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Resident urges Gates County to limit deer hunting with dogs after dogs entered yard
Summary
A Gates County resident described dogs running from a nearby swamp toward her livestock and urged the board to consider targeted restrictions on hunting with dogs — including minimum‑acreage requirements, bans on roadside hunting activity, and rules requiring hunters to actively follow their dogs.
Kelly Turner, a Gates County resident, used the three‑minute public comment period to ask the board to revisit county rules on deer hunting with dogs after a recent incident near her property.
Turner said seven to eight hunting trucks parked along Highway 37 while hunters waited for packs to push deer out of a swamp behind her home and that a pack of dogs entered her goat and chicken pens. She told the board she does not seek a ban on dog hunting but seeks "a thoughtful, modern restriction that reflects how our county has changed," proposing measures such as requiring a minimum contiguous acreage (for example, 500 acres), prohibiting hunting activity and roadside parking on public roadways and requiring hunters to actively follow their dogs or restrict retrieval to permissioned property.
"These type of restrictions are not anti hunting. They're pro safety, pro property rights, and pro community," Turner said and offered to sit with the board or a working group to help craft changes. She said outreach to long‑term and newer residents showed broad concern and a desire for change.
The board did not take action on the request during the meeting; commissioners thanked Turner for bringing the issue forward. Turner’s account and suggested ordinance language were presented as public comment and were not adjudicated or verified during the meeting.
