Fishbonker
Life Member
This bill was given yet another number and was reintroduced yesterday. Nothing has changed in the bill, it started out as a Natural Resources and Environment bill then it became and still is a Ways and Means bill which keeps it alive until the end of the session. So why a new number? I wish I understood this process better.
If you want to do some head scratching and a lot of clicking, start by clicking here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billHistory?billName=SF 610&ga=88 it is a history of this bill complete with versions, dates, journal entries, everything this bill has been through.
Last year, or maybe the year before, the legislature approved floating tags for youth in both turkey and deer seasons. If they didn't fill the tags in the youth season they were good for all of the remaining seasons. Now, just for turkey, for the youth, we are increasing the length of the youth season to 9 days. 9 potentially very cold days. I just don't get it. Will these nine days get more youth afield with their families? They already have the following 6 weeks or so to hunt with potentially better weather. I'm actually OK with this part of the bill but I just have to ask myself why the extension? What is the end game? Look at youth deer season, last year's youth season was 15 days long. Great, all for it. If this turkey season extension is to try and make the deer and turkey youth seasons the same the sponsors are a few days (6) short on the turkey end. Again, let me reiterate, I'm OK with the 9 day extension, I'm trying to understand the premise of the bill.
The cost of the licenses will be cut in half. The cheaper price of the license is projected to sell more youth licenses/tags for both turkey and deer but not enough to make up the difference. This reduction in price comes at a cost to the FWTF. So the conundrum is this, sure we are bringing more youth into hunting but killing the department responsible for maintaining hunting in Iowa.
There is another part of this bill that is not getting the attention it deserves. Here is a copy and paste of the section:
Youth wild turkey hunting season shall last for the nine consecutive days, including two full weekends, immediately prior to the first turkey season established by the department by rule. The department may reduce the length of the youth wild turkey hunting season only after it makes a report available to the public on the department’s internet site stating the biological reason such a reduction is necessary and only after it eliminates all other wild turkey hunting seasons.
On a casual read it doesn't mean much but what this section is doing is setting the stage for further micromanagement of the DNR by the legislature. For years and years we have been beating the drum of let biology guide the conservation of wildlife, this bill says that but then it tells the DNR which seasons they must close first. Think about this for a moment, remember the old days when the bottom two tiers of counties had late bazooka doe only season? The bazooka manufactures want to keep their sales up so they get the legislature to put a section in a bill that the bazooka season is the last one to be closed if for biological reasons we need to slow down the killing of deer. I know, I know, I'm using an absurd example to illustrate my point.
It makes me wonder if the reason for the entire bill is aimed at the section above. Re-read the newly numbered bill here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF%20610&ga=88
In my opinion, wrapped in the flag of youth this bill takes money away from the FWTF and micromanages the DNR. The original bill's sponsor has a track record of trying to undermine the DNR. Why else would it go from a "wildlife" bill to a "money" bill?
If you want to do some head scratching and a lot of clicking, start by clicking here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billHistory?billName=SF 610&ga=88 it is a history of this bill complete with versions, dates, journal entries, everything this bill has been through.
Last year, or maybe the year before, the legislature approved floating tags for youth in both turkey and deer seasons. If they didn't fill the tags in the youth season they were good for all of the remaining seasons. Now, just for turkey, for the youth, we are increasing the length of the youth season to 9 days. 9 potentially very cold days. I just don't get it. Will these nine days get more youth afield with their families? They already have the following 6 weeks or so to hunt with potentially better weather. I'm actually OK with this part of the bill but I just have to ask myself why the extension? What is the end game? Look at youth deer season, last year's youth season was 15 days long. Great, all for it. If this turkey season extension is to try and make the deer and turkey youth seasons the same the sponsors are a few days (6) short on the turkey end. Again, let me reiterate, I'm OK with the 9 day extension, I'm trying to understand the premise of the bill.
The cost of the licenses will be cut in half. The cheaper price of the license is projected to sell more youth licenses/tags for both turkey and deer but not enough to make up the difference. This reduction in price comes at a cost to the FWTF. So the conundrum is this, sure we are bringing more youth into hunting but killing the department responsible for maintaining hunting in Iowa.
There is another part of this bill that is not getting the attention it deserves. Here is a copy and paste of the section:
Youth wild turkey hunting season shall last for the nine consecutive days, including two full weekends, immediately prior to the first turkey season established by the department by rule. The department may reduce the length of the youth wild turkey hunting season only after it makes a report available to the public on the department’s internet site stating the biological reason such a reduction is necessary and only after it eliminates all other wild turkey hunting seasons.
On a casual read it doesn't mean much but what this section is doing is setting the stage for further micromanagement of the DNR by the legislature. For years and years we have been beating the drum of let biology guide the conservation of wildlife, this bill says that but then it tells the DNR which seasons they must close first. Think about this for a moment, remember the old days when the bottom two tiers of counties had late bazooka doe only season? The bazooka manufactures want to keep their sales up so they get the legislature to put a section in a bill that the bazooka season is the last one to be closed if for biological reasons we need to slow down the killing of deer. I know, I know, I'm using an absurd example to illustrate my point.
It makes me wonder if the reason for the entire bill is aimed at the section above. Re-read the newly numbered bill here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF%20610&ga=88
In my opinion, wrapped in the flag of youth this bill takes money away from the FWTF and micromanages the DNR. The original bill's sponsor has a track record of trying to undermine the DNR. Why else would it go from a "wildlife" bill to a "money" bill?
