According to Dr. Bill Schuster of Blackrock Forest there are 26 deer per square mile in the forest. The Village is 2 ? square miles, that would be 65 deer in the whole Village if the count is the same as the forest. 65 deer is based on the scientific method used by Dr. Schuster, 300 deer is just an outlandish guess predicated on the desire to have a hunt.
It?s my understanding the reason the State schedules the gun session after the bow season is to remove all those deer that are walking around with arrows sticking out them. I wonder if the average village resident is ready for that site. In addition, deer very rarely die immediately when stabbed with an arrow, they usually go a distance as they bleed to death. Again, I wonder how residents will react to a deer bleeding to death in their back yard.
Being shot and killed immediately is one thing, being stabbed with an arrow and over time bleed to death is quite different and much more horrific.
Is there really a big urgent problem, and if yes, among all the possible solutions is this the proper one?

There has to be more than 65 deer in the village. There are 65 on Mountain Road alone!

forget about sheep==all we seem to be doing of late isi counting deer.

I agree with Dr. Schuster, I live in the woods and if you could see the deer at hunting season that walk thru my yard with half an arrow sticking out of its side or one that falls over in our yard and dies there due to not being killed instantly. it is a shame that WE are taking over THEIR territory by putting all these houses up and yet we feel we have a deer problem. Shame on all of us.

We have lived on Mountain Road for 20+ years and have no doubt that there are way too many deer and far more than 65 in the village. We therefore endorse appropriate deer management. However, if there is a legitimate dispute over the number of deer, perhaps a good first start would be to commission a more scientific study and go from there. If that study concludes that there is significant overpopulation, then appropriate action should be taken for the benefit of a healthy, sustainable deer population as well as our forests.

It appears to me that what we have here are some frustrated deer hunters. My guess is they go in the woods during hunting season looking for that 8 point buck but never see them. It's on their way home that they see one standing in someones front yard where they can't shoot them.
My feeling is still that the real problem lays with the clearing of the forest by greedy developers. I believe that before a developer can clear land to start building a environmental impact assessment has to be presented to the planning board. Maybe this assessment should include the number of deer that will be forced to find another place to live.

65 deer in the entire Village is a nonsensically low number. But no matter; the question is what the effects of the deer are. Life isn't a Disney movie; if the long-term deforestation potential is real and the public health effects, both in the form of disease source and vehicular hazard withstand fair scrutiny, something's got to be done.

It is, however, encouraging to know we have so many vegetarians in our village, you know, the people who think an animal shouldn't be killed because it lives nearby. That'll help us in the long run, since meat consumption is so environmentally inefficient. But this meat is here, it's free and, if we don't eat it, the burgeoning coyote population eventually will.

You have seen less deer because they are all squashed on the road... My husband has rarely left a deer with an arrow sticking out of it. He is an excellent shot, generally dropping his deer on the spot if not within a couple hundred yards. And he is a courteous, considerate hunter. We eat every deer he takes. It is food on our table and we share it with others. The gun season comes after bow season because the real hunters use a bow. (The deer get 'spooked' as they become aware of the gunfire.) Hunting is a serious skill. The random idiots that you see shooting at deer in your yard are the few that DO NOT represent the responsible hunters. The basis for this argument is ideology. I believe that we are the stewards of our earth and animals and plants are a resource to be tended in a humane and conscientious manner. Letting the deer starve themselves out because you are too squeamish to butcher one, and then going to buy ground up cow wrapped in plastic from god knows what source is an invalid argument. And, if you are vegetarian, good for you. The industrial meat corporations are a disgrace. All the more reason to harvest meat locally. I guarantee that the venison we eat has no ground up cows, antibiotics, growth hormones, or additives in it. How the heck do you think the founding fathers and pioneers ate? Hannafords? Puh-leeze. My husband and son would be happy to help preserve your expensive ornamental bushes and protect your precious harvest from the deer. REAL hunters have a knowledge and appreciation for the delicate balance of wildlife and environment. It is the people who get all teary at the personified Disney deer that have it wrong.

Wow! Thanks for the in-depth information. My question - who the heck is feeding the deer? It is illegal, it's called baiting. Not not you need it from me COHab, but, kudos to you. not many people are willing to put the time and effort in to learning about their place in the environment. Thanks again

The 50 deer per year is a projected target number, which is a part of a deer management project for Cornwall-on-Hudson. The DEC will issue an unlimited number of Nuisance Permits to the village to be issued to hunters who are a part of this carefully controlled program. The hunters will work as a team, and carefully track down any wounded deer. This is not connected to the regular deer hunting season and regular deer hunters.