A Sad Weekend in the Woods: Joplin Hunting Disrupts a Shared Space

 

Over the weekend, gunshots rang out in the night across the 29-acre wooded corridor many of us walk daily. By morning, we found hunter blinds, game cameras, and deer attractant. The soil showed fresh deer prints. We called the police.

Camo hunter blind tent found after shots were heard at night


The responding officer himself the hunter confirmed he had permission to hunt there. He said people had been confronting him, telling him he shouldn’t be hunting in a space used by families, dog walkers, ATV riders, and even homeless individuals. But he did not stop.

This raises serious concerns. There are no posted “No Trespassing” signs. The property owner lives elsewhere and may not know how many people use this land daily. Hunting in such a heavily trafficked area is a liability, plain and simple.

4-point buck Joplin urban hunting


Just last week, I watched seven deer. This week, they’re gone. I believe the shots we heard, the blinds we found, and the attractant placed were part of a harvest that wiped out the entire herd of late season fawn doe and one first season buck. 

I told the officer that they were lactating doe and her fawn, he looked at me and said “I don’t normally take doe but I needed the meat” He also said there was three-legged buck that he didn’t get but planned on getting. 

Late season fawn born Autust with Doe, Hunters in Joplin harvest no age restriction in urban hunt


I knew the buck; everyone knows of the buck he has been surviving for over 5 years with three legs. In the winter this buck is majestic, the herd protected him and now he is being hunted by an officer in the police department with landowner permission.

Legally, he’s within his rights. The urban hunting ordinance doesn’t list age restrictions. But that doesn’t make it right.

The hunter may have had permission, but he did not belong in a space that has become a haven for wildlife and a peaceful retreat for the community. The property owner once said there was “plenty of wildlife to watch.” I wonder if he knows that wildlife is now gone.

This isn’t just about deer. It’s about safety, respect, and the kind of place we want Joplin to be. We ask city officials, landowners, and law enforcement to reconsider what urban hunting looks like in shared spaces and to listen to those of us who walk the woods not with weapons, but with care.