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It seems that Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers has had his way, at least for a while.

Chambers, who is known in the state Capital for his filibusters, has stopped a proposed constitutional amendment made by Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek to preserve the right to fish, trap, and hunt in the state.

Chambers introduced several amendments to the bill and, I might suggest, instead of postponing the vote, I would like to see legislators jump on the bandwagon.

While I don't particularly like the idea of his first proposed amendment to "preserve the right to fish for anglers, trap trappers and hunt hunters," many of his amendments just make good common sense.

After all, who wouldn't take up the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Osar if they happened to show up in Nebraska? The reward alone would most likely bring thousands of people to the state, increasing the state revenue and getting us out of our financial mess.

He also argues that we should preserve the right to "hunt for a cure for cancer, ... trap the morning mist, ... hunt the fountain of youth, ... hunt perfect peace and happiness", ... and "hunt for world peace." How can anyone argue with that? After all we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, so I guess Ernie is pretty familiar with the U.S. Constitution.

Ernie also believes we should have the right to trap the Man on the Moon and hunt for Martians. I guarantee you if one happens to end up in my back yard, I'm not going to wait for a constitutional amendment to decide what I should do with it -- but a change in the constitution certainly couldn't hurt to have the blessings of the Nebraska Constitution.

And if Bigfoot were to ever venture this far south and east, Ernie's even got that one covered. We're going to be able to hunt him down, no matter how well he blends with our cornfields.

Sen. Chambers' point is that the Nebraska Constitution should "hunt for a way to protect the Constitution from frivolous and silly amendments."

Mr. Chambers should examine the benefits of hunting in Nebraska and maybe then he will understand the importance of preserving the right to hunt, fish and trap in this state.

According to a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it is estimated that 173,307 hunters spent a total of $232.4 million in Nebraska in 2001, meaning that the hunters put $4 million in the form of sales taxes and motor fuel taxes into the state's coffers. Add to that the revenues from 296,000 fishermen, and you're looking at a sizable contribution from outdoor enthusiasts.

My guess is the more hunting we're allowed to do in this state -- regardless of the prey -- the better the revenues will be. Maybe this time we should give in.