In an outrageous demonstration of disregard for the established needs and concerns of hunters of public lands in Louisiana the Secretary of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, without any public knowledge or input, has conspicuously closed down 206 prime hunting acres that were accessible by road in the Pearl River WMA. While 206 acres might not seem like much land when the PRWMA has 35,728 acres in total, if one considers the road system is the only way for many hunters to access the WMA, and that since hurricane Katrina, where most of the tall tree canopy was lost, the undergrowth prevents walking accessibility to much of this WMA, this loss of hunting area is huge.
The stated reasoning of the Secretary of LDWF for closing this area adjacent to the Honey Island Shooting Range was that something had to be done immediately to protect those shooting at the range from getting shot by careless hunters. Keep in mind that there was already a safety zone that proved to be more than enough, and in all the 20 plus years this 206 acres has been open to hunters not one single person using the shooting range has ever been shot by a hunter, nor have there even been any close calls.
Which begs the question, why, after over 20 years of safe range operating without this large “Honey Island Shooting Range Safety Zone”, would this issue be of such an urgent nature that the Secretary of LDWF would bypass all established administrative procedures, procedures that hunter’s must follow to get anything changed, and close off 206 valuable public hunting acres to hunters?
Calling even more suspicion to this apparent knee jerk reaction to a non-existent “safety” concern is the fact that when anyone with experience or knowledge of this WMA's shooting range looks at the map which indicates the recently closed lands it’s preposterously absurd to conclude that this ill-conceived new reduction of productive hunting land offers any more protection to shooters at the range than what previously existed.
In order for it to be tenuously plausible for a careless hunter to mistakenly shoot someone using the shooting range from this newly created “Honey Island Shooting Range Safety Zone” the hunter would have to be firing some sort of lazar guided bullet, which only exist is science fiction novels, that goes around trees and over 30 foot tall, or through 30 foot thick, levees, and then drops immediately in order to strike someone shooting at the range. Perhaps this explains why there has never been a case of a careless hunter shooting anyone that was using the range.
Is this the decision of an out of touch Administrator, or could this be retaliation for over a hundred hunters complaining to the LDWF about the Honey Island Shooting Range disturbing their hunting experience by shooting extremely loud short barrel AR’s, and an average of 250 vehicles traveling to and from the range on over 40% of the only roads that people can hunt off of starting at before daylight and going on all day until past sunset? Is this what happens when hunters complain about the range?
Does it seem obvious that both the decision to close 206 acres of prime public hunting land due to some contrived “safety” issue, and the timing of that decision (within weeks of receiving a petition from over 100 hunters complaining about the disturbance created by the Honey Island Shooting Range) has cast an enormous aura of suspicion upon the entire LDWF Administration?
If the Secretary and LDWF were genuinely convinced that those using the range were in such imminent danger from careless hunters in the woods with high powered rifles, and had no other agenda, especially considering the people at the range were behind a 30 foot tall, 30 foot wide berm, perhaps he would have better served both parties by closing the range for a total of 18 full days and 7 half days a year during rifle hunting seasons on the PRWMA.
Now ask yourself why would the LDWF Secretary have not made the decision to close the range during rifle deer hunting seasons, a decision that would have solved both problems at the same time by eliminating the range’s disruption of deer hunters, and protected those using the range?
Whatever your answer is the fact remains that the Secretary’s atrocious decision to close of 206 acres of premium public hunting land apparently reflects his overwhelming desire to not inconvenience those using the range while at the same time displays his discernible indifference to the established needs and concerns of hunters.
Shame on you Secretary Robert Barham, for you and your Administration have perpetrated an injustice upon all those that hunt public lands in Louisiana, and have demonstrated that you are no friend of Louisiana hunters on the PRWMA.
The stated reasoning of the Secretary of LDWF for closing this area adjacent to the Honey Island Shooting Range was that something had to be done immediately to protect those shooting at the range from getting shot by careless hunters. Keep in mind that there was already a safety zone that proved to be more than enough, and in all the 20 plus years this 206 acres has been open to hunters not one single person using the shooting range has ever been shot by a hunter, nor have there even been any close calls.
Which begs the question, why, after over 20 years of safe range operating without this large “Honey Island Shooting Range Safety Zone”, would this issue be of such an urgent nature that the Secretary of LDWF would bypass all established administrative procedures, procedures that hunter’s must follow to get anything changed, and close off 206 valuable public hunting acres to hunters?
Calling even more suspicion to this apparent knee jerk reaction to a non-existent “safety” concern is the fact that when anyone with experience or knowledge of this WMA's shooting range looks at the map which indicates the recently closed lands it’s preposterously absurd to conclude that this ill-conceived new reduction of productive hunting land offers any more protection to shooters at the range than what previously existed.
In order for it to be tenuously plausible for a careless hunter to mistakenly shoot someone using the shooting range from this newly created “Honey Island Shooting Range Safety Zone” the hunter would have to be firing some sort of lazar guided bullet, which only exist is science fiction novels, that goes around trees and over 30 foot tall, or through 30 foot thick, levees, and then drops immediately in order to strike someone shooting at the range. Perhaps this explains why there has never been a case of a careless hunter shooting anyone that was using the range.
Is this the decision of an out of touch Administrator, or could this be retaliation for over a hundred hunters complaining to the LDWF about the Honey Island Shooting Range disturbing their hunting experience by shooting extremely loud short barrel AR’s, and an average of 250 vehicles traveling to and from the range on over 40% of the only roads that people can hunt off of starting at before daylight and going on all day until past sunset? Is this what happens when hunters complain about the range?
Does it seem obvious that both the decision to close 206 acres of prime public hunting land due to some contrived “safety” issue, and the timing of that decision (within weeks of receiving a petition from over 100 hunters complaining about the disturbance created by the Honey Island Shooting Range) has cast an enormous aura of suspicion upon the entire LDWF Administration?
If the Secretary and LDWF were genuinely convinced that those using the range were in such imminent danger from careless hunters in the woods with high powered rifles, and had no other agenda, especially considering the people at the range were behind a 30 foot tall, 30 foot wide berm, perhaps he would have better served both parties by closing the range for a total of 18 full days and 7 half days a year during rifle hunting seasons on the PRWMA.
Now ask yourself why would the LDWF Secretary have not made the decision to close the range during rifle deer hunting seasons, a decision that would have solved both problems at the same time by eliminating the range’s disruption of deer hunters, and protected those using the range?
Whatever your answer is the fact remains that the Secretary’s atrocious decision to close of 206 acres of premium public hunting land apparently reflects his overwhelming desire to not inconvenience those using the range while at the same time displays his discernible indifference to the established needs and concerns of hunters.
Shame on you Secretary Robert Barham, for you and your Administration have perpetrated an injustice upon all those that hunt public lands in Louisiana, and have demonstrated that you are no friend of Louisiana hunters on the PRWMA.
