Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are hoping results of a new research project by the UW-Green Bay will help them dissuade people from killing animals for fun, or "thrill killing."
Thrill killing includes everything from shining deer at night to shoot them, to beating raccoons to death with spiked clubs. DNR warden Chuck Horn says there's been an increase in such incidents over the past few years.
Horn says thrill-killing raises some serious public safety issues like people shooting guns at night, and not being sure where a bullet is headed; wasting of the "deer resource" that is usually just left to rot; and incidents with thrill killers shooting protected species like eagles and Sandhill cranes.
The UW-Green Bay researchers have already done similar projects on what drives gang members to kill. For this project, they're interviewing convicted wildlife thrill killers in an effort to learn more about their motivations. The study results are expected by late spring.
Horn says the results could help the DNR design new programs to encourage young people who carry out such acts to channel their energy into hunting wildlife legally, such as pairing them with an experienced hunter who can show them that hunting legally is just as much fun.
