WALKERVILLE – Recreational shooting in the fields around the town of Walkerville just north of Butte may soon be a thing of the past.
“Years ago when I was a kid, you could just walk out behind my house over one hill and you could hunt rabbits, because basically there may have been one or two ranches out there,” said Walkerville Mayor John Ries.
Now, the rural area of north of Daily Street is quickly developing and Butte-Silver Bow’s Council of Commissioners is including the area in a shooting ban. Butte has recently ended shooting behind Big Butte west of town and is including Walkerville out of concern of stray bullets hitting homes in the area.
“Over the years, I think they’ve gotten reports of people shooting in more residential areas now than had ever been there before,” said Ries.
And while safety has been the primary concern, since there’s been so much development in this area north of Walkerville, still the mayor acknowledges that many people are not happy to see their traditional way of life change.
“I see actually both sides of the issue, I see the side of the people with the safety issue and worrying about their houses being shot at and the possibility of somebody being struck by a stray bullet, but on the other hand I see the side of the people that bought property specifically to be able to go out there and have enough property to go hunt on,” said Ries.
The council will consider making extending the shooting band boundary over the next few weeks.
