| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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No wildlife saved from fenced ranch
Journal writer
BLACKFOOT - State officials and sportsmen road horses, drove ATVs and walked throughout a 2,000-acre fenced enclosure Monday trying in vain to save the wildlife inside. Their lengthy search found a single moose and several elk and deer tracks, but they failed to force a single wild animal from the enclosure before the gates closed permanently on what will be Idaho's newest private hunting reserve. The owner of the so-called shooter bull operation, former Denver Broncos defensive end Rulon Jones, intends to introduce domesticated deer and elk that hunters will pursue for a fee. He hopes to open by Sept. 15.
The wild animals now trapped inside the enclosure, located in the Wolverine Canyon area, will have to be killed. Law prohibits caging wildlife. “We had maybe 15 people there, and we tried to push animals through one drainage,” said Fish and Game Regional Conservation Officer Tom Lucia. “It was almost futile.”
Jones, a Utah State University graduate who operates a similar operation in the Ogden, Utah area, had been planning to acquire rights to public land to connect his operation to other land he owns nearby. Jones said he's changed his mind about seeking the public land because of the hassle he'd have to endure to get it. He intends to continue a cattle operation on the parcel located outside of the reserve. Shooter bull operations have been outlawed in other states, including Montana, and have raised concerns both from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and from local sportsmen. Concerns include possible disruptions to migration routes, the potential spread of disease by domesticated animals mixing with wild animals and the loss to the public of wild animals trapped now trapped inside the enclosure.
“The reason why commercial shooting operations present a concern to Fish and Game is we do run the risk of having our native wildlife in those enclosures, which has a lethal outcome for those native animals,” said Fish and Game spokeswoman Jennifer Jackson. “You also have the potential of domesticated animals getting outside of the enclosure.” Jones said other shooter bull operations have allowed returning veterans and hunters with disabilities to harvest wild animals trapped inside their fences. He's willing to allow access for something similar at his Blackfoot operation.
“There's no reason to waste the animals,” Jones said. And Jones disagrees his operation poses a risk of spreading diseases.
“Any time you move an animal in our out of a facility, they have to be tested for brucellosis or tuberculosis,” Jones said. “All of these types of facilities need a handling facility so you can restrain and restrict an animal.” Jones is more concerned about the potential for wild animals breaking into his facility and spreading diseases among his domesticated animals. He said precautions will also be taken to make sure no animals with chronic wasting disease are imported into his enclosure, which is surrounded by 11 miles of fencing.
The cheapest hunting package Jones will offer will cost $3,900. His trophy hunt - the most popular option - will cost $5,900. A chance to hunt for his biggest bulls will sell for $12,000. He reports a 95 percent success rate at his Ogden facility, and hunters who fail to bag a trophy are invited back or get their money refunded.
Jones is an avid hunter who enjoys hunting in both the wild and in shooter bull operations. “It's very much a fair chase thing,” Jones said. “It will be a challenging hunt.”
Rick Cheatum, president of the Southeast Idaho Mule Deer Foundation, noted such operations are managed by the Idaho Department of Agriculture as they considered to be ranches, and most hunting organizations won't count animals harvested in shooter bull operations as records. At least among his membership, Cheatum said hunting within the confines of a cage is considered to be less than sporting. By John O'Connell
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