Deer Options Enterprise

 

Lethal Strategy

 

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Township Renews Deer Cull Program With Little Opposition

 

Matthew Hersh

Princeton Township voted unanimously Monday night to stay the course on its seven-year deer-hunting program, awarding a $96,630 contract to the Connecticut-based firm, White Buffalo, to conduct sharp shooting and birth control programs on the Township's deer herd.

Separately, Committee also agreed to contract with the United Bow Hunters of New Jersey (UBNJ) to continue hunting on 290 acres of Township parkland.

Fourteen bow hunters were used to cull 15 deer in 2004 in the Autumn Hill Reservation, Fieldwood, Woodfield, and Stony Brook/Puritan Court areas of the Township, and while those numbers were considered disappointingly low by members of Township Committee, the state Fish and Game Council requires that a bow hunting program is included in municipal deer management.

Last year was a different story, however, when UBNJ produced no deer cull. "They never showed up last year," said Mark Johnson, Animal Control officer. "The Township had everything ready, we had all the caution signs in the parks, we had the contract signed, and they never got the ball rolling."

Mr. Johnson did say, however, that UBNJ has assured the Township that there would be a bow hunt, with safety sessions scheduled for as soon as this weekend.

For its part, White Buffalo has had a much higher yield, culling 1,400 deer since its first year with the township in the winter of 2000-01.

There are two phases to the culling program. The first phase involved administering booster shots to does that would preclude reproduction, with the second phase taking the form of the regular culling program, which begins in January. The contraceptive program will cost $43,600 with the remaining $53,030 financing the culling.

While the Township has been disappointed with the bow hunting yield, a financial advantage of deer culling by that means is that no municipal expense is involved, so each deer taken costs the Township fewer dollars.

Tom Poole, who chairs the Township's Deer Program Evaluation Committee, said approximately 125 deer would need to be killed this year to keep the Township's deer population at 20 per square mile.

Deputy Mayor Bernie Miller, absent for Monday's vote, has voted against the bow-hunting element in past years, worrying about the risk posed to Township residents. Those concerns have been repeatedly answered by other members of Committee who maintain that the bow hunters are professionally trained. Bow hunters are also restricted to working in tree stands during daylight hours.

While several animal rights groups and Township residents have fought the bolt gun methods employed by White Buffalo in its deer cull, groups like the New Jersey Audubon Society have endorsed statewide deer cull programs, correlating an increase in deer population with a diminished forest understory. Mr. Poole has cited decreases in Lyme disease, deer-related traffic accidents, and destruction to private property and farmlands as particular benefits of the cull program.

But the Mercer County Deer Alliance, an ardent opponent of the Township's program, has maintained that the deer population will rebound once culling measures are phased out. The group has also trained its eye on municipal development practices and land use rules, saying that a reduction of natural deer habitat has only increased human exposure to the deer population.