A long-time Wisconsin tradition ended this week as Governor Walker signed a bill eliminating back tags worn by hunters. Walker signed Senate Bill 289 into law.
The tags were used early on as a way for law enforcement to identify hunters in the field. Proponents of the change say they became obsolete and a burden on hunters. Jeff Nass is the Executive Director of Wisconsin FORCE, or Firearm Owners, Ranges, Clubs and Educators. He says new systems are in place that makes the tags unnecessary...
"....it's not something that was used by law enforcement. There's only a couple of states that have the back tags any longer. There's(only) two left that do have back tags..."
Opponents argued that the tags were often used to identify hunters who were tresspasing on private land. Nass says that point isn't valid as most of the time hunters bring a vehicle to hunt in an area and the vehicle has license plates.
Opponents also say it could lead to more illegal hunting as illegal hunters would have less to worry about if the warden can't identify the hunter. The measure didn't stir much debate in the legislature. The bill passed the Assembly by a voice vote and the Senate by a wide 28-to-four margin.
