Why It Matters: Following relentless efforts from anti-hunting organizations, a bill that sought to prohibit hunters from participating in contests or tournaments was revived after it missed a key legislative deadline. The bill threatens traditions that sportsmen and women have long enjoyed while simultaneously seeking to manage wildlife issues legislatively rather than vesting the appropriate power to make informed, science-based management decisions with the recognized experts at the state fish and wildlife agency.
Highlights:
- IL HB 2900 would prohibit Illinois hunters from organizing and participating in furbearer hunting tournaments.
- Despite the bill being kept off the floor and missing its required House passage deadline, it was revived by a special Rules Committee vote.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) immediately strategized with the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to encourage members to oppose its passage.
- The House voted 62-45 in favor of the bill, advancing it to the Senate, where CSF will continue to oppose its passage.
Despite successful efforts by CSF that contributed to IL HB 2900 missing its initial deadline to advance from the House of Representatives, a special Rules Committee vote was held last week (nearly a month later) to extend that deadline. Anti-hunting organizations are relentless in their efforts to chip away at the time-honored outdoor traditions that sportsmen and women have enjoyed for generations. A clear example of this agenda is the revival of HB 2900, which would prohibit hunters from organizing contests to take furbearers, an affront to the sporting heritage of Illinoisans, science-based wildlife management, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) authority.
Hunters participating in these tournaments are required to abide by the same state regulations, including those related to wanton waste, as every other Illinois sportsman and woman. They must purchase the necessary licenses and often support local economies by purchasing hunting-related equipment. Through the unique “user pays – public benefits” structure of the American System of Conservation Funding, these license purchases provide funding to the Illinois DNR. On top of partially funding the DNR’s efforts to achieve its mission, tournament hunters then help in carrying it out by serving as an available tool for the DNR to use to address localized issues of overabundance of predators or invasive species. This helps to mitigate a variety of human-wildlife conflicts, including providing immediate relief to farmers and ranchers that experience livestock losses due to depredation.
CSF continued to oppose the bill in the House following its revival, but the contingency of Representatives that recognize the importance of protecting sporting traditions and sound wildlife management authority was not enough to overcome the misinformation spread by anti-hunting organizations, and the bill advanced from the House by a vote of 62-45. With the bill now moving to the Senate, CSF will continue to work with legislators to educate them on the unintended consequences of the bill and encourage its defeat.
