath a little easier,” Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala said.
The state’s growing deer population is a sore point for many in the state. They say the deer population is too high, and that the animals are dangerous and a costly nuisance. Farmers have complained that crop damage from the wealth of deer is eating into their profits.
But even some who want the herd pared saw the original measure as overkill.
“The bill as originally intended was extreme,” said Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, who introduced the measure. “It was a wake-up call and call to action.”
He said he supported the bill in its new form and that it will give the Game and Parks Commission the tools it needs to reduce the deer herd. Currently, changing seasons is a complicated process.
Besides allowing the game and parks secretary to extend hunting seasons, the bill would allow owners of at least 20 acres and members of their immediate families to have an unlimited number of free permits to kill does.
Currently, landowner permits are only available to people with at least 80 acres, Lautenbaugh said.
The amended bill would also allow hunting to occur within 100 yards of a home or livestock feedlot. The current limit is 200 yards.
The new bill is being considered at the same time the Game and Parks Commission is proposing an extra season to help cut Nebraska’s plentiful supply of deer. If approved by the commission, an Oct. 2-11 season would be in addition to the November firearms season.
The extra season would be limited to female deer and be open to about two-thirds of the state.
———
On the Net:
Nebraska Legislature:
