Kane County can't limit hunting

The Kane County Board cannot pass a proposed law that would restrict hunting in unincorporated areas, the board's attorney wrote this week in a letter to officials who sought his opinion on the matter.

The issue came up at last month's meeting of the board's judicial/public safety committee. St. Charles City Administrator Brian Townsend asked county officials to consider enacting restrictions in response to residents' complaints about duck hunters in unincorporated St. Charles Township just outside the city limits.

Committee members discussed a proposal that would outlaw shooting a gun within 300 yards of at least three homes or municipal limits. County board attorney Ken Shepro advised board members that such an ordinance could be illegal because under the Illinois Wildlife Code, the state is granted exclusive jurisdiction regarding hunting regulation.

"What this means is that the state has pre-empted all local regulation," Shepro wrote. "If the state has exclusive powers to regulate hunting of wildlife, then the county cannot override those powers."

The state code prohibits hunters using a shotgun and dog from coming within 100 yards of a residence.

Officials from the Dundee Township-based Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation fought the county proposal. In a letter to county board member John Noverini, foundation president and CEO Charles Potter Jr. called the draft ordinance "an attempt to supersede state law and eliminate hunting from much of Kane County."

No reported injuries or serious property damage have resulted from duck hunters in St. Charles Township, Townsend said, but St. Charles residents have complained about hearing loud noises and finding shot pellets on their property.