Alaska Bans Use of Stun Guns While Hunting

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last Modified: Apr 11, 2011 07:10PM

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Board of Game has passed a statewide rule prohibiting the use of stun guns when hunting game or posing with it, in an effort to prevent what state wildlife officials call “catch and release hunting.”

“Conceivably someone could Taser a moose or bear, go up and get a picture taken with it, shut the (Taser) off and then release the animal,” said Larry Lewis, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist in Soldotna who wrote the proposal.

Lewis said there have been no reports of something like that happening, but with no regulations on the book to outlaw such an action, “it’s ripe for abuse,” Lewis said. “What we wanted to do was kind of head off at the pass any non-trained use of this equipment.”

He said he is not aware of any other states that have similar regulations.

Fish and Game staff, law enforcement and others may be authorized to use stun guns on wildlife, but only after going through a training course taught by Lewis, a certified stun gun master instructor, and receiving a permit.

Lewis said about 25 state wildlife biologists have been trained in the use of stun guns on wildlife so far. Wildlife stun guns are similar to those devised for humans but are more powerful and pulse at a quicker rate. The devices cause involuntary muscle contractions that cause the person, or animal in this case, to fall down. Once the stimulation is ended, the muscles work properly again. Hand-held models can be used at 35 feet but other types allow for much greater distances, he said.

Wildlife biologists in Fairbanks recently unsuccessfully used a stun gun on a cow moose in an attempt to stun it so they could remove a rope from its neck. The moose had been roaming a neighborhood since early January after residents rescued it from the Chena River. The animal’s long winter coat appears to have prevented the device’s prongs from sticking.

Lewis said he has used a stun gun to haze bears and moose on the Kenai Peninsula and it has been effective. He also used the device on a moose so he could remove a chicken feeder stuck on its head.

“I was able to knock it down, remove the feeder, examine the animal for injuries and release it,” Lewis said.

While stun guns could be used to immobilize moose and deer that have become entangled, Lewis said he would not recommend using the devices on bears except to scare them off.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recognized the lack of authority to regulate the use of stun guns on wildlife and took Lewis’ proposal to the state Game Board, which approved it at a recent meeting in Anchorage, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

“Restricting the use of (stun guns) will reduce the risk of improper or unethical use on wildlife by the public or other agency personnel who are unfamiliar with the potential effects and hazards,” Fish and Game said in a statement.

The measure does not bar Alaskans from using stun guns on moose or bear if being attacked.