More Cops To Kill Deer
December 20, 2007
The trend is ongoing across America – too many deer in towns and cities everywhere. And the debate is what to do about it. So far city officials have tried just about everything including hiring sharpshooters and bow hunters. Earlier this month, I reported about one town in North Carolina that had resorted to using its police force to cull deer herds and questioned the practice. Now the city of Helena, Montana is considering the same thing.
According to KTVQ, Montana’s News Station, because the deer pose a public safety risk, officials feel justified in using the police department. The city manager claims the police are equipped with the right training.
City Manager Tim Burton says police not only have the training but also a command structure that would be important in carrying out a safe operation.
The city has indicated it wants to kill 50 mule deer and the city manager indicates how that might be done.
He says city officials are interested in using nets to confine animals, which then would be shot on public lands in town.
Is this necessary? I wonder if hunters got together and tried working with city officials everywhere to come up with an acceptable plan in which properly trained volunteer hunters could be used, if this would be a better way to deal with this issue? This isn’t an isolated problem. It’s everywhere.
Are there enough interested hunters who would be willing to do what’s necessary to meet an established set of training criteria so they could work closely with state wildlife and city officials and get this job done? Many hunters would enjoy the meat and it would certainly save lots of money while accomplishing the task at hand.
Tom Remington
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