By The Archery Wire

Following a year of study, hearings and revisions to ordinance amendments, the Farmington Hills (Mich.) City Council has placed specific restrictions on the shooting of bows, effectively side-stepping the state Department of Natural Resources by banning bowhunting in the city.

The action came on Sept. 10, in a 6-0 council vote, with one councilman absent.

The move behind the controversial ordinance began more than a year ago, when some citizens complained to the city council that they had seen wounded deer with arrows protruding from them.

The council responded by drafting a measure that added restrictions to the city's existing firearms ordinance, wording it in such a way to prohibit bowhunting in the city limits-limiting archers to shooting only "non-moving, artificial targets."

In Michigan, only the Department of Natural Resources may set hunting seasons.

According to the Suburban Detroit Observer newspaper, the ordinance adopted by the Farmington Hills Council last week prohibits the discharge of bows in the city limits, with the following exceptions:

- Bow target practice at a non-approved range, but only if the person is the owner of the property; or has written permission from the property owner.
- When target shooting, it's unlawful to shoot across a roadway; and unlawful for a projectile to leave the property.
- No razor-tip arrows may be used in target practice.
- The target must be a nonmoving, artificial target.

Councilman Randy Bruce, who brought the issue to the council a year ago, said the ordinance revision was intended to make things more difficult for bowhunters in Farmington Hills.

"Before this ordinance, you could shoot a bow and arrow anywhere in the city," he told the newspaper. "This actually increases the restrictions. Since we can't ban hunting in the city, we can only restrict the use of firearms, which we did by adding bows and arrows."

The 2012 Michigan bowhunting season in Michigan begins Oct. 1.