The House Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee voted 12-3 to recommend an Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) on HB 589, a bill aimed at addressing so-called "killing contests" and wanton waste in hunting.

Committee members said the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission and department staff can — and in some instances already do — create rules addressing wanton waste and the oversight of contests, and several lawmakers argued that rulemaking offers a faster, more flexible response than new legislation.

Representatives who spoke during the hearing described competing views about how to address contests that some witnesses characterized as organized events that encourage excessive killing of wildlife. Representative Harvey said the commission has promised to take up wanton-waste rules and that letting the commission and the new director craft rules — with public hearings — could be preferable to passing legislation that may require correction later. "Given the fact that he's told us it's gonna happen in rules anyway, I think I prefer to let them handle it in rules and see where it goes," Harvey said.

Other members echoed caution about an across-the-board legislative ban. Representative Tudor said many informal private "pools" and small contests have nuances that would be better addressed in rules, and Representative Smith said that if wanton-waste rules are clear, they will provide a basis to regulate killing contests through enforcement of waste provisions. Representative Khan noted the commission's chair said he did not know of any contests currently operating in New Hampshire and that the commission is looking into rules, concluding "I don't think that we need to make a new law that they are taking care of it."

Committee members also discussed the difficulty of proving that advertised or social-media images reflect current, ongoing contests. Representative Khan cautioned that distributed photos could be years old and not reflect present conduct. Representative Jacobs asked whether contests must be approved; the committee heard they are not approved in a formal statewide registry, and a private club could hold an event without the commission necessarily knowing unless it was advertised.

The committee recorded 98 online submissions related to the bill; a committee member reported that of those 98, all but five supported the bill. The committee then proceeded to a roll call on an ITL recommendation. The roll call recorded the following votes: Chair (yes), Vice Chair (yes), Representative Khan (yes), Representative Smith (yes), Representative Tudor (yes), Representative Murphy (yes), Representative Aldrich (yes), Representative Jarkin (yes), Clerk (yes), Representative Lovett (yes), Representative O'Rourke (yes), Representative Pearson (yes), Representative Harvey (no), Representative Fox (no), Representative Jacobs (no). The clerk summarized the result as 12 yeses and 3 nos; the committee clerk noted the item would go to the floor because one member objected to consent.

No formal prohibition was adopted by the committee; the ITL recommendation means the committee advises against moving the bill forward in this form. Committee discussion repeatedly distinguished between policy choices appropriate for statute and technical or operational rules that the Fish and Game Commission can draft and revise through its rulemaking process. Several members said that if the commission determines it needs additional statutory authority after rulemaking, it will return with specific recommendations.

Ending: With the ITL recommendation recorded, the HB 589 matter will appear on the chamber calendar and may be brought to the floor for further action. The committee record includes substantial testimony and public comment both for and against statutory changes to address killing contests and wanton waste.