INDIANAPOLIS -- Residents in one of central Indiana's most affluent neighborhoods are angered with hunters who have illegally opened fire on Geist Reservoir.

Large numbers of ducks and geese at Geist also serve to put people and property in the crosshairs, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Gunshots are heard beginning before the crack of dawn for about 10 weeks out of the year, when sport and safety clash in the back yards of Geist homes.

"The hunting gets really bad over there. People have had their houses chipped -- the brick and things -- with that bullet," said resident Julie Bates. "So that comes really close."

Hunting is still legal in Hamilton County, but the Indianapolis City-County Council passed an ordinance putting the reservoir south of 96th Street off limits to hunters. For now, the law goes largely unenforced.

"I think they're just ignoring it because they're just a good old boy hunter's network," said resident Ellen Garey. "They just choose to turn their back on it."

Before the Indianapolis Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Department merged, enforcement of the hunting ban was the responsibility of the sheriff's department.

The Indianapolis Metro Police Department has no watercraft to interdict illegal hunters and state conservation officers have limited authority on the reservoir.

"Conservation officers can only enforce the state laws and federal laws," said David Loyd, of Geist Patrol. "Unfortunately, it's a county ordinance that only IMPD and local law enforcement can enforce."

Enforcement is also an issue because police would have to launch from the far northern part of the reservoir, well into Hamilton County.

"It's very upsetting for the people who fought three, four, five years to get this stopped," said City-County Councilor Ginny Cain. "Their homes are right on the water. The shot does hit their homes."

Geist residents are working to help IMPD purchase a boat. Hunting season ends of Jan. 31.