Snipers to kill deer over winter break
Betsy Woodruff
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: News
While Hillsdale College students go home over Christmas break, a new group of people will come to campus: armed police officers, with a mission to kill as many deer as possible. Hillsdale Police Chief Christopher Gutowski said he hopes the shooters will be able to kill 100 deer in two weeks.
Rich Péwé, vice president of administration, will let the city send hunters on the 200 acres set aside for Independence Grove, a project the college canceled last year. He also said he will let snipers shoot deer from the towers in the intramural fields, as long as they take adequate safety measures.
"It's as much of a problem for the college as it is for everybody in town," he said.
The city has not yet decided where the hunting will take place.
The Problem
Hillsdale's deer population, which City Manager Mike Mitchell said consists of 200 to 400 deer, creates many issues for the city.
Deb Sikorski, the planning and zoning administrator, said Hillsdale County has more deer-related car accidents than any other county in Michigan.
Gutowski said he crashed his car into an eight-point buck in front of Broadlawn.
The deer feast on the landscaping of Hillsdale citizens. Mitchell knows some people who see herds of 30 to 40 deer in their yards every day. These owners cannot landscape their yards and must clean up large amounts of defecation.
Péwé is continually frustrated by the deer on campus.
"They cause an awful lot of destruction," he said, listing the plants that cannot grow on campus because the deer love to eat them: white pine, yews, juniper, red cedar.
"You don't see tulips around here because I can't grow them," he said.
One some nights, Péwé has counted 23 deer by the eagle statue on the quad.
Many deer are born around Central Hall, according to Péwé. They make their home within a one-mile radius of their birth place.
"And they don't leave," he said.
He is especially concerned bytheir increasing domestication, saying that many people in the town feed the deer.
"They get emboldened; they're not afraid of anybody," he said, mentioning that sometimes deer charge. This could be a problem if a student stumbles upon a fawn, upsetting its mother.
One fawn became a sort of pet to students at the Gier Elementary School. This concerns Gutowski, who worries about the potential for diseases to spread.
"It's not part of the natural ecosystem," he said.
Mitchell knows of two cases of confrontations between deer and pets.
"In the one case, it was a pretty close call," he said. One woman had to throw her dog into her vehicle to keep the deer from attacking it. This deer regularly harassed her dog whenever she took it for a walk. Mitchell believes the Department of Natural Resources managed to kill the deer, which he thinks may have been sick.
"Even those who love the deer agree that the number of deer is too high," Mitchell said.
Péwé blames the DNR for the deer overpopulation, arguing that the hunting season is too short for effective population control. Because for years hunters could only kill one doe per season, the population flourished.
Mitchell said that mild winters, few predators, lots of food and multiple births by many does have also contributed to the burgeoning population. In the last five to six years, it has grown much faster than usual. The entire Lower Peninsula struggles to limit the growth of deer populations.
"We're just another community that is facing this issue," Mitchell said.
The Plan
Mitchell said the city has decided to adopt the only deer-eradication strategy that other counties in the area have used successfully: culling, a technical term for hunting to reduce the population of a species in an area.
Local law enforcement officials or police officers from other agencies will probably shoot the deer, according to Mitchell. This will lower the cost of the culling since professional agencies can charge up to $450 per deer.
Gutowski mentioned that conservation club members and expert hunters may also participate in the culling.
Mitchell said that shooters will try to cull the deer from an elevated position.
No deer -- buck, doe, or fawn -- will be safe.
"The people involved in the cull would have to take everything they see," Mitchell said.
According to Gutowski, does will be the hunters' top targets.
"Does today seem to have two fawns -- they used to have one," he said.
Right now, Mitchell said city officials are working with the DNR to set up a time for the culling, receive a permit for hunting in city limits and out of season, and choosing precisely who will shoot the deer.
They will not cull the deer on any private lands without the owners' permission. Tony Vear, a member of the Planning Committee, said that no culling will take place within 500 feet of any buildings.
"We're going to try to take as heavy precautions as possible," he said.
Vear expects the culling to take place during Hillsdale College's winter break.
All the meat will go to the area's three food banks.
Sikorski hopes the culling will continue indefinitely, and at least for five years.
Mitchell expects the deer population to come down to a manageable level after several years of culling. He believes the program will only cost a few thousand dollars per year.
Péwé wishes the city would take a more aggressive stance against the deer, suggesting a year-round culling with trained bow hunters.
Still, the changes please him.
"What they've come up with is at least a start," he said.
Rich Péwé, vice president of administration, will let the city send hunters on the 200 acres set aside for Independence Grove, a project the college canceled last year. He also said he will let snipers shoot deer from the towers in the intramural fields, as long as they take adequate safety measures.
"It's as much of a problem for the college as it is for everybody in town," he said.
The city has not yet decided where the hunting will take place.
The Problem
Hillsdale's deer population, which City Manager Mike Mitchell said consists of 200 to 400 deer, creates many issues for the city.
Deb Sikorski, the planning and zoning administrator, said Hillsdale County has more deer-related car accidents than any other county in Michigan.
Gutowski said he crashed his car into an eight-point buck in front of Broadlawn.
The deer feast on the landscaping of Hillsdale citizens. Mitchell knows some people who see herds of 30 to 40 deer in their yards every day. These owners cannot landscape their yards and must clean up large amounts of defecation.
Péwé is continually frustrated by the deer on campus.
"They cause an awful lot of destruction," he said, listing the plants that cannot grow on campus because the deer love to eat them: white pine, yews, juniper, red cedar.
"You don't see tulips around here because I can't grow them," he said.
One some nights, Péwé has counted 23 deer by the eagle statue on the quad.
Many deer are born around Central Hall, according to Péwé. They make their home within a one-mile radius of their birth place.
"And they don't leave," he said.
He is especially concerned bytheir increasing domestication, saying that many people in the town feed the deer.
"They get emboldened; they're not afraid of anybody," he said, mentioning that sometimes deer charge. This could be a problem if a student stumbles upon a fawn, upsetting its mother.
One fawn became a sort of pet to students at the Gier Elementary School. This concerns Gutowski, who worries about the potential for diseases to spread.
"It's not part of the natural ecosystem," he said.
Mitchell knows of two cases of confrontations between deer and pets.
"In the one case, it was a pretty close call," he said. One woman had to throw her dog into her vehicle to keep the deer from attacking it. This deer regularly harassed her dog whenever she took it for a walk. Mitchell believes the Department of Natural Resources managed to kill the deer, which he thinks may have been sick.
"Even those who love the deer agree that the number of deer is too high," Mitchell said.
Péwé blames the DNR for the deer overpopulation, arguing that the hunting season is too short for effective population control. Because for years hunters could only kill one doe per season, the population flourished.
Mitchell said that mild winters, few predators, lots of food and multiple births by many does have also contributed to the burgeoning population. In the last five to six years, it has grown much faster than usual. The entire Lower Peninsula struggles to limit the growth of deer populations.
"We're just another community that is facing this issue," Mitchell said.
The Plan
Mitchell said the city has decided to adopt the only deer-eradication strategy that other counties in the area have used successfully: culling, a technical term for hunting to reduce the population of a species in an area.
Local law enforcement officials or police officers from other agencies will probably shoot the deer, according to Mitchell. This will lower the cost of the culling since professional agencies can charge up to $450 per deer.
Gutowski mentioned that conservation club members and expert hunters may also participate in the culling.
Mitchell said that shooters will try to cull the deer from an elevated position.
No deer -- buck, doe, or fawn -- will be safe.
"The people involved in the cull would have to take everything they see," Mitchell said.
According to Gutowski, does will be the hunters' top targets.
"Does today seem to have two fawns -- they used to have one," he said.
Right now, Mitchell said city officials are working with the DNR to set up a time for the culling, receive a permit for hunting in city limits and out of season, and choosing precisely who will shoot the deer.
They will not cull the deer on any private lands without the owners' permission. Tony Vear, a member of the Planning Committee, said that no culling will take place within 500 feet of any buildings.
"We're going to try to take as heavy precautions as possible," he said.
Vear expects the culling to take place during Hillsdale College's winter break.
All the meat will go to the area's three food banks.
Sikorski hopes the culling will continue indefinitely, and at least for five years.
Mitchell expects the deer population to come down to a manageable level after several years of culling. He believes the program will only cost a few thousand dollars per year.
Péwé wishes the city would take a more aggressive stance against the deer, suggesting a year-round culling with trained bow hunters.
Still, the changes please him.
"What they've come up with is at least a start," he said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
W. J. Sheehy
posted 10/02/09 @ 3:08 PM EST
Couldn't properly screened (for safety, skills and experience) hunters be used, charging them a fee for each deer that they take and remove? This would be rather like a special season hunting permit for this specific situation. (Continued…)
Joy Pavelski
posted 10/06/09 @ 1:54 PM EST
Ok...why can't they just open a special-permit hunting season? Oooh, right...because government does everything so much better...
Also: It's BETSY. (Continued…)
Vanessa
posted 10/13/09 @ 5:44 PM EST
Hopefully they dispose of the deer properly so the baseball team doesn't get any ideas this year.
David Rosenberry
posted 10/22/09 @ 10:20 AM EST
There are many skilled hunters like myself that live right here in the city,that could do the job without paying law enforcement officers.The city's cost if i was part of this would be ammunition to accomplish this job. (Continued…)
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