You don't need to conduct a census of the deer population to verify the INFESTATION. Disease, property damage, and motor vehicle accidents are some of the serious and expensive problems caused by the ever increasing village herd. Just take a look at everyone's shrubs. All of mine are destroyed due to them being the only edible thing above the snow cover. My neighbor got so fed up that he put out plastic flowers...which the deer promptly ate. Over population is unhealthy for the deer as well. Disease spreads among the herd and there is not enough food to go around causing the animals to be weak and sickly. A properly managed, controlled bow hunt is an excellent idea.

After listening to many views about a bow hunt in the village I keep coming back to the same place. The deer population is predicated on their attraction to the Village for various reasons that do not change with this bow hunting plan. The plan simply implies that killing enough deer will end the problem, it won?t. Even if all the deer were killed more deer will be attracted and keep coming in, so constant bow hunting will be needed. That means the hunt will never end and along with the hunt the liability to the Village as Scott Mathews outlined will never end and sooner or later come to fruition. In other words, you will not solve the problem, but could create a financial black hole. From at least a practical and financial point of view this bow hunt plan will solve nothing and has the potential over time to create a financial and public relations nightmare.

now you're baiting...

all this talk is making me hungry. why not have a chili-fest after the bow hunt. it would create interest in the town and village.

Tom D. Nobody has implied that a bow hunt would end the problem. Words such as manage and control have been used. If left unchecked, the population of this herd will double within the next five years. Have you noticed how many fawns there have been over the last several years?

That the hunt may have to be a continuing effort is not adequate reason to dismiss it, in my view. To the contrary, I believe it underscores the severity of the problem and the growing urgency of addressing it.

Our grass grows, and we repeatedly cut it. Every form of nature management exercise is about finding balance between growth and harvest. In this instance, most recognize that the harvest which the deer are taking from the forest is causing damage which may be irreversible. As stewards of that forest, we need to harvest deer until a healthy balance is restored, and then pay attention to maintaining that balance.

To the extent that state and/or local regulations impede that effort, appropriate appeals to those authorities are among the purposes of the task force's work.