Stratford will discuss deer hunt ordinance
By Casey Krautkramer
The Stratford Village Board will vote on recommended changes to the village’s hunting ordinance during its meeting at 7 p.m. this Tuesday, Dec. 12, in the municipal hall.
Stratford police chief Tom Koontz told the village board’s public safety committee at its meeting on Nov. 28 that his department received more inquiries than normal this year from people wanting to hunt on village-owned property. He will show the village board on Dec. 12 his revision of the permit to hunt in the village.
Koontz’s plan is to allow village of Stratford residents, people who own property in the village but may not be residents and village of Straford employees, even if they don’t live in the village, to hunt in the village during the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hunting seasons.
He said people who are eligible to hunt in the village will need to begin signing up at the village municipal center on the first business day in August each year. Stratford Police Department will then conduct background checks on people who apply for a permit to hunt in the village.
Koontz is recommending the village board let him determine whether or not to accept a person’s permit to hunt following the background check results, so that hunters aren’t waiting for possibly a month before the village board meets again to approve their hunting permits.
Koontz and full-time Stratford
See ORDINACE/ page 3 Ordinance
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police officer Kyle Guralski determined five hunters would be allowed to hunt in a special zone in the village where there is a high density of deer, for example in the woods south of the Stratford Business/Industrial Park. Ten hunting permits would be available for people to hunt in other designated hunting areas in the village outside the special zone. The village would charge people $15 to hunt in either the special zone or in the other designated hunting areas in the village. A person would be charged a total of $30 to hunt in both the special zone and in the other designated hunting areas.
The village ordinance states that people permitted to hunt in the village can’t use center fire rifles or rim rifles to hunt in any designated areas or special zone in the village. People with approved village hunting permits can use all types of shotguns, bows and crossbows as permitted by the DNR, along with black powder or substitute firing rifles.
A sample of Koontz’s hunting permit for people to fill out contains the following village rules: No hunting on designated walking trails or within 100 feet of a walking trail, no shooting across walking trails, tree stands and hunting blinds shall be removed after the hunting day concludes, no hunting outside the area designed on this license, no hunting on any private property without written consent from that property owner, this permit shall be on the hunter at all times while hunting, all applicable DNR laws shall be followed, no off-road vehicles may be used outside of designated ATV/ UTV routes and hunting privileges shall be revoked or suspended for any violation of the rules and/or laws.
The village of Stratford’s hunting ordinance would be printed on the backside of the hunting permit.
In other news:
n The village of Stratford’s budget hearing is at 6 p.m. this Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Stratford Community Hall.
