Chippewa Indians have asked a federal appeals court to let them hunt deer at night in northern Wisconsin.
District Judge Barbara Crabb issued a ruling in December blocking any night time hunting, following a trial that was held last summer. Tribal officials had indicated they would appeal, and formally did so on Monday.
The tribes argue in a filing with the Seventh District appellate court in Chicago that night hunting has become more common, and the state can no longer argue that it’s unsafe. They also note that the state previously allowed night-hunting in southern Wisconsin to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease in the state’s deer herd.
Tribes have attempted for years to hunt deer at night in the off-reservation territory of the north, where treaty rights have long been established. The tribes’ latest attempt began two years ago, shortly after the state started holding a wolf hunting season that the tribes opposed.