Joplin City Council moves forward with allowing bow hunting for deer in city limits
The ordinance provides for bow hunting within city limits on private land of 1 acre or larger with a recurve bow and permission of the property owner.
The ordinance as proposed required hunters to be 21 years or older. However, councilman Josh Bard proposed an amendment to allow those as young as age 16 to hunt when accompanied by an adult.
One council member opposed allowing deer hunting in the city limits.
'I think this is a crazy idea,' Gary Shaw said. 'I know there are areas where we have deer challenges. But I sit out on my patio and I don't want ... arrows flying by me, my wife and my son.'
Others on the council favored the ordinance for reasons that include culling deer that can become a nuisance by congregating in herds on the city's edges, and because of the need to kill sick deer, such as those that may be suffering from chronic wasting disease, they said.
Bard said that, as deer populations increase, overpopulation or other environmental factors can cause food shortages for the animals. Also, the deer cause collisions with vehicles.
Councilman Mark Farnham said that residents in the city's Zone 4, which he represents, have told him that the deer carry a lot of ticks onto residential properties, where the ticks attach to people.
'It's not only a human risk,' he said of the ticks that can carry such ailments as Lyme disease, but the risk of having deer infected with chronic wasting disease. The Missouri Department of Conservation said three CWD cases have been detected in the Jasper County deer population — two in the 2024-25 seasons and the first one in the 2023-24 hunting season. That first one, northwest of Joplin along Center Creek near the Kansas line, was the closest to Joplin. No CWD cases have been detected in Newton County.
Regarding those who support a city effort for urban hunting, Farnham said, 'The pressure on the city is not from hunters, but from residents seeing the number of deer and disease' in their neighborhoods.
Councilman Doug Lawson said he once had a call from a resident of Silver Creek asking the city for help because there was a herd of 24 deer in that resident's yard.
Deer congregating within the city damage yards by eating both natural and planted vegetation on the properties, he said.
Council member Chuck Copple proposed two amendments to the ordinance. One would require that all those wishing to hunt in city limits go through a hunter safety course offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Also, he proposed requiring that arrows be etched with the hunter safety number issued by the department. He also proposed lowering the age for urban hunting to 16 with adult supervision.
Mayor Keenan Cortez said urban hunting has been going on for years. Joplin is not trying to reinvent the wheel, he said, by adopting an urban hunting ordinance he believes it is ethical.
Anyone who violates the ordinance also would have repercussions to face, he said.
The mayor said that last deer season he saw a resident's post on social media asking for someone to come and shoot deer 'that were eating up everything around her house.'
He also said chronic wasting disease is a serious concern among deer hunters.
The Missouri Department of Conservation this spring confirmed 243 new cases of chronic wasting disease statewide from the 2024-2045 seasons. The total includes deer killed by hunters as well as those identified with CWD during targeted removal efforts. Those new cases bring the total number of CWD positives found in the state to 815 across 46 counties since the first positive CWD was identified in wild deer in 2012.
Shaw said he talked to members of law enforcement about the proposal and that he believes most hunters are ethical and abide by the laws, 'but my concern is we're opening the city up to it and how are we going to control it?'
Lawson favors it but prefers to make it available to those age 21 or older.
Copple asked Assistant Police Chief Brian Lewis if the department has seen near misses of vehicle crashes as deer numbers increase. Lewis said that within city limits, there are eight to 10 city crashes a year and that is not an increase.
Assistant City Attorney Andrea Knoblach said Jasper County reports 60 to 70 vehicle crashes a year with deer as well as incidents of damage to vegetation, gardens and transmission of diseases.
Copple asked about the penalty section. Knoblach said that is going to be standard of any violation ranging from a fine to incarceration. Lewis said it would be a misdemeanor and trespassing if they don't have property owner permission.
Cortez does not expect a lot of hunters, but rather people on edge of town might ask people to harvest deer.
Cortez added: 'If this gets off the rails, guess what we can do? We can shut her down.'
At the conclusion of the discussion, Copple made a motion to amend the council bill on the age requirement to stipulate minimum hunting age as 16 years old with a deer tag. Anyone under 16 must be accompanied by a licensed adult. That motion carried with six in favor. Shaw voted against it, and two council members, Doris Carlin and Josh DeTar, were absent.
Copple also made a motion to amend the ordinance to require that all who wish to participate in an urban hunt attend a hunter safety course. That motion passed with seven in favor and two absent.
Copple also made a motion to amend the ordinance that young hunters without hunter safety numbers because of their age be assigned a permit to attach to the arrows they shoot. That amendment also passed with seven votes.
Bard made a motion to allow the right of retrieval if a deer goes onto someone else's property after being shot. The council voted 5-2 in favor, with two absent.
The amended ordinance will require second and third readings.
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