ESCANABA — A Rock man given a delayed sentencing for fatally shooting his neighbor’s dog asked that terms of that arangement be modified to allow him to bow hunt.

David Ralph Hayes, 66, of 3474 St. Nicholas 31st Road, was charged with killing/torturing — third degree, but 47th Circuit Court Judge John Economopoulos on Oct. 21 delayed sentencing for the next 12 months.

The charge stemmed from an incident that occurred on March 1 when Hayes shot a mastiff/shar pei mix named “Buddy,” owned by Garren Heller, in the abdomen with a .22 LR caliber bullet fired from a scoped Winchester Model 190 semi-automatic rifle.

Hayes told police he believed he was shooting at the dog with a BB gun and intended to scare it away because his purebred dog was in heat.

After being shot, the dog returned to Heller’s residence, where he lived with Diana Lapine. The owners took the dog to a veterinarian, where he had to be euthanized as a result of his injuries.

One condition Hayes’ delay in sentencing is he could not use any object as a weapon.

After the October sentencing, Hayes spoke with his attorney, Trent Stupak, about amending the sentence to allow him to bow hunt on his property.

Stupak called Hayes to the witness stand and asked where he would hunt, what he would hunt with, and how he would store the weapon.

Hayes said he wanted to use his recurve and compound bows within his 200-acre property but did not plan to travel to hunt. He also said he had a secure vault to store the bows.

“I think the limited request is reasonable in these circumstances. As the Court recalls from his sentencing on October 21st, he doesn’t have any previous violations of the law involving weapons,” Stupak said.

He added that Hayes has not violated any condition of his bond and has removed all firearms from his possession.

The prosecution argued against the modification, saying the underlying offense involved the use of a weapon on Hayes’ property.

Prosecutor Beth Wickwire argued that allowing Hayes to use a bow after his offense committed with a firearm would be akin to an individual on the delay of sentence due to a substance charge being allowed to consume alcohol.

“The victims do oppose this request. They’re not here today but they have communicated with our office that they do oppose this request,” Wickwire said.

She added that from the prosecution’s perspective, not allowing Hayes to go bow hunting is a small sacrifice.

A representative from the Michigan Department of Corrections was present and agreed with Wickwire that the request should be denied.

Economopoulos recognized that the defense’s motion was not a big ask; however, it does not fall within the scope of modifying the provisions.

“So, while the request is not something that is tailored specifically to the wrong that he did, in a sense that you didn’t use a bow and arrow to do what you did. It doesn’t hit that close to home. It is certainly within the ZIP code of areas of concern when it comes to your conduct and your behavior that brings you to the jurisdiction of this Court. So, for that reason, the request will be denied,” Economopoulos said.

After the decision, Stupak wanted to clarify that Hayes could allow family members to hunt on his property if they kept their weapons locked in their vehicles.

The prosecution opposed this as part of his delay, which is that he is not allowed to have a weapon within his area of control.

Stupak said he believes the request is reasonable as long as they are stored properly.

Economopoulos wrestled with the area of control aspect, ultimately saying that a member of the family hunting on Hayes’ property puts the weapon in the area of control for Hayes.

“If we have a careless hunter who leaves a weapon unattended, for whatever reason, and that would be in his area of control,” Economopoulos said.

“For that reason, I’m still going to deny the request.”