November 4, 2011
By Art Aisner, Bloomfield-MI-Path.com
Deer-hunting season is under way, but not in residential areas,
police warn after rare incident.
Bow-hunting season lasts for about another two weeks in Michigan,
but not in the city limits of Bloomfield Hills, police said Thursday
after finding a dead deer on a residential property.
Police are still investigating the incident, which was reported
Monday afternoon, but have determined that an antlered deer was
killed with a hunting arrow near a home in the 1000 block of
Trowbridge Road, reports said.
Employees from the Department of Public Workscalled Bloomfield
Hills Police to the area after they responded about 2 p.m. to
reports of a dead deer that needed to be picked up, Chief Rick
Matott said. The officers reported a large-antlered deer was shot
with a hunting arrow and that there was a visible blood trail. They
followed the trail to a bait pile near a hunting stand in the rear
yard of a neighboring home.
The homeowner told police he was not the shooter but that he gave
permission to another man to hunt on the property, reports said.
Further details were not made available.
The city has an ordinance prohibiting hunting, and the incident
may involve violations of state laws as well, said Matott, who said
it was the first time the department has had an incident like this
in 29 years.
Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural
Resources, said it was more common in other areas around the state.
The department is not currently investigating the incident and only
gets involved in similar cases at the request of local law
enforcement.
"These incidents do happen, and it's up to the local authorities
to enforce local ordinances," Dettloff said. "But it's incumbent
that the hunters know the ordinances on the books."
Bow-hunting season in Michigan is split into two parts: from Oct.
1-Nov. 14 and Dec. 1-Jan. 1. Hunting with firearms is allowed from
Nov. 15-Nov. 30.
