The owner of a Colorado hunting outfitter is in hot water after reports emerged about a pair of incidents last month in which he has been accused of harassing and firing shots at neighboring hunters.
Jim Arnold, 38, the owner of Waterfowl Haven Outfitters has been charged this week with two counts of felony menacing stemming from the incidents that took place on April 22 and April 23 of this year.
According to reports, Arnold fired his gun and shouted racial slurs to turkey hunters on a neighboring property after tensions between the two parties had risen over time. After purchasing the property next to Arnold’s a few years prior, Kevin Dunnigan often allowed Arnold to use the property for his guiding business.
When the Dunnigan’s began to use the property for turkey hunting, the report states that the relationship immediately deteriorated. As time went on, Arnold began to harass the Dunnigans and their friends while they were hunting and on April 22, Arnold took the harassment to another level.
That day, two family friends of the Dunnigans were hunting turkeys on the property when they noticed Arnold’s truck roll up on the property line. According to reports, Arnold was surveying the hunters from the vehicle using binoculars, prompting them to record the encounter.
They captured the 38-year-old firing a round into the air, spooking a group of roosting turkeys before reloading his shotgun and cursing at the hunters.
“All day,” he yelled, according to the affidavit. “All (expletive) day. A bunch of (derogatory slur) hunting on the fence, just like (expletive) (derogatory slur).”
The accused began to fire shots in the vicinity of the tent the neighbors were hunting from while pacing the property line for the next two hours. It was not until Arnold disappeared into a wooded area before the trapped hunters could make their escape.
The incidents were immediately reported to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers who arrested Arnold the following week.
