*Corcoran, Minnesota
Hunt Location: Wherever you can get landowner permission and safety allows Species: Pheasants, waterfowl, whitetails
Dates: Vary Special Regs: Must hunt deer from a stand at least 6 feet high. This is one of the few cities where hunters can use high-powered rifles with landowner permission and a special permit from the police chief. Note: "I've seen some nice-looking bucks lately," says Chief Paul Schutte, a deer hunter.
Urban archery deer hunts have received attention by the outdoor press as a great way to hunt near home and reduce potential conflicts between people and animals. But if you'd rather hunt with a gun or chase something other than deer, there are a number of other urban opportunities as well. You just have to know where to look.
"Deer, pheasants, ducks, Canada geese, you bet," says Paul Schutte, ticking off the huntable species in Corcoran, Minn., a small city within sight of the Twin Cities that has always allowed gun hunting. Schutte, a hunter who happens to be the town's chief of police,
however, did have to push for changes to hunting regulations a few years ago.
"The changes had to be made, to ensure that growing safety issues were addressed," he says. Those included some close calls during deer drives. In response, the Corcoran City Council made deer hunting with firearms legal only from elevated stands.
"I told the hunters, it's either that or you won't have hunting at all," Schutte says.
"It's worked."
In Washington, Ga., officials recently waived the ordinance against discharging firearms to allow squirrel hunting within city limits, where gray squirrels are wreaking havoc. "They're damaging power lines, blowing up transformers and getting into attics," says Washington Chief of Police Mike Davis, who had issued 15 in-city squirrel-hunting permits by the end of October.
"A lot of the people in Washington have hunted and been outdoors folks all their lives," Chief Davis says. "They know all about gun safety, though we still give them a talk about it when they get their permits."
Below are some prime towns where hunting is part of people's everyday lives.
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