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Oregon Ban Could End Field Trials, Hunt Tests

by US Sportsmen's Alliance


Posted on February 15, 2019

Take Action Today! Oregon sportsmen need to contact their state senator and ask them to vote NO on SB 723. Oregon members can find their state senator by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center.

The Oregon bill that would prohibit coyote contests could also eliminate field trials and dog-training events that utilize gamebirds. Senate Bill 723, which has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, would ban events that have the objective of taking wildlife for prizes or other inducement or for the purpose of entertainment. This bill, introduced by Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland) and Sen. Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), would ban any event where dogs compete or are trained using gamebirds that award ribbons, a ranking, a medal or a trophy.

That’s what makes Senate Bill 723 a threat to hunting with dogs. Hunters depend on dogs with very specific traits and abilities, and field trials and hunt tests are the primary means of testing those natural abilities, training methods and ensuring quality bloodlines in an objective manner.

“While anti-hunting groups focus their rhetoric on coyote contests, their real intent is to end all hunting, including waterfowl and upland bird hunting using dogs,” said Bruce Tague, Sportsmen’s Alliance vice president of government affairs. “The biggest irony here is that well-trained dogs are the greatest conservation tool a hunter employs. They find and retrieve birds that hunters without a dog would never be able to recover. But senators Dembrow and Golden obviously don’t care about wildlife and dog owners, but would rather cater to animal-rights activists.”

Any person or organization in violation of the proposed bill could face up to 364 days in jail and a $6,250.

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research.  Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.