Wyo. Game and Fish suggests hunting to control urban deer

| Saturday, November 25, 2006

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

SUNDANCE, Wyo. (AP) -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is recommending hunting to help control growing urban deer populations.

Joe Sandrini, a Game and Fish wildlife biologist, said the problem of urban deer has worsened in recent years. "We've spoken with city councils in Newcastle, Sundance and Pine Haven. We tell them, 'It's not just your problem,"' he said.

Wildlife biologists often suggest -- for a start -- that towns ban wildlife feeding.

But Sandrini noted that more people are building more homes in wildlife habitat. Those well-groomed yards are often the greenest parts of the landscape.

To get rid of deer, Sandrini suggests hunting. He said moving the deer is often expensive and ineffective.

Rapid City, S.D., has had a successful, if controversial, urban hunting program.

"I don't think anybody wants to eliminate deer completely," said Lon Van Deusen, Rapid City’s parks manager. "The controversy here is: What is a manageable deer herd? I think it just depends on what the people population tolerates."

He said people used to call and complain about having 20 or 30 deer in their back yard. Since hunting began, the biggest complaints involve 12 or 15 deer in a back yard.

Rapid City hired sharpshooters to kill 300 deer last year. The deer were field-dressed and given away on a first-come, first-served basis.

Van Deusen said the city used to have the carcasses processed into hamburger for local food banks and soup kitchens, but that has since been deemed too expensive.

He said the sharpshooters choose their locations and work with landowners to keep people safe. He also said the deer are used to people and that hunters can get fairly close shots.