Dove, Dogs, and Shotguns

Apparently some of the people moving out to the country are surprised during dove season.

I came across this article from WFAA, and couldn’t help but see some humor in it.

Lori Castoldi awoke last week to the sound of gunshots near her Prosper home.

    
“It was all around us. It was frightening,” she said. “I could look outside my front door and see these guys with guns.”

The men swarming nearby fields were hunters firing the first shots of dove season, which runs Sept. 1 to Oct. 30 in North Texas.

And though within the Prosper city limits, state law allows it.

Most cities forbid discharging firearms within city limits. But the state Legislature passed a law in 2005 to prevent growing cities from using such laws to prohibit hunting on large tracts annexed after 1981.

Many residents haven’t heard of the law, police officials say, especially city dwellers following urban sprawl into “the country.”

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“A lot of the people moving here are from other cities,” said McKinney police Capt. Randy Roland. “They don’t look at their home as being in a rural environment; they see it as a growing development.”

Rutledge Gordon of Prosper, a lifelong hunter, said he empathizes with the people startled awake by early morning gunfire.

“Much like your neighbor mowing his lawn or getting a new roof put on or kids playing soccer at 7 a.m., it could be considered rude,” he said. “But this is a big time for hunters. It’s a kickoff to the season. It’s tradition.”

Calls reporting gunshots bombarded the McKinney, Frisco, Allen and Prosper 911 centers last week.

Two years ago, Frisco police received 25 calls about gunfire at the Frisco Horse Park, which hosts an annual opening day hunt.

Police are trying to educate residents about the law and discern the legal hunters from the illegal ones.

McKinney police have received reports from residents whose houses were stuck by shotgun pellets.

The law allows hunting with shotgun, air gun, BB gun or bow and arrow on tracts of at least 10 acres and at least 150 feet from homes or occupied buildings. Rifles and pistols may be fired on tracts of at least 50 acres.

Regardless of the regulations, Ms. Castoldi thinks it’s all too close for comfort.

“I can’t believe it’s OK for people to do that in a neighborhood,” she said. “I’m afraid for my kids. I don’t get it.”

Mr. Gordon said that if hunters act within the law, they pose no danger to homeowners because the law accounts for the distance that ammunition can travel.

“If someone’s not legal, absolutely call the police. But don’t paint every hunter with a broad brush,” he said. “The people who are not responsible, who are not ethical, make it much harder for me as an ethical hunter.”

The North Texas Police Chiefs Association plans to lobby the Legislature next year to limit hunting in cities, Capt. Roland said.

“We wish it wasn’t allowed in a densely populated area such as McKinney,” he said.

Mr. Gordon opposes such changes. But he offers another thought likely welcomed by people such as Ms. Castoldi. The gunshots should die down soon.

“Most dove hunters go out the first week and then hang it up,” he said. “Within a week or two, 80 percent of those guys will be out of the field.”

State law allows hunting in cities under certain conditions:

• Hunting tracts must be 10 acres or larger and 150 feet from homes or occupied buildings to use shotguns, air guns, BB guns or bows and arrows.

• Tracts must be 50 acres and larger and 300 feet from homes and buildings to use rifles and pistols.

• Weapons must be fired in such a way that the projectiles would not cross the boundary of the tract.

About the law

The law, authored by state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, was intended to prevent cities from banning hunting on land traditionally operated as hunting leases before annexation. Dove season runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30 for most of North Texas.

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