The DNR’s chief conservation warden says a bill that would allow hunting applicants to retain preference points for more than three years makes sense. Right now if a hunter doesn’t apply for a license for three years, any accumulated preference points are lost. But DNR chief warden Todd Schaller says because of improved computer technology there is no longer a need for a time limit. “Really the technological capacity we have to track that three year period. that really is no longer an issue,” Schaller told AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program. “If we can provide some additional opportunities for people I think that’s a good opportunity.” Responding to a pair of bills that would ban hunting and limit the types of mechanisms trappers can use in state parks, Schaller says safety has not been an issue since hunting was first allowed in state parks four years ago. The other bill would outlaw steel-jawed or body gripping traps and snares in state parks. Trapping is part of Wisconsin’s pioneer heritage and Schaller says the sport is still going strong.
