The idea that anyone could sit in front of a computer monitor and with a click of their mouse, kill an animal perhaps hundreds of miles away violates the fair chase ethic of hunting that outdoorsmen have stood by for years. The unethical practice quickly garnered international attention, and legislators in sportsmen's caucuses across the country sprung into action to ban the practice and protect the fair chase ethic of hunting. Beyond violating fair chase, internet hunting garnered negative press for hunting.

History

This issue was introduced at the inaugural NASC Annual Meeting in 2004 and first issued as a NASC issue brief during the 2005 legislative session.  Sportsmen's caucuses in Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon passed legislation banning the practice in 2007.  California, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia previously passed the legislation.

Action

NASC works with individual state caucuses to develop language if they select this issue to put before their own legislatures.