Off-reservation deer hunting zones in Wisconsin. Image from Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
The U.S. Supreme Court won't be hearing Wisconsin v. Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, a treaty rights case. Wisconsin bars members of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band, the Lac du Flambeau Band, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community and the Red Cliff Band from hunting deer at night on ceded lands. In a major victory for the tribes, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last October said the state has failed to demonstrate why it restricts their treaty rights. "The burden of production should be placed on the state, for as the record stands the evidence presented by the tribes that night hunting for deer in the ceded territory is unlikely to create a serious safety problem," the decision stated. Even though the ruling did not immediately authorize deer hunts, the state asked the Supreme Court to overturn it. Without comment, the justices declined to take up the matter in an order today. Tribal members can already hunt deer at night on their reservations. The 7th Circuit noted that their safety record is "sterling" -- there have been only two or three accidents on ceded lands since 1989. The state also engages in night hunting in order to address an explosion of the deer population and to control chronic wasting disease, a fatal disease among deer. The court noted that there have been no safety issues associated with the practice. "The tribes’ argument is that the state’s greater experience with night hunting of deer since the 1991 judgment shows that it is safer than had been believed—so safe indeed that, given sensible regulations governing such hunting, there is no reason to prohibit the tribes’ members from engaging in such hunting on ceded territory," the decision stated. After the ruling last year, tribal leaders said the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission will work with the state to discuss how to move forward with deer hunts at night. Get the Story:
US Supreme Court Allows Wis. Tribal Night Deer Hunts (AP 4/20)
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Wisconsin appeal on tribal nighttime deer hunt (Wisconsin Radio Network 4/20) Oral arguments on the Indianz.Com SoundCloud.
7th Circuit Decision:
Lac Courte Oreilles Band v. Wisconsin (October 9, 2014)
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