What Were They Thinking?

Welcome to the head-scratching world of what were they thinking? This is a little round up of outdoor news from last week that is sure to make for interesting conversation or maybe even a heated discussion later.

Would you like another tax with that bullet?

First of all, someone put the arm on Cook County and its proposal to raise taxes by charging five cents a bullet sold in the county, starting in 2013. After all, someone has to pay the trauma care for the uninsured 70 percent who suffer gunshot wounds during a crime. We mentioned the proposal here, and we're hoping that the board also decides to drop the $25 tax per gun, too.

She's gonna vote no, a lot

What was the governor of Nevada thinking when he appointed the president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, Karen Summers Layne, to the Nevada Wildlife Commission? Her new duties include managing elk, mule deer, and other big game species, which means she will participate in setting quotas for hunting tags and other regulations applying to hunting. Summers Layne has been outspoken in regard to bear hunting and trapping.

We're thinking that the major winner here is the governor. He effectively gets the antis off his back with this appointment, while still keeping the 8-1 majority intact.

Go, Fish!

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made news this week by requesting a roadside memorial in Irvine, Calif., near the site where a container truck carrying 1,600 pounds of saltwater bass crashed on Oct. 11. According to the Huffington Post, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals volunteer Dina Kourda told Irvine's street maintenance chief the sign would remind drivers that fish value their lives and feel pain.

PETA adds this request to a long list. The Huffington Post named other places where PETA thought a memorial befitting for animals that died enroute to slaughter - pigs in Virginia and cows in Illinois and Kansas.

How about in your neck of the woods? Did anything happen there that deserves a what were they thinking mention?