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= nform~+ion ~-I-erv~ <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Board of County Commissioners <br />Frank W. Clifton, County Manager <br />FROM: Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager <br />SUBJECT: Hunters "Dogging Deer" <br />DATE: November 5, 2009 <br />This memorandum is an information update on staff efforts in response to <br />complaints from two (2) citizens during the fall/winter 2008-09 concerning hunters <br />who use dogs to hunt deer in the unincorporated areas of the County. <br />Complaints centered upon deer hunters who: <br />• Lived outside the County but leased hunting land in the County <br />• Allowed their dogs to run through adjacent private properties and follow <br />behind them, trespassing and disrespecting the property rights of others <br />• Used GPS collars on the dogs, further luring the hunter across private un- <br />leased property <br />In February 2009, the County Manager's Office convened a meeting that <br />included representatives from the NC Wildlife Resource Commission (WRC), the <br />Sheriffs Department, Animal Services, Planning, Legal, and County <br />Management. Major points of discussion were: <br />• History, custom and tradition -Orange County is roughly divided in half - <br />south of I-40 hunting dogs with deer is prohibited. This line was drawn in <br />the late `40s through State legislative action. In 1979 Alamance County <br />received legislative permission to prohibit dogging deer; Durham County <br />received the same in 2001. <br />• Protecting personal property and public safety -for property owners, <br />neighborhoods, hunters. and the dogs <br />• "Due Process" -hunters who dog deer and the landowners who lease or <br />allow their land to be used to hunt deer should be included in future dialog <br />• Legislative Approval would be required to further restrict hunting in Orange <br />County -stakeholders would have to be informed and public meetings <br />organized as prologue to any request by the BOCC for state authority <br />When the BOCC Legislative Agenda Committee met in the spring 2009 to <br />consider its recommendations to the full BOCC and State delegation for <br />consideration in the summer of 2009, the issue of bringing forth a request to <br />