Night-Hunting Legal for Indians

(Vancouver, British Columbia) Native Indians took heap big treaty to supreme white man's council and spoke of night-hunting of elusive deer for many moons.

From Reuters:

The court overturned the convictions of two members of British Columbia's Tsartlip Indian Band, who were arrested after they shot a fake deer set up by wildlife officers seeking to catch illegal night hunters.

The men had argued their right to hunt at night using lights was protected by a treaty signed in 1852 between the Indian band and the governor of the then-British colony of Vancouver Island on Canada's Pacific Coast.

A lower court ruled that although the Tsartlip people had historically used illumination during night hunts, the practice was not protected by a treaty right because it was "inherently unsafe."

Hunters use spotlights to blind or "freeze" an animal and make it an easier target, but the night-time darkness makes it difficult for hunters to see other people or houses that might be hit by accident.

The Supreme Court, in a four-to-three ruling, said it accepted evidence that the Tsartlip had never had a serious accident in generations of hunting at night using illumination.

Well, since it's safe, blast away.