As the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks continues to look into the possibility of legalizing the sale of white-tailed deer, one well-known outdoorsman is speaking out against the idea.
Lake Pickle, who hosts the popular “Primos Hunting: Speak the Language” podcast, recently joined an episode of SuperTalk Outdoors with Rickey Mathews, sharing his belief that the sale of white-tailed deer in Mississippi could ultimately take wildlife away from the public if a handful of wealthy owners with high-fenced land decided to charge people to hunt on their property.
“The sheer implications of moving live deer in the sense that they’re wanting to do with this is so vast and so much. It’s not worth the gamble. It’s asinine to me that this is even being considered,” Pickle said. “If we go back to one of the bases, one of the fundamentals of what wildlife management in this country – in this state – is found on is that it belongs to the public. Decisions like this, of this magnitude, trying to be made and it being so ‘hush, hush.’ I don’t like it all.”
The commission recently reached out to Attorney General Lynn Fitch for an opinion on the current law that prohibits the buying and selling of white-tailed deer. Fitch responded, saying that since the commission has plenary authority, they can legally promulgate a regulation allowing whitetail deer to be purchased and held within high-fenced enclosures.
Pickle argues that Fitch’s opinion – which goes against a past opinion from former Attorney General Jim Hood – failed to acknowledge the long-term ramifications of legalizing the sale of white-tailed deer in Mississippi.
“One of my biggest issues with [the opinion] is that there really wasn’t anything in there about the implications of what selling whitetail deer would do,” Pickle said. “The only thing that was getting argued in that opinion was, ‘Here’s why we can do it.’ I saw nothing in there that was like, ‘Hey, if we do that, we might should be cautious.’”
All in all, Pickle is confident that the more the topic is exposed to the public, the more conservationists will begin to speak up in an attempt to convince the commission to support the current law preventing the practice.
“I’m not happy at all that this is even being discussed, but I have faith in our hunting community. And I have faith in the people that are put in place to know the right thing to do,” Pickle said. “The right thing to do is to not let this happen. Period.”
The full interview with Lake Pickle can be watched below.
