Rural development,hunting don't mix (SD)

[gunsmith]

http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7993526.htm
Complaints prompt talk of ban on rifle hunting

Associated Press


SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Rifle hunting could be prohibited in all or part of Minnehaha County under a request being studied by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks.

All hunting is prohibited in cities, but most of the county is open to rifle hunting during the state's various deer seasons, from November to January, plus a youth season in September.

Officials say resident safety complaints are rising along with rural development, to about 50 complaints last year. The GF&P will consider restricting some areas to shotguns and muzzleloaders, which have a shorter shooting range than rifles.

"With Sioux Falls expanding into the county, people are concerned with the safety issue. Their kids are out in the yards," said Kristoff DeKramer of Game, Fish and Parks.

Rifles already are prohibited in an area stretching from Sioux Falls to east of Brandon. Depending on residents' comments, the department could expand that area to cover residential growth north of Sioux Falls, or even the rest of the county, DeKramer said.

The state now allows harvest of 1,175 deer during the regular firearm season in Minnehaha County, plus 115 licenses for youth, 100 for muzzleloaders and about 85 for bow hunters.

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[Diggler]

Hey, ban rifles for hunting and then the next step will be to outlaw "those terrible, scoped, long-range sniper rifles"!

 

[Art Eatman]

Diggler, it's not uncommon to worry about rifles in developing areas. It's a real problem for both the homeowners and the hunters.

Complaints arise from problems. While some may be no more than not liking the noise level of shots, people in similar areas have had both property damage and personal injuries--including death.

Example: Oak Hill is a small town at the west edge of Austin, Texas. Back before the incredible growth and the area was a just-beginning development area, a guy was standing on a ladder while working on a rain gutter at his house. He suddenly fell off the ladder. The autopsy showed a .270 bullet, with no expansion whatsoever. The guesstimate was some deer hunter having been careless from more than a mile away...

Art

 

[Diggler]

Art, I realize this. It is up to hunters to responsibly hunt and that was the point of my post. My uncle hunts not 200 yards away from a housing development (his land, and a lot of the people there know him or hunt themselves) but though we all hunt in close proximity to homes, it's just that extra thought that you have to give about where your bullet goes, and that getting a deer isn't everything. If deer hunters would just do that there wouldn't be any problems with that. After all, I would imagine that a 12 ga. slug fired indiscriminately at the horizon could do some real damage coming down, just with the sheer weight of the lead alone.

Hunters, you have to think more and more about things like this. Because, like I said before, if you can only use slug guns, muzzleloaders or archery equipment, there are more than enough politicians that think that the 2nd Amendment is about hunting. Your guns are next. Prosecute the hell out of anyone who is responsible for incidents like you described. Firing a bullet when you don't know where it's going is no better than leaving a loaded gun in reach of children.