HUNTING DOGS LEGAL ON PRESERVE

HUNTING DOGS LEGAL ON PRESERVE: Interestingly, two phone calls came in during December with upland bird hunters calling to say they had been told by National Park Service rangers on the Mojave Preserve they could be cited for allowing their hunting dogs to run freely off a leash. This is not correct, and the NPS staff affirmed that hunting dogs have a special exemption to the leash rule when a hunter is actively hunting game. Apparently, there were two new seasonal rangers who didn’t understand the rules and a spokesperson for the Preserve said the misunderstanding would be addressed. The good news is that both hunters said the rangers were polite and friendly and did not cite them, even though they believed they could. The regulation does say all hunting dogs must be carry identification tags, including the owner’s name and address.