RAPID CITY - Sharpshooters have killed 800 deer in Rapid City since the city council resumed its deer-kill program in 2004.

And though the state Game, Fish & Parks annual survey of city deer indicates a drop in numbers, the city council is considering applying for 300 licenses again this year.

Jerry Cole, parks and recreation director, said the annual GF&P deer population survey Oct. 15-17 showed the city's deer population dropped by about 200 compared to the 2006 survey, but the herd still needs culling.

A total of 317 deer were counted on three travel routes in the city last month: 132 on the northern route, 109 on the central and 76 on the southern. In 2006, 514 were counted overall, including 234 in the north, 133 central and 147 southern.

"I think after this year, we're going to try to keep a maintenance number of licenses if the numbers show we're continuing to hold steady or go down," Cole said.

The GF&P survey does not indicate the total size of the deer herd, only the number counted during the survey. The city really doesn't know how many deer stay year-round and how many wander in and out throughout the year.

"We're averaging about 105 deer per survey area, so a little over 300 in three areas is still above where we need to be. We would like to see that number in the next survey get under 100 deer per area on average," Cole said.

Cole said an ongoing maintenance program is necessary to avoid a rebound in population, something the city experienced after 2002.

The 1995 survey showed 431 deer, a number that dropped to 188 by 1999. But the population rebounded after the city stopped its program and grew to 337 in 2002, 403 in 2003 and 478 by 2005.

The city spent nearly $108,000 between 1996 and 2002 to kill 878 deer during its last program. Since restarting the program, the city has spent about $20,000 each year.

Alderman Ron Kroeger is skeptical about the annual deer count.

"Yeah, they try to hold them at the same time every year, but you can drive through Rapid City one day and not see squat, and the next day, you drive through and they're all over," he said. "So if you pick a day that they all happen to be out, the numbers are going to be up."

Kroeger has long had "heartburn" with the program and believes there are alternatives.

"Going out and baiting deer and shooting them is not classified as a hunt," he said.

Kroeger suggested something along the lines of an archery season that would allow people to kill deer in the city limits using bows.

The city still has not developed a long-term deer management plan, something that was recommended last year by the deer task force before it was disbanded and absorbed into a new urban-wildlife committee.

The task force recommended hiring a consultant to create a plan that would set a maximum acceptable number for the deer population and list options for maintaining the herd at that level.

The plan could include an in-depth census of deer and migration patterns; nonlethal management alternatives such as birth control, road barriers and cautionary signs; education and marketing to citizens on control methods; and costs associated with each method.

The urban wildlife committee, formed in January, requested funds from the city for a management plan, but no money was included for it next year's budget.

Alderwoman Karen Gundersen Olson hopes the council agrees to fund the plan next year when preparing the 2009 budget because it could answer some questions about actual deer numbers.

"One of the things the study would do is add a little more scientific data," she said. "It would also study the increasing duck and increasing goose populations in the city, and some places in the city limits even have increasing prairie dog populations."

The city council will consider applying for the licenses during Monday's regular meeting.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com