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June 22. 2008 6:59AM
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Taking aim at hunters
Some homeowners want them off the banks of the St. Joseph River; General Assembly considers new restrictions.
ED RONCO
Tribune Staff Writer
ELKHART -- On one side of the St. Joseph River, a woman says buckshot from hunters keeps hitting her house, and it needs to stop.
On the other side, a man whose friends hunt duck out of a patch of cattails in the water behind his house says hunters act responsibly and have a right to be there.
But this is more than a story about two neighbors who don't see eye to eye, because this summer, a group of Indiana lawmakers will consider whether there should be a bill telling hunters to get lost from populated bodies of water, including certain sections of the St. Joseph River.
Applesauce and buckshot
Dottie Arnold lives on a quiet street just east of the Elkhart city limits, where her back deck looks out on three huge oak trees full of squirrels and flirting orioles and a rolling lawn that leads down to the sparkling St. Joseph River.
But just after sunrise one morning in October 2005, Arnold was making applesauce in the kitchen when something bounced off the big bay window about 8 feet from the counter where she stood.
It turned out to be a lot of somethings, actually: buckshot pellets from the shotgun of a hunter on the river, she said.
It's been happening regularly since then. She and her husband, Tom, were putting out deck furniture in May when they discovered a small bullet lodged in the deck near the grill.
She jokes that the house is "under siege" every now and then, and she said she wears an orange cap in the yard during hunting season so she can be seen.
But Arnold is absolutely serious when she says something needs to be done so her house won't be hit anymore.
"I don't care if people want to hunt," she said. "That's fine. But I don't want it around my house."
Dwight Davis doesn't want the hunting around his house, either. He formed the St. Joe River Home Owners Association to campaign for stricter regulations on river hunters.
The Osceola resident lives on the north side of the river, just west of Baugo Bay. Hunters are in the water off his property during duck season sometimes as early as 7:30 a.m., he said.
The noise finally got to him one day, and he took some action that landed him in a little bit of legal trouble.
"I foolishly objected by blowing an air horn," he said.
That's illegal in Indiana, just like any interference or harassment of hunters.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources officers were on the river, and Davis ended up in court. The case ended in pretrial diversion, which means he had to pay a fine and stay out of trouble for a while.
Davis, meanwhile, has been in contact with state Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, who's advocating for the stricter hunting regulations.
During the last session, Fry introduced House Bill 1194, which would have prohibited hunting in counties with more than 250,000 people, along any spot in the river less than 750 feet from a densely populated shoreline -- defined as at least three people per acre.
The bill never had a hearing in committee, which is why it's now in the hands of a summer study committee.
Fry says he's a member of the National Rifle Association and that it's not hunting he has a problem with, but the location of the hunting.
"Sporting groups think this is some sort of infringement," he said. "I think it's a safety issue. We have people out there in boats with guns while people are still out there in boats and jet skis enjoying the rest of summer. It's a really dangerous situation."
In the cattails
Across the St. Joseph from Arnold's property lives Ken Schrock, whose friends hunt in a patch of cattails that grow out of the river behind his home.
He says Arnold just doesn't like guns and doesn't understand that most hunters are responsible.
But Schrock, who hunts rabbit, deer and coyote, also acknowledges that it's possible Arnold's house has been hit from his side of the river by duck hunters.
"There's a possibility that if a shotgun is aimed on the right angle, the right arc, that it could rain some over there," he said, "but it's of absolutely no danger to anybody."
That's because buckshot at that angle and velocity is more akin to small pebbles falling from the sky.
"The game warden explained that to her," he said. "You could take a 12-gauge, point it right at her house, and it would never get there. It's just a few of them that happen to be angled the right way when a duck flies by."
A law regulating hunting along his stretch of the river is a step in the wrong direction, Schrock said.
"The laws have worked like they are for a long time," he said. "Why can't people just leave things alone and try to get along?"
Some homeowners' complaints have included accusations of hunters firing from spots too close to the shoreline, but that could be an illusion, said Doreen Pienkowski, who for more than 15 years has been involved with the St. Joe Valley Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, a group that advocates for conservation and responsible hunting.
"When you're on a river, and you fire a gun, it sounds like they're standing next to you," Pienkowski said. "And people will swear that someone shot at them or near their house, and it's the echo."
Pienkowski, too, acknowledges that sometimes homes are hit, but she also noted that there have never been reports of injuries from water-to-shore gunfire.
"We are adamant about hunting safety," she said. "Adamant. Nothing else matters."
But the proposed bill being discussed in Indianapolis wouldn't tell hunters they can't hunt; it just asks them to go elsewhere.
As neighborhoods grow up and more people desire a home near the water, that's not as easy as it sounds, Pienkowski said.
"They drained swamplands to make farms, and now we're selling farms to put up condos and housing developments," she said. "There's a huge shortage of hunting areas."
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353
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Tribune Photo/MARCUS MARTER
Dottie Arnold's home has been hit with pellets from shotgun shells by licensed duck hunters who shoot into the air from across the St. Joseph River. Arnold is seen pictured in her backyard in Elkhart. Hunters use the patch of cattails, across the river to Arnold's left, as a blind when hunting ducks.
View more photos
More Information
Be heard
Want to weigh in? Members of the Natural Resources Study Committee are still being named, but you can keep your eye on the membership as well as meeting agendas and minutes by going online to: www.in.gov/legislative/interim.
Click on "Study Committees" and then look on the list to click on "Natural Resources."
You can contact your own senators and representatives by calling these phone numbers:
Senate: (800) 382-9467
House: (800) 382-9842
Or by writing to them at:
(Name)
Statehouse
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Recent News Stories:
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Our Privacy Policy and Direct Notice To Parents
Contact the southbendtribune.com Web staff.
News coverage and editorial content provided by the South Bend Tribune unless otherwise specified.
Copyright © 1994-2008 South Bend Tribune
Story
Toolbox E-Mail Archives SBT Photo Store
Print Newsletter
RSS Talk about it
Taking aim at hunters
Some homeowners want them off the banks of the St. Joseph River; General Assembly considers new restrictions.
ED RONCO
Tribune Staff Writer
ELKHART -- On one side of the St. Joseph River, a woman says buckshot from hunters keeps hitting her house, and it needs to stop.
On the other side, a man whose friends hunt duck out of a patch of cattails in the water behind his house says hunters act responsibly and have a right to be there.
But this is more than a story about two neighbors who don't see eye to eye, because this summer, a group of Indiana lawmakers will consider whether there should be a bill telling hunters to get lost from populated bodies of water, including certain sections of the St. Joseph River.
Applesauce and buckshot
Dottie Arnold lives on a quiet street just east of the Elkhart city limits, where her back deck looks out on three huge oak trees full of squirrels and flirting orioles and a rolling lawn that leads down to the sparkling St. Joseph River.
But just after sunrise one morning in October 2005, Arnold was making applesauce in the kitchen when something bounced off the big bay window about 8 feet from the counter where she stood.
It turned out to be a lot of somethings, actually: buckshot pellets from the shotgun of a hunter on the river, she said.
It's been happening regularly since then. She and her husband, Tom, were putting out deck furniture in May when they discovered a small bullet lodged in the deck near the grill.
She jokes that the house is "under siege" every now and then, and she said she wears an orange cap in the yard during hunting season so she can be seen.
But Arnold is absolutely serious when she says something needs to be done so her house won't be hit anymore.
"I don't care if people want to hunt," she said. "That's fine. But I don't want it around my house."
Dwight Davis doesn't want the hunting around his house, either. He formed the St. Joe River Home Owners Association to campaign for stricter regulations on river hunters.
The Osceola resident lives on the north side of the river, just west of Baugo Bay. Hunters are in the water off his property during duck season sometimes as early as 7:30 a.m., he said.
The noise finally got to him one day, and he took some action that landed him in a little bit of legal trouble.
"I foolishly objected by blowing an air horn," he said.
That's illegal in Indiana, just like any interference or harassment of hunters.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources officers were on the river, and Davis ended up in court. The case ended in pretrial diversion, which means he had to pay a fine and stay out of trouble for a while.
Davis, meanwhile, has been in contact with state Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, who's advocating for the stricter hunting regulations.
During the last session, Fry introduced House Bill 1194, which would have prohibited hunting in counties with more than 250,000 people, along any spot in the river less than 750 feet from a densely populated shoreline -- defined as at least three people per acre.
The bill never had a hearing in committee, which is why it's now in the hands of a summer study committee.
Fry says he's a member of the National Rifle Association and that it's not hunting he has a problem with, but the location of the hunting.
"Sporting groups think this is some sort of infringement," he said. "I think it's a safety issue. We have people out there in boats with guns while people are still out there in boats and jet skis enjoying the rest of summer. It's a really dangerous situation."
In the cattails
Across the St. Joseph from Arnold's property lives Ken Schrock, whose friends hunt in a patch of cattails that grow out of the river behind his home.
He says Arnold just doesn't like guns and doesn't understand that most hunters are responsible.
But Schrock, who hunts rabbit, deer and coyote, also acknowledges that it's possible Arnold's house has been hit from his side of the river by duck hunters.
"There's a possibility that if a shotgun is aimed on the right angle, the right arc, that it could rain some over there," he said, "but it's of absolutely no danger to anybody."
That's because buckshot at that angle and velocity is more akin to small pebbles falling from the sky.
"The game warden explained that to her," he said. "You could take a 12-gauge, point it right at her house, and it would never get there. It's just a few of them that happen to be angled the right way when a duck flies by."
A law regulating hunting along his stretch of the river is a step in the wrong direction, Schrock said.
"The laws have worked like they are for a long time," he said. "Why can't people just leave things alone and try to get along?"
Some homeowners' complaints have included accusations of hunters firing from spots too close to the shoreline, but that could be an illusion, said Doreen Pienkowski, who for more than 15 years has been involved with the St. Joe Valley Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, a group that advocates for conservation and responsible hunting.
"When you're on a river, and you fire a gun, it sounds like they're standing next to you," Pienkowski said. "And people will swear that someone shot at them or near their house, and it's the echo."
Pienkowski, too, acknowledges that sometimes homes are hit, but she also noted that there have never been reports of injuries from water-to-shore gunfire.
"We are adamant about hunting safety," she said. "Adamant. Nothing else matters."
But the proposed bill being discussed in Indianapolis wouldn't tell hunters they can't hunt; it just asks them to go elsewhere.
As neighborhoods grow up and more people desire a home near the water, that's not as easy as it sounds, Pienkowski said.
"They drained swamplands to make farms, and now we're selling farms to put up condos and housing developments," she said. "There's a huge shortage of hunting areas."
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353
Login >> Register >> Be the first to comment on this story!
You must register and be logged in to post a comment.
We encourage your comments, but we ask that you keep them civil and appropriate.
Please read our rules of engagement
By clicking on "Post Comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator. Contact site Administrator
Tribune Photo/MARCUS MARTER
Dottie Arnold's home has been hit with pellets from shotgun shells by licensed duck hunters who shoot into the air from across the St. Joseph River. Arnold is seen pictured in her backyard in Elkhart. Hunters use the patch of cattails, across the river to Arnold's left, as a blind when hunting ducks.
View more photos
More Information
Be heard
Want to weigh in? Members of the Natural Resources Study Committee are still being named, but you can keep your eye on the membership as well as meeting agendas and minutes by going online to: www.in.gov/legislative/interim.
Click on "Study Committees" and then look on the list to click on "Natural Resources."
You can contact your own senators and representatives by calling these phone numbers:
Senate: (800) 382-9467
House: (800) 382-9842
Or by writing to them at:
(Name)
Statehouse
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Recent News Stories:
Dime deposit on water, juice unlikely in Michigan
Decision nears on renaming Indianapolis airport
Police investigate South Bend home invasion
Niles crews try to rescue man trapped in serious crash
Severe storms possible later today
More News Stories
Most Viewed Stories:
Police look for man who robbed South Bend woman
Business owner drops United Way support
Arrangements Pending
Golf cart driver killed on Hoosier highway
Morning fire awakens South Bend residents
Man robbed at knifepoint in South Bend home
Man chasing girlfriend ends up crashing car
Overnight fire damages Warsaw sandwich shop
Kroc Center seeking to WIN funds
Man arrested after third failure to appear
Our Privacy Policy and Direct Notice To Parents
Contact the southbendtribune.com Web staff.
News coverage and editorial content provided by the South Bend Tribune unless otherwise specified.
Copyright © 1994-2008 South Bend Tribune
