Proposed Deer Management Program

1
Proposed Deer Management Program

• September 19, 2007

2
Outline

• Need for Deer Management Program
• Multi-faceted Approach
• Recommended Non-Lethal Methods
• Recommended Bow-Hunting Program
• Pilot Program and Evaluation

3
Need for Deer Management Program

• In Granville, 62 reported crashes involving deer
  from 1995-2006
• Total complaints involving dead or injured deer
  numbered 361 over that same period, with a high
  of 50 complaints in 2005
• Actual numbers could be considerably higher
  because many incidents are not reported
• While the Village does not have accurate estimate
  of the size of local herd, Bill Bullard, Wildlife
  Division Officer from the Ohio Department of
  Natural Resources, stated that the local deer
  population could easily exceed 1000 or more
• Residents in the eastern area of the Village have
  reported as many as 40 deer in a single sighting

4
Need for Deer Management Program

• If not actively managed, the deer population will
  continue to grow at a rapid rate.
• This statement is supported by scientific
  studies, many of which are cited in the
  publication entitled Managing White-Tailed Deer
  in Suburban Environments, a Technical Guide,
  published by the Cornell University Cooperative
  Extension Office.
• Suburban environments create excellent deer
  habitat with an abundance of food and protection
  from hunters and non-human predators.
• Suburban areas provide a high-quality food source
  for deer. One study found the richness of the
  plant species in residential areas to be higher
  than in wooded habitats.
• Deer have high reproductive potential and
  populations can increase rapidly. In a fenced
  reserve in Michigan, there was a documented
  increase from six deer to 222 deer in seven
  years.
• Deer become very familiar with their home range,
  which enhances survival, and they seldom leave
  it. This allows for effective herd management on
  relatively small areas.

5
Need for Deer Management Program

• An overabundance of deer may cause
• economic losses from damage to garden and
  landscape plantings and crops
• bodily injuries and property damage from
  collisions with vehicles
• health issues related to Lyme disease
• environmental damage to the woodland ecology
  because deer feed on preferred plants and upset
  the natural diversity.

6
Recommend a Multi-Faceted and Integrated Deer
Management Program

• Promote and encourage residents to use non-lethal
  methods to make the Village habitat and
  environment less attractive for the deer. These
  non-lethal methods could be applied on a
  community-wide basis.
• Use limited lethal methods (bow hunting) in
  selective areas of the community where high
  populations of deer are already causing serious
  problems.
• Implement the program in cooperation with
  Granville Township and Denison University.

7
Recommended Non-Lethal Methods

• Use of Unpalatable Landscape Plantings
• Deer are selective feeders and their avoidance of
  certain plants can be an advantage in reducing
  the potential for damage to plantings.
• Browsing damage may be reduced by planting
  less-preferred species or placing the more
  desirable plants in protected areas.
• Whether a plant species will be eaten by deer is
  not an absolute, and can be influenced by
  fluctuations in deer populations, the
  availability of alternative foods, and weather
  conditions.
• Use of Repellents
• Repellents reduce the palatability of treated
  plants to a level lower than other available
  forage.
• Repellents are generally odor-based or
  taste-based. Research has indicated that
  odor-based products often out-perform taste-based
  solutions plus odor-based repellents have an
  additional advantage in that the animals realize
  that the plants are treated before tasting.
• The effectiveness of the repellents can be
  weather-dependent. Some repellents are not
  long-lasting, even in the absence of rainfall.
  Also, deer are likely to ignore either taste or
  odor repellents when food is scarce.

8
Recommended Non-Lethal Methods

• Restrictions on the Feeding of Deer
• The supplemental feeding of the deer can enhance
  reproductive rates and the transmission of
  disease, encourage deer to concentrate in
  specific areas, and make the deer more tolerant
  of people.
• Feeding can also contribute to an artificially
  high deer population, especially during harsh
  winters.
• Regulations may reduce the number of people who
  feed deer, but feeding violations are difficult
  to detect unless a concerted effort is made.
• Dogs
• Dogs contained by an invisible fence have been an
  effective deer deterrent.
• Dogs are more effective than commercial
  repellents. The breed and disposition of the dog
  will influence the effectiveness of this
  technique.
• Dogs restricted by an invisible fence can keep
  deer out of an area if allowed to patrol day and
  night.

9
Recommended Non-Lethal Methods

• Warning Signs
• Deer warning signs should be posted and/or
  maintained along roadways where deer are
  frequently observed or where numerous accidents
  have occurred (for example, Newark-Granville
  Road, Jones Road, Fern Hill, Burg Street).

10
Recommended Bow-Hunting Program

• Non-lethal methods may reduce the amount of plant
  damage but will not reduce the reproductive rate
  of the deer herd.
• As the size of the herd increases, there will be
  more competition for the food that is available,
  causing the deer to ignore or resist the
  non-lethal methods.
• When the deer population becomes too great for
  the habitat to sustain and food supply becomes
  limited, the deer themselves will suffer.
• Therefore, the use of lethal control techniques
  to reduce the size of the herd should also be
  included in the deer management program.
• The staff is recommending that bow hunting be
  allowed in selective areas to reduce the size of
  the herd in those areas. The bow-hunting program
  would be controlled and regulated by the Village
  and would be designed to be unobtrusive.

11
Properties Selected for Bow-Hunting Program

• Properties selected for the bow-hunting program
  would be in those areas where the Village has
  received a significant number of deer-related
  complaints, such as Fern Hill, Jones Road, the
  Bryn Du subdivision, Burg Street, and the Maple
  Grove cemetery.
• Hunting would be on public property or on those
  private properties that have been offered for
  hunting by the property owners.
• Hunting would be restricted to properties, either
  assembled or unassembled, that contain four acres
  or more. This could be reduced if no negative
  impact on public safety.
• Approximately 25 property owners have already
  indicated a willingness to make their properties
  available for bow hunting.

12
Hunter Qualifications

• Experienced urban bow hunters who desire to
  participate in the Village bow-hunting program
  would make application to the Village through the
  Granville Police Department.
• An applicant would have to meet the following
  qualifications
• Must possess or acquire all applicable Ohio
  hunting licenses and deer permits.
• Must have attended a state-approved hunter
  safety course
• Must pass an archery proficiency test
• Must have documented bow-hunting experience,
  preferably in an urban area
• Must successfully pass a background and criminal
  record check
• No felony convictions within the past 10 years
• No convictions of violence within the past 5
  years
• No convictions for a game law violation within
  past 5 years

13
Hunter Selection

• The Police Chief, Village Manager, and a Township
  Trustee would select the hunters to participate
  in the 2007 bow-hunting program.
• Selection would be based on total years of
  hunting experience, prior urban deer hunting
  participation, and/or a law enforcement
  background.
• Hunters who are selected would be assigned to a
  specific Deer Management Zone.
• The 2007 Ohio bow-hunting season runs from
  September 29 through February 3.

14
Hunter Procedures

• The hunter must complete all necessary agreements
  with the landowner(s) on whose property he or she
  wishes to hunt.
• The hunter must make an appointment with the
  landowner(s) for an inspection of the property,
  the identification of areas for possible stand
  placement, and a discussion of property owners
  expectations.
• The hunter will be encouraged to hunt from a tree
  stand, which would be a minimum of ten (10) feet
  above the ground. If using a tree stand, the
  hunter would be required to use appropriate
  safety harness equipment.
• The hunter may take a harvested deer to a
  Village-designated processing facility and the
  meat will be processed at Village expense and
  donated to a food bank or other similar charity.

15
Hunting Regulations

• The hunter would be required to comply with all
  state and local hunting regulations
• The use of firearms would be prohibited under the
  hunting program only bow and arrow may be used.
• The hunter would hunt only within the Management
  Zone designated by the Village of Granville
• The hunter will park his/her vehicle in the areas
  designated by the Property Owner and will place
  the parking permit on the windshield of the
  vehicle
• The hunter will not hunt within 250 feet of an
  occupied building or residence unless
  specifically authorized
• The hunter will not shoot an arrow across a
  highway, roadway, sidewalk, bikeway, or
  pedestrian pathway or beyond the approved area.

16
Hunting Regulations

• The hunter will not shoot an arrow from a motor
  vehicle.
• The hunter will wear hunter orange while on the
  hunting site and while walking to and from the
  site.
• The hunter will not trespass on any property
  adjoining the hunting area.
• The hunter will not video, film, or photograph
  any portion of the hunt.
• The hunter will assume responsibility for
  liability for any injury or damage to property or
  persons while a guest on the property owners
  land during the hunt.

17
Hunting Regulations

• The hunter will remove any harvested deer in a
  discrete manner and will transport any deer so
  that it is not visible.
• The hunter will not consume any alcoholic
  beverages within eight hours prior to the start
  of the hunt nor will the hunter consume any
  alcoholic beverages while on the property owners
  property during the hunt
• The hunter will remove entrails from the property
  owners land unless the property owner agrees to
  the burial of the entrails on the land.
• The hunter agrees to take two does before one
  buck is taken. A hunter participating in the 2007
  hunt must harvest two antlerless deer in order to
  be eligible to hunt in the program in 2008.
• The hunter will call the police department at the
  time that he or she arrives at the hunting site
  and will also advise the police department when
  leaving the site.

18
Hunting Regulations

• All deer harvested must be tagged and checked in
  accordance with state wildlife regulations. The
  hunter must call the police department to report
  the state tag number, the name of the hunter, the
  sex of the deer, and the date it was harvested.
• The hunter shall notify the police department
  immediately if a deer is wounded, but not killed
  or retrieved.
• The hunter may only retrieve the deer on adjacent
  property after obtaining the adjacent property
  owners consent. If the property owner cannot be
  reached, the hunter must be accompanied by a
  Granville police officer when going onto the
  adjacent property to retrieve the deer.

19
Pilot Program for 2007

• Because of the lack of lead time prior to the
  2007 hunting season, the staff recommends that a
  smaller, pilot program be instituted in 2007
  followed by extensive review and evaluation
  before implementing a larger program in 2008.