Weekend Hunting: Tradition, Recreation

What to do about weekend hunting? A citizens group recently asked the East Hampton Town Board to ban shooting on town properties on either Saturdays or Sundays over concerns about safety and noise. Also implied, if not stated outright, is the group’s general opposition to hunting, which it has made clear on other occasions: There is no way the town board is going that far at this time.

Weekend hunting had been prohibited for a long time. New York State allowed it again about four years ago, and the town followed. Though only a small portion of the population hunts, it seemed unfair to force them to take off from work to do so while every other form of recreation we can think of is allowed seven days a week.

The wrinkle on the South Fork is that a significant portion of the taxpaying population is here only on weekends. Some among them believe that they have a right to feel safe on public lands and free of the sound of gunfire. Wrapped within the issue of weekend hunting is the question of whose interests town officials should consider — the year-rounders, a few of whom might hunt, or part-timers, who keep the local economy humming and are less interested in shooting sports.

Rather than limiting hunting in East Hampton to one weekend day on town lands, an alternative could be crafted to accommodate both sides. In our vision, hunting would be allowed annually on a rotating basis, setting certain locations aside for weekend gunning, and then letting them lie fallow, so to speak, the following year. The state and county, which own huge tracts here where hunting is allowed, might be asked to do the same.

Because the tick-borne disease epidemic has made woodland walks less appealing most of the year, more people, hunters and hikers alike, are now competing for space during the cold months when the blood- thirsty pests are less active. Finding a way to provide for both should be possible.