Eureka Expanding Bow Hunting on Six Flags Property

The Eureka Board of Alderman is expanding bow hunting on the Six Flags St. Louis property, granting 10 permits to the theme park’s employees at a meeting Tuesday night. 

The permits come with several restrictions, and Mayor Kevin Coffey pointed out prior to the board’s vote that the 500-acre Six Flags property includes about 300 acres that are vacant and generally not accessible to the public. 

Any hunting would be done “quite some distance” from any offices or customer areas, Coffey said, adding that there is “no conceivable way” the activity would present a danger to the public. 

Hunting in the area isn’t without precedent. An employee who received a permit at a previous meeting said restrictions on the activity had been in place for the last five years, but rising deer populations are now creating a problem. 

Park President Dave Roemer was at the meeting and told the alderman that no hunting would be allowed any time the park is operational. 

Other safety measures will include limiting the number of hunters on the park’s property at any time to eight, spread out across different zones. 

“They will have to check in with security so we know were they are,” he said. 

The deer season for bow hunters runs from Sept. 15-Nov. 15 and again from Nov. 27, 2013-Jan. 15, 2014, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.