ORIGINAL: UncleNorby
Hold your horses a bit. I don't know the particulars of IN law, but with a high fence situation, the critters inside the fence are basically livestock in the eyes of the law in many states. That means you can legally do whatever you want with them, they are your property. Shooting your cow is not hunting, charging money to let someone else shoot your cow is not selling a hunt.
I have heard a bit about this Bellar guy, and the way I understood it, the hunt was not purchased. It was the stay at his facility, with the opportunity to go "hunting" if you wanted to. We all know that the reality is that folks were basically paying to hunt, but what Bellar was doing may be legal.
I don't condone any high fence operation. Don't believe everything you read in the paper.
Speaking as someone who lives here and knows a little more , what happened there was not only embarrasing to the citizens of Indiana but also highly illegal . The preserve in question was licensed as a breeding facility , not a "pick and shoot" . Game was imported for hunts illegally , illegal weapons were used , and some of the "customers" weren't even licensed to hunt here . Here the PASs still have to follow all applicable game laws , and most don't , all they care about is money . This particularly egregious example is nothing new to that scummy industry , and the primary reason why they are banned in many states . Lacey Act violations are extremely serious , and not something that USFWS tosses about lightly .