The village of Fayetteville is moving forward with its plans to reduce and manage the deer population in the village by changing village law to allow trained and permitted individuals to use a compound bow to hunt deer within village limits.
At its June 22 meeting, the board repealed and revised chapter 75 of the village law, which previously did not allow “the discharge of firearms and other related equipment in all areas of the village.” The provision that firearms are not allow to be discharged within village property will still hold, but will not “apply to actions taken by the Village of Fayetteville in furtherance of and in connection with the intended goals and objectives of a Village’s deer management program(s).”
According to Mayor Mark Olson, this move will allow the village to continue to work with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the village’s deer committee and Cornell Cooperative Extension to devise a plan using bow hunting in certain areas of the village to manage the deer population in the village.
Under the revision, residents who wish to participate and rid their property of deer must gain approval by the village’s deer committee by submitting a DEC “deer damage permit,” written confirmation from the landowner, a map of the property where the actions are to take place and a written statement containing the names, residence, addresses and telephone number of each party who will be involved.
Additionally, any bow hunters who wish to participate in the culling and bow hunting of deer must obtain a permit from the DEC and have a contract with the village.
Only compound bows or crossbows will be permitted for the purpose of deer management, and must be shot in a downward direction from a tree stand or platform no less than 12 feet from the ground. Any wounded deer must be reported to the village and all arrows shot must be retrieved.
Olson said this is the first of a few steps the village must take in order to begin regulated bow hunting in the village, which they hope to begin sometime this fall. The village of Trumansburg in Tompkins County had seen success with a similar program where more than 80 deer have been culled and shot.
“It’s a step in the whole deer management program we’re doing and in order to do that, we had to repeal this section of the law,” Olson said. “With this revision, we can use bow and arrows in certain areas of the village.”
Olson said the deer population is one of the most common complaints that he gets by residents, and the proximity to Green Lakes State Park makes Fayetteville a common place for herds to move to.
Deer bring a number of problems to residential areas, such as causing vehicle accidents, destroying property and increasing the chance for lyme disease and the spread of ticks.
As of now, Olson said the village board does not know which areas of the village bow hunting will be allowed for deer management, but said the deer committee will continue to work toward getting more details into place by working with the DEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
