For the third straight year, DeForest will hire sharpshooters to kill about 50 deer in an effort to control the encroaching population.
"I think it 's been successful because we 've been able to lessen the density of deer out there, " said Patrick Vander Sanden, the village 's public works director. "It 's been a concern for the village in terms of safety and traveling. "
No date for the deer harvest has been set, but Vander Sanden said he hopes it will happen within the next two weeks.
Last year, sharpshooters using silenced weapons and firing from baited tree stands killed 45 deer. Hunters this year will focus on the same area along River and Windsor roads in the southwest corner of the village.
Vander Sanden said an unscientific count showed more than 100 deer in the area.
"We 've seen deer even coming into the northern part of the village, " he said.
New developments on what used to be cropland are limiting food sources for the deer, forcing them closer to homes where residents have reported deer damage to their yards, Vander Sanden said.
Another problem is the number of car-deer crashes in the village. Last year the village had 16 crashes, down from 19 in 2006 and 19 in 2005. There has been one car-deer crash this year.
"I would expect us to have to keep doing this for a little while longer, " Vander Sanden said of the harvest.
The sharpshooters charge $85 for each deer, and the village expects to spend $3,000 to $4,000 on the program.
Other area communities have relied on paid sharpshooters to clear areas overrun by deer. Sharpshooters in Portage killed 59 deer in December and January. Portage ran a similar program from 1999 to 2002, said Tim Raimer, manager of the city 's parks, recreation and forestry department.
Madison also has committed to a sharpshooting program at Cherokee Marsh this winter, said Jake Fries, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Natural Resources.
A similar program last year killed 75 deer, said Dick Grasmick, interim superintendent of Madison parks.
Tami Ryan, southeast region wildlife supervisor for the DNR, said more communities in the state are looking at some form of lethal deer removal.
"It 's a tool that 's kind of grown to be more and more applicable ... as urban communities are dealing with overabundant deer populations, " she said.
Source: http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/270877
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They shot 46 deer off of the ABS property last night. Unfortunately that was 4 less that we needed to get one of them (we were somewhere between 46 and 50 on the list of volunteer recipients). Ah well, there's always next year--those 46 deer barely put a dent in that area's population!
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