Bow hunting within city limits a possible solution
Jeff Ventrella
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: News
Hillsdale City Manager Michael Mitchell suggested that the city allow private hunters to kill deer within city limits during regular archery season, as a means of lowering the deer population, during a city council meeting in December.
Mitchell said the City Planning Commission is now considering adding an amendment to a city ordinance that forbids the discharge of weapons, including bows, within the city limits.
Hillsdale Director of Public Safety Christopher Gutowski stated the city is not looking for any substantial change in city regulations.
Mitchell said the city wants to accomplish this with as little regulation modification as possible. He said only licensed bow hunters would be allowed to hunt deer, and only then during regular Michigan archery season as mandated by the Department of Natural Resources.
Gutowski said as long as public safety is accounted for, he would welcome the amendment as long as qualifications are checked.
Dave Tefft, owner Litchfield Outdoors sporting goods, shared Gutowski's sentiments, but also acknowledged there is no solution that will gain universal consensus.
"It's about tough calls," he said. "You're not going to satisfy all the people, some are attached to the deer."
Both Mitchell and Gutowski said some locals unofficially adopted deer as pets in the past by them. But this backfired as more deer - sometimes as many as 40 - started showing up and eating everything in sight from garden vegetables to shrubs and tree foliage.
"It was amazing how the deer population flooded into here," Tefft said.
Mitchell described the phenomenon differently.
"It's not interesting anymore, it's a nuisance," he said.
Tefft said he believes bow hunting is an efficient and simple solution to this nuisance.
He said it would help stimulate the local economy by giving people the opportunity to save money by shooting deer for meat. He added that similar programs in state parks on the outskirts of Detroit have worked well.
Tefft's wife Candy had reservations about the idea.
"I'm kinda mixed," she said. "It's good for the population and the people who only have property in town but safety is what I'm worried about."
Gutowski mentioned that while bows are much safer than firearms for hunting in densely-populated areas, archery has its own safety hazards. Most significantly, arrows are much less efficient than bullets at killing an animal, raising the possibility that wounded deer will get away, potentially wreaking havoc on the community members and their property and unnecessarily injuring themselves.
Mitchell said the archery option is the only viable solution on the table for reducing the deer population to a more convenient size.
"I think everyone agrees reducing the herd is needed; the hope is to get it down to a manageable number."
Mitchell said the City Planning Commission is now considering adding an amendment to a city ordinance that forbids the discharge of weapons, including bows, within the city limits.
Hillsdale Director of Public Safety Christopher Gutowski stated the city is not looking for any substantial change in city regulations.
Mitchell said the city wants to accomplish this with as little regulation modification as possible. He said only licensed bow hunters would be allowed to hunt deer, and only then during regular Michigan archery season as mandated by the Department of Natural Resources.
Gutowski said as long as public safety is accounted for, he would welcome the amendment as long as qualifications are checked.
Dave Tefft, owner Litchfield Outdoors sporting goods, shared Gutowski's sentiments, but also acknowledged there is no solution that will gain universal consensus.
"It's about tough calls," he said. "You're not going to satisfy all the people, some are attached to the deer."
Both Mitchell and Gutowski said some locals unofficially adopted deer as pets in the past by them. But this backfired as more deer - sometimes as many as 40 - started showing up and eating everything in sight from garden vegetables to shrubs and tree foliage.
"It was amazing how the deer population flooded into here," Tefft said.
Mitchell described the phenomenon differently.
"It's not interesting anymore, it's a nuisance," he said.
Tefft said he believes bow hunting is an efficient and simple solution to this nuisance.
He said it would help stimulate the local economy by giving people the opportunity to save money by shooting deer for meat. He added that similar programs in state parks on the outskirts of Detroit have worked well.
Tefft's wife Candy had reservations about the idea.
"I'm kinda mixed," she said. "It's good for the population and the people who only have property in town but safety is what I'm worried about."
Gutowski mentioned that while bows are much safer than firearms for hunting in densely-populated areas, archery has its own safety hazards. Most significantly, arrows are much less efficient than bullets at killing an animal, raising the possibility that wounded deer will get away, potentially wreaking havoc on the community members and their property and unnecessarily injuring themselves.
Mitchell said the archery option is the only viable solution on the table for reducing the deer population to a more convenient size.
"I think everyone agrees reducing the herd is needed; the hope is to get it down to a manageable number."
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