INDEPENDENCE - Sportsmen around the state will have a crack at their own trophy buffalo at an auction today, but the prize animal's sale has created some concern from animal welfare activists.

A 1,600-pound buffalo is being sold at an annual sportsmen's auction put on by Emmett Donnelly Auctioneering and Appraisal Service in Independence. The auction also features several other items for sale, including shotguns and rifles, decoys, knives and other outdoors equipment.

Winners of the buffalo will get to shoot the animal and keep the meat, said Jeff Temeyer, the animal's owner.

"They get the whole critter," he said.

This is the second year the buffalo have been sold at auction, said Emmett Donnelly, owner of the service. So far, he said, it's been a pretty big hit.

Temeyer, who also runs Temeyer Guide Service, a local hunting guide service, said he was going to have two bulls originally, but he sold one of the bulls the same day the auction was first advertised. He said he's raised buffalo for about 20 years. His buffalo herd is down to about 10 head because of the high grain prices.

Temeyer said he decided on the shoot because the buffalo are difficult animals to transport.

"They're hard to deal with and hard to load," he said.

Animal welfare activists are panning the sale as a "canned hunt" that violates the spirit of hunting and sportsmanship. Diann Helmers, who runs the Agape Fosters animal rescue in Reinbeck, said she realized that the sale is legal, but she thinks the practice is reprehensible.

"There's just nothing ethical about it," Helmers said.

She said she doesn't think the practice shows the animals any dignity or respect. Helmers and other activists said they'd like to buy the animals and put them in a sanctuary instead of seeing them killed.

Andrew Page, director of the hunting program of the Humane Society of the United States, said similar events occur around the country. Several states have banned hunting preserves and similar operations. In some states, sportsmen have rallied to ban the preserves and similar hunts, because they see it as unsportsmanlike.

"Shooting a trapped buffalo and calling yourself a sportsman is like hiring an escort service and calling yourself a ladies' man," he said.

Temeyer said since he owned the animals, he could do anything he wanted with them. He didn't think that selling the buffalo to be shot was any different from doing the same with a steer.

Iowa law agrees. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Temeyer's animals are considered agricultural products, so they wouldn't have to have a special permit to sell them. Department officials said the auction can be treated as if cattle or other livestock were being sold.

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship officials echoed the DNR's statements.

Donnelly said he's had consulted with state wildlife and agriculture officials to make sure the sale is legal, and has even had some wildlife officials attend. Last year, a state veterinarian who was an avid outdoorsman showed up at the auction, he said.

"I wouldn't do anything that wasn't legal," Donnelly said.

The auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Buchanan County Fairgrounds in Independence.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.