Guys,
As you all know, there is a bill that will be introduced in April with the purpose of banning bowfishing for redfish. I have written the following letter and will be sending it to every legislative office in the state. If you agree with the letter and would like to be included, simply post your name and location or email me @ mharveyull@yahoo.com, and I'll do all the work. I have already received hundreds of signatures, but we need more! If by chance you have already responded on louisanasportsman.com or bow.fishingcountry.com, I already have your info. Thanks! Mike Harvey, Berwick, LA

We have written this letter in regards to the proposed Louisiana Senate bill No. 573, concerning the removal of bow and arrow as legal means of taking red drum. Taking of red drum with bow and arrow has been a very heated topic over the last few years. Those who are opposed to bow fishing for red drum have made different claims in an attempt to bring this exciting and challenging sport to a halt.

As avid outdoorsmen, we are concerned that these allegations are based on emotions and hearsay, in many cases by individuals with no actual bow fishing experience, or without any factual evidence behind their claims. These individuals and organizations have created a stance against bow fishing for red drum without any logic, research, or real evidence to support their claims.

We are sportsmen, from the state of Louisiana, who enjoy the sport of bow fishing for red drum, as well as out of state sportsmen, who travel to Louisiana for the opportunity to take red drum with bow and arrow. As bow fishermen, we purchase the same licenses and follow identical size and possession limits as conventional rod and reel anglers.

To our knowledge, there has been no research that confirms bow fishing for red drum is adversely affecting the fishery. If proper research does link bow fishing to negative effects on the fishery, we agree that steps should be taken to protect the red drum population. However, restrictions should not be put into place simply because certain individuals or organizations do not have a positive opinion of bow fishing.

As constituents and license holders, we ask you to consider our opinion. Please demand that proper research be completed before allowing legislation to ban bow fishing for red drum to be put in place. Do not allow sportsmen’s privileges to be stripped away without good reason.

Sincerely,

Scott Chauppette. Belle Chasse LA.

Stuart Lambert Arnaudville, LA

email sent

Brooks Bourque, Morgan City,LA

I have also sent emails to them. Everyone needs to fight this as much as possible.

J.C. Safford
Brusly, Louisiana

Brad Snuggs
Carencro, La

Good job on the letter and fight. Fu*k the CCA. I will never join STAR and encourage all my padnas not to either. I'll send you my info and plan on writing my own.

brandon aucoin..
morgan city la

Luke Bilich
Belle Chasse, LA

Eddie Hannan
Meraux,La.

chad guidry
galliano,louisiana

kenneth owings belle chasse La

Thanks for all the help guys. The letter should be hard to ignore. The 2010 Senate session commences on March 29th, so I need to get the letters out by Sunday evening. So if anyone else wants to be included, please don't delay.

Mark Wilson
Metairie, LA

First: Hats off to all that speek out and stand for what they enjoy and believe in..

With that said, why are they wanting to stop y'all from harvesting said fish with bow and arrow? I know nothing about Red Drum and very little about bow fishing. Just wondering why they want to single out that species of fish....

Mark Louviere Bridge City La.

Eric Babin Cheri Babin
Terrytown La

Chris Babin
Gretna La

I know I sent you this on Louisiana sportsman but you can never have enough.

JP Cheramie
Meraux, LA

Trevor Rushing
Walker, LA

Well, I got a reply from the senator that is pushing this bill. He has proved to me that he is a true schmuck. "Shooting fish under lights is not very sporting in my opinion. What I've seen looks like the proverbial taking fish in a barrel." Obviously this azzhat has never tried shooting a redfish. He also goes on to say that the fishing rigs that bowfish are destroying the marsh/coastlands. How? Possibly an airboat running over the marshgrass could hurt something, but not a boat in shallow water. Also this guy says that due to the fact that it takes place at night, it's harder for enforcment personel. Maybe this guy will try to ban driving at night so the cops won't have to look for speeders at night.

What an idiot. I'm surprised this guy can dress himself as simple minded as he is. I'll get off my soapbox now.

liberal fork sitting there making up sheet as he jerks off to naked pics of obama on his knees.


i hate stupid asses that don't know what they are talking about much less have never tried or have done what they are trying to ban. forking ball sniffer

thanks for the update Scott.... hopefully it will never pass and our voices will be heard.

People like that I could just choke.

What a moron. This senator has no clue what he is talking about. If that's his reasons for the ban why are they only pushing for not shooting redfish? Because nothing that was just listed has anything to do with shooting under the limit fish or hurting the redfish population. Man this pisses me off.

Well, I got another reply from Sen. Claitor. He admitted that he has never tried to shoot a redfish. Only tried shooting at garfish from the bank when he was a kid. So he is trying to ban something that he has never done. His reply is that I want to maintain the redfish's status as a gamefish. And there is a list of gamefish that are illegial to shoot. But the only shallow water saltwater fish on the list is the redfish. I dunno what he is thinking. There is an open meeting on April 7th in Baton Rouge at 2 pm to discuss this bill. I wish I could make it but I can't. Hopefully enough people do come out in support of this sport. I knew a few charter captains that are going.

Figured that I'd try to keep y'all informed.

Jace Scarbrough
Van,TX

Here is the petition site online.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bloc ... ngstopcca/

Where in BR is the meeting? The Capitol? I'll try to go.

bump

Yeah, the meeting is in the Capitol. Not exactly sure of the rest of the details. I would call the office of the Senator sponsoring this bill. Dan Claitor. His office number is 225-342-2040.

Update: I called the Senate office. They connected me to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. The bill is currently assigned to that committee for discussion & review. The lady(forgot to ask her name) advised me that they would NOT be discussing this bill today. She didn't have a date, but said it would be later in the month. She said to follow the committee's website as she posts the agenda 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

SmokeEater, I hope your guys don't make the trip to BR for nothing.

UPDATE!!!!!

Got a call from a buddy; The senator behind this bill is Sen. Jenkins (This is the jackleg who will not allow duck season the be moved back to allow the ducks to come down). Anyway, people went to the capital this past week and CCA is in "cahoots" with theses Senators. They are trying to push the state limit of redfish down to 2 fish daily from the 5 fish we have now. The LDWF is supposably staying out of the matter, but they did state that the bowfisherman are not the cause of over limits and abuse of the law. They stated it is the rod-n-reel fishing that hurts the fish more than anything because people will take more than their allowed limit. They also stated that if they wanted to help out the redfish population cut out the 1-27" or over bullred a day(bullreds are your breeding stock).
The sportsman who do bow fish are taking a huge stand to fight this legislation!!!! Fisherman are getting together to start a LA bow-fishing committee ( like DU i guess ). They are starting this committee to fight this law and to give LA bowishers a voice. There will be a meeting NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT 7PM @ LA MASION CREOLE IN GRETNA ( BEHIND THE BEST BUY).
I encourage you guys who like to bowfish to come and sign up and have our voices heard. I will be there and I hope you will too. I will keep everyone posted as info is told to me.

Thanks JP
give me a call so I won't forget.

10-4

Hey JP
I'm in north Louisiana for school so going to the meeting is out of the question but can you join without going to the meeting and if so how?

I'm gonna post this letter in each post talking about the bowfishing ban. I got this email today about a meeting to discuss this bill. I just want everybody to know about it.



Everyone:

The Committee on Natural Resources will review/discuss SB 573 at the Capitol in Room A on Thursday, April 22, 2010, upon adjournment of the Senate or 10:15 a.m., which ever is later .

This bill is expected to draw a crowd. If you plan to speak before the committee, please fill out the appropriate card at the desk in front (green in favor or red opposed - also, please indicate whether you wish to speak in favor or against the bill on the same card). The chairman of the committee determines how much time the speakers are allowed to speak.

Finally, I've tried to cover everyone who asked to be notified. If I missed someone, I apologize. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you at the committee hearing.

Thank you for participating in your government.

Sincerely,

Senator Dan Claitor

Senator Dan Claitor
Louisiana District 16
7520 Perkins Road
Suite 170
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
claitord@legis.state.la.us
(225) 765-0206
(225) 765-0207 Fax
Legislative Assistant, Sharon Hattier