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Rogers Bans Hunting in Parks & Trails

The mayor of Rogers bans hunting on city property after a deer hunter left bloody remains on a trail in Lake Atalanta, upsetting trail users. “Not to unde...

The mayor of Rogers bans hunting on city property after a deer hunter left bloody remains on a trail in Lake Atalanta, upsetting trail users.

"Not to under-react or over-react, I decided to use the executive order as an administrative way to say you can't hunt on city owned property," said Mayor Greg Hines.

The reason for the executive order is to keep park and trail users safe.

"If you can see or lean against a swing set to take aim to hit a deer with a bow, that's not an appropriate place to hunt," Hines said.

Hines said hunting is allowed in certain areas. 

"If you have private property in the city or you have permission from a property owner to hunt in the city, bow hunt for deer, you can do that," Hines said.

Hines said shooting guns in Rogers has always been illegal. However, he doesn't want hunters to be discouraged from grabbing their bow and arrow.

"Because it's already been established by the Arkansas Game and Fish that we have a large herd of deer in the urban area in Rogers, Arkansas," Hines said.

Hines said the executive order is an important move as they expand the trails system.

"Particularly along streams, creeks and those sorts of things behind residential subdivisions, I felt like a confusion could be made between those that are trying to legally hunt," Hines said.

Violators can be banned from city parks and will be reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

According to the state's Game and Fish Commission, violators are placed on a point system. If a hunter accumulates a certain number of points, they can get their hunting privileges revoked.

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