Citizens interested in learning more about the planned deer management program in the village of Fayetteville will get the opportunity at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at the Fayetteville Village Offices.
Village Trustee Daniel Kinsella has been working with the deer management committee and presented a draft deer management plan to the village board at their Sept. 14 meeting.
“I’ll be happy to share it with everybody in the community. It’s not finalized, it’s just a draft and obviously there will be changes,” said Kinsella.
The village of Fayetteville has been looking to control the white tail deer population due to factors including the increase in lyme disease presence within the village, property damage, increased vehicular accidents involving deer and negative impacts to natural plant communities.
Kinsella said the deer management committee has been working the the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Cornell Cooperative Extension to find which program will work in Fayetteville.
The drafted deer management program would include the baiting and culling of deer with corn or a similar product. Only crossbows and compound bows will be allowed, and only antler-less deer would be targeted. Hunting will take place on 12-foot stands and hunters must wear appropriate safety gear. The maximum shot distance will be 25 feet.
Hunters of the deer must be 18 years old and would be required to receive a permit from the village office, which includes possessing a New York state hunting license with a bowhunter privilege or bowhunter education certificate, a signed waiver and release of responsibility, successful completion of an archery proficiency test and a background check. All applications from potential hunters are to be reviewed by the deer management committee.
The draft plan outlines several private and public areas where the committee believes the deer population to be high. These include the Fayetteville Bird Preserve, the eastern bank of Limestone Creek, the Fayetteville Senior Center, Canal Landing Park, Limestone Little League Field, Coulter Park, Immaculate Conception Church cemetery, the Fayetteville Cemetery and the Bishop Brook floodplain east of Cashin Drive.
Approved archers will be given a unique code to write on each arrow to ensure in the event a deer is shot and not able to be retrieved at that location, the village can track the deer that have been eliminate with this program and be assured there is not illegal bowhunting happening within village property.
The public will be notified about any hunts on both public and private property through village notifications, notifications in the local papers and signage near the area before and during the hunt, the draft of the program said.
Once deer are shot and retrieved, they can be brought to a venison processing facility, and can be consumed by property landowners where the hunt occurred, by the participants or donated to a local food bank.
The village board already took the first step in completing this plan in July when they voted to rescind Chapter 75 of the village laws, which relates to the discharge of firearms in the village, and replaced it with an updated version that would allow bow hunting for deer management purposes as long as a hunter gains a permit from the village office.
The public information meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Fayetteville Village Offices, 425 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville.
A copy of the draft deer management plan for Fayetteville can be found at the village office or at scribd.com/doc/281800320/Fayetteville-NY-Draft-Deer-Management-Program-Sept-10-2015.
