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Hunting & Private Property Rights Prevail in North Dakota

Private property rights and the ability to operate and manage game habitat — not to mention common sense — prevailed this week in North Dakota. An initiative to ban hunting within fenced game preserves in the ‘Great Central State’ has failed to get on the state ballot because it lacked public support and did not obtain the required number of signatures.

North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger says seven of the initiative petitions did not list the names of the proposal’s sponsors which is mandated by the the North Dakota Constitution. With the flawed petitions disqualified, the measure fell short of the minimum number of 12,844 names it needed to get on the ballot. According to petition experts in the state, the measure would also have certainly fell to defeat when the actual signatures were analyzed. Typically, several hundred signatures are disqualified on petitions due to illegibility and the anti-hunting initiative was only 120 names over the minimum.

The North American Deer Farmers Association (NADeFA), the National Rifle Association (NRA), Safari Club International (SCI) and many other groups have been staunch defenders of the ranchers in North Dakota.

“I  think this sends a strong message from the citizens of North Dakota that they value their property rights and all forms of hunting,” says Shawn Schafer, executive director for the North American Deer Farmers Association. “East Coast animal rights groups are not tolerated in North Dakota nor by the cervid industry. I personally would like to thank all of the State Deer and Elk Associations that came together with the North American Deer Farmer Association and supported the North Dakota Cervid industry.”  

“After months of fighting this initiative, the North Dakota high-fenced hunting ranches have scored a victory,” adds Charly Seale, executive director for the Exotic Wildlife Association. “Rest assured, however, the folks behind these initiatives will not rest and the battles across the country will continue with these type issues. We have to stay united and in tune with what is happening in our industry.”

Those proposing the initiative were supported by Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) — one of the world’s strongest anti-hunting activists organizations. However, North Dakotans consider the issue to be about land rights, as well as freedom to hunt. They believe individuals have the right to fence their own property, and decide for themselves in which forms of hunting to participate. In addition, animals on fenced ranches in North Dakota are not taken from the wild and, therefore, not property of the state. In fact, animals on North Dakota game preserves are purchased by the landowners and regulated by the state as livestock under the supervision of the North Dakota Board of Animal Health.