Deer Hunting regulations could be loosened

[WhiteFeather]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/21152739.html
Hunting regulations could be loosened

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners yesterday proposed allowing homeowner associations and nonprofit land-holding organizations the same opportunity as townships and boroughs to thin deer populations.

Game board spokesman Jerry Feaser said the regulatory change on supervised hunts would relieve some of the responsibility from municipalities.

"It provides a little more precise, focused, almost surgical way to alleviate the problem," Feaser said of efforts to cull deer in developed communities.

The regulatory change would enable the two entities to apply for a Deer Control Permit, which would allow them to remove deer by shooting outside of the regular hunting seasons. The permit mandates that a "community approved deer management system" be put in place.

Such supervised hunts, like the seven to take place in Chester County's East Goshen Township from Sept. 20 to Jan. 24, are heavily patrolled, and they allow only registered hunters.

The game board will vote on the proposal at its Oct. 24 meeting.

Deer populations benefit in the "edge environment" created by developed suburban areas, according to a deer management guide, and can increase rapidly if not "actively managed."

They can also cause problems such as increased deer-vehicle collisions, damage to gardening and landscaping, and exposure to Lyme disease, which is transmitted by deer ticks.

[P89]

They did this in Fox Chapel, have to use a bow though.
Up here the have a special peninsula hunt but firearms are permitted, they close the park to visitors.

[God's Country]

Works for me. It makes no sense to "thin the herd" where most people hunt and watch the herds grow where most people live.