John Westbury said that when the deer hunting season begins at dawn on Saturday, he'll be paying much closer attention to the pop of guns going off near the rural town of Dunn neighborhood where he lives.

And he'll be more nervous this year every time he hears a discharge.

Westbury's jumpiness comes from a change in hunting regulations that he and others fear may pose a greater risk of hunting accidents this fall, especially accidents involving non-hunters. Under the change, the state Department of Natural Resources is allowing hunters in the chronic wasting disease management zone to use rifles as well as shotguns. The problem, according to critics such as Westbury, is that a bullet from a rifle, while accurate at 500 yards, can travel a mile or more beyond the target if the hunter misses. A slug from a shotgun on the other hand has a range of only 100 to 150 yards, according to Tim Lawhern, the DNR's hunter education administrator.

Hunting safety officials with the DNR say studies show no difference between rifles and shotguns when it comes to accidental shootings.

The CWD management zone, where the DNR has additional regulations to control the spread of the fatal deer brain disease, includes all or part of nearly 20 counties. It stretches from portions of Vernon County in the northwest to Kenosha County in the southeast. Rifles will be allowed this year in all of Rock, Walworth, Jefferson, Green and Lafayette counties. They will also be legal in southern Dodge, eastern Dane, southern Waukesha, western Racine and western Kenosha counties.

Rifles are not allowed in hunting zone 76M, which is the metro hunting zone that surrounds Madison, roughly from Highway P to the west to Highway AB east of the city and from Highway 19 in the north to highways 69 and CC south.

Early and late seasons as well as more permits for landowners and others are among the tools used by the DNR to encourage more hunting in the CWD management zones. This season, based on a recommendation from a committee that studied CWD regulations, the agency also added rifle hunting to its list of control measures.

Enough complaints have been raised in some areas that a few town boards have passed or updated ordinances that ban the use of rifles. Among these are the towns of Verona, Rutland, and Dunkirk.

Though such an ordinance was discussed in the town of Dunn, it was not adopted, Westbury said.

The problem, according to Westbury and other critics, is that bullets from rifles can easily travel a mile or more, as opposed to shotgun slugs, which carry 100 to 150 yards. In his town of Dunn neighborhood, Westbury said, 10 homes are immediately adjacent to a popular 80-acre hunting area. So he's worried about what might happen during the upcoming season, which runs through Nov. 30.

"In the past, I've been out raking leaves when deer come running right through the neighborhood while guys are shooting at them," Westbury said. "In this community and with the houses around here, there are pets and people riding their bikes."

Westbury's concern is not only that rifle bullets travel greater distances but that hunters will be tempted to take shots at deer that are too far away. And the greater the distance, he added, the greater the chance that they won't have a clear view of what is behind their target.

"I have a 6-year old son and I'm not going to let him outside,'' Westbury said.

At a hearing on the issue in the town of Dunn, resident Dana Doskocil said playground equipment for his children in his backyard was pitted with pellets from a shotgun shell two years ago during hunting season.

Officials with the DNR said regulations against rifles in CWD zones were eased to give hunters more options and to increase the number of hunters in the field, thereby boosting the number of deer killed. They said rifles pose no greater safety risk than shotguns.

Lawhern, the DNR's hunter education administrator, said most hunters shoot from tree blinds and because they are aiming their rifles down toward a deer, the distance the rifle bullet might carry is limited. Even if a hunter is on the ground, it is unlikely that the rifle will be aimed in a way that causes the bullet to carry a long distance.

"To get a rifle to do that," Lawhern said, "you'd have to angle it about 30 degrees above the horizon."

Lawhern added that a computer study of hunters in Pennsylvania found accident rates for hunters using rifles were about the same as for hunters using shotguns.

Others agree that rifles pose no more danger. Gary Brock, with Sauk Prairie Gunsmiths, said the type of gun being used to hunt makes little difference when it comes to safety. The real issue, he said, is whether the hunter follows safe hunting rules, such as being sure what is behind your target before you pull the trigger.

"If they do everything they were taught in hunting safety classes, they should be OK," Brock said.

Berlin Sornsen, a hunting safety instructor with the Stoughton Conservation Club, said he doesn't think the use of rifles will be a problem because most hunters will choose to continue using shotguns. He added that hunters kill most deer within 100 yards and that, even with rifles, hunters are not likely to shoot if the deer is beyond that range.

Westbury said his concern, however, is with the few hunters who might not be responsible. He cited a frightening experience of his own last November when he was motoring out in his boat to fish off Fish Camp Landing on Lake Kegonsa. As he was leaving the landing area, he noticed duck decoys and suddenly his boat was being sprayed with shotgun pellets.

"They were hitting my boat and denting it and chipping the paint," Westbury said. He added that he dove into the bottom of his boat and dialed 911 on his cell phone. When a sheriff's deputy arrived, Westbury said, the duck hunters apologized and said they hadn't seen him. They were eventually charged with discharging a firearm in a park.

"It just takes one irresponsible person," Westbury said.

CLICK HERE For more information on the 2008 deer hunt, including regulations and tips on where to hunt.