Herd Management with Snipers.

[tedicast]

In Greenwich Connecticut, the town has hired a sniper to kill deer that are being baited, at night, using night vision, and a silenced high power rifle. This is the same state that won't allow Sunday hunting. There are so mant deer they have to be sniped, why then can't we hunt on Sundays???

Here is a link to a thread on another forum. YOU GOTTA READ THIS!

[VermontHunter]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Once again Financial Influence at it's worst,,,,,,

[Addct2hntng]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

they have been doing that in southern WI for 2 years its a waste of time they still dont get them all !!

[Strut_Buster]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Yeah... snipers.. HA.

I rember right one of our state legislature people said that they don't want Hunters running arround with guns and killing each other.. BAH Fooey

[horst]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

They done that in Iowa City to, it didnt work and paying snipers to shoot deer is very expensive.Guesse what, the deer herds still overpopulated there after all the thousands of dollars that were spent to snipe them.They voted against allowing limited bowhunting which woulda not only made the state money but would have been safe enough to allow it closer to the heavily populated areas.Payning snipers to shoot deer IMO ranks right up there with deer brth control , expensive and inefective

[mitrrophybowhunter]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

This is not a very smart program!!!!!

Let the hunters who will eat the meat take these animals out

[horst]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

[ QUOTE ]

Across the street from the Babcock Preserve is Peggy Scales, who has fed the deer in her back yard for years and scoffs at the way officials talk of "culling" the deer herd.

"Don't call it a cull, it's a slaughter," she said.

Scales is part angry and part sad that the deer will be killed as she sleeps.

"I'm not going to sleep too well," she said.

[/ QUOTE ]

On the other hand you have morons like this feeding deer inside city limits and wondering where the problem came from in the first place.

[tedicast]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

[ QUOTE ]

They done that in Iowa City to, it didnt work and paying snipers to shoot deer is very expensive.Guesse what, the deer herds still overpopulated there after all the thousands of dollars that were spent to snipe them.They voted against allowing limited bowhunting which woulda not only made the state money but would have been safe enough to allow it closer to the heavily populated areas.Payning snipers to shoot deer IMO ranks right up there with deer brth control , expensive and inefective

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree 100% Chris. We are currently fighting tooth and nail for Sunday hunting in CT. There is a proposed, $14 sunday hunting permit, included in the latest proposal. Now, doesn't it make more sense to open the State to sunday hunting, and have the State make some revenue off it, then to snipe deer at $1000 plus per deer? I gaurantee you with the man hours that would be put in on sunday hunting here in CT, that more than 60 deer would be taken.

The other problem is that the area with the highest deer population, is also the wealthiest area of the state. It is all multi million $$$ houses, on 5 and 6 acres of land. There is no access to hunting in these areas, unless you are lucky enough to hook up, or be friends with somene who is hunter friendly in that area. If the state had a program, to help hook bowhunters up, with landowners willing to give them access to their land, it would definately help thin the deer herd in Fairfield County.

Sorry for the rant. This just totally irked me.

[Shaun_300]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

i dont agree with that one bit if they want the heard to be managed properly, they should do it in a more humane manor, let the hunters hunt in sunday. not go out there with high equipped sniper rifles and unload on them!!!

[MichiganHuntr1]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

That is absolutely pathetic.

[horst]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

diehardhunter, since every locations different and Im sure no two sniper outfits operate the same Im not going to argue weather they are effective or not.

But you gotta agree its ridiculous to hire these guys when they wont even let the residents of the state hunt on Sunday.Considering most people work all week and have Sat and Sun to hunt it would seem to me allowing Sunday hunting would considerably increase the harvest in that state.

Iowas in the same mess right now, the snipers failed in the urban areas, the deer are still overpopulated in them, and now the insurance companies and newspapers are making it out to be the hunters fault the deer are to thick in these areas.Its a crock, hunters never even had a crack at them so how could we controll them??Both cases there kinda show how politics and game management should be kept as seperate issues, they just dont mix well together and someone always winds up upset about it.

[wtnhunt]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

That is crazy. Paying all that money when they could let some bowhunters in for nothing.

[Ravin R10 man]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Duluth Mn. is leaning, they may have acted on it too, but to let bowhunting within city limits. Thats a GOOD thing in my view. I think its a much safer way to get r done too.

[Doc]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

I guess I don't have as hard and firm an opinion as most of you when it comes to this kind of issue. There are a lot of points that Dihardhunter made that make a whole lot of sense.

Personally, this issue would never really effect me because there is no way that I would ever hunt in an urban setting. However, for those that might want to do such a thing, you might want to consider the fact that every little negative wrinkle of such a hunt would be sure to get blown completely out of proportion by the liberal media of whatever city the hunt was taking place in.

Doc

[horst]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

I actually found the minutes from the Iowa City deer taskforce comittees meeting online.Even the guys who started the task force are admitting snipers arent working out and bowhunting should be given a try with some restrictions.

Kind of a long read but this is the attitude after several years of sharpshooting have taken place.

[ QUOTE ]

DEER MANAGEMENT PLAN

Farrant opened discussion to affirm the Long-Term Deer Management Plan and the 2004-

2005 Deer Management Plan. Farrant also updated the Task Force on the results of the

Natural Resource Commission’s meeting of November 10, 2004. The NRC agreed to

support Iowa City’s proposed deer kill with the stipulation that sharpshooting must occur

after January 10, to avoid Iowa’s December shotgun season, and only antlerless deer can

be taken.

Harris commented that it doesn’t look like sharpshooting is working very well and bow

hunting should be considered. Harris continued to say the system is broken and he

receives many phone calls from Iowa City residents complaining about deer.

Thompson added that last week University Heights passed an ordinance to allow bow and

arrow hunting.

Jones also suggested looking at other alternatives to sharpshooting. He expressed

concern with the inability of the current system to control population. Jones added that

the deer population in west Iowa City has not been reduced by sharpshootings. Also a

concern is the cost effectiveness of the program. Jones suggested exploring other

methods such as bow and arrow hunting but noted he is not in favor of allowing this as a

sport. Jones asked if bow and arrow hunting could be allowed at a reduced level or as a

pilot program.

Nagel asked if the Task Force can move forward with approving the plan and hire White

Buffalo, Inc. but not close discussion for bow hunting this year.

Goff added that bow and arrow hunting could not be done under the current city code.

Farrant mentioned if bow hunting was going to be considered for this winter the city

ordinance would need to be changed. If we are going to deviate from sharpshooting the

Long-Term Plan would need to be revisited since the only method that currently meets

the criteria established in the plan is sharpshooting. The current plan reads any method

can be considered as long as it meets the following criteria: 1) public safety, 2)

community acceptance, 3) effectiveness in maintaining the desired number of deer.

Farrant added this is a very complicated issue and if changes for bow and arrow hunting

is to be considered it should be opened up to the community for discussion. Farrant

expressed concern about taking steps back to the very beginning and losing 7 years of

extremely hard work. Farrant distributed a handout to the Task Force to help relay what

has taken an enormous amount of effort and time to get us where we are today. A goal

of the deer management plan was to arrive at a consensus about killing methods. Issues

considered were cost, legality, risk to humans and humaneness. To permit meaningful,

productive discussion, it was the original consensus of the 1997-98 committee that the

definition of a humane death is one that is instantaneous and painless. Farrant continued

that she doesn’t feel community acceptance has changed and suggested opening

discussion up to listening sessions which is what was done in the past.

Dykstra inquired if there is enough time to allow bow and arrow hunting for this winter.

Sidwell added to go through the process of community acceptance would take a good

deal of time and there may not be enough time to consider bow and arrow hunting for this

winter. Sidwell continued that given the timing, sharpshooting is the logical thing to do

this year and suggested continuing with the recommendation to hire White Buffalo, Inc.

for this year but also review other options.

Goff commented he feels the Long-Term Plan is a working document but mentioned

there are different opinions on some of the interpretations of it. Goff mentioned the deer

reflector system is something that should be reviewed. Farrant suggested expanding the

system and has noted there is information available from the Regional University

Transportation Center Deer/Vehicle Crash Information Clearing House that might be

helpful in expanding what we currently have in place.

Discussion continued regarding affirming the two plans. Goff expressed concern that on

page 3 and 4 of the 2004-2005 Deer Management Plan should state 282 antlerless deer.

The Task Force agreed this change should be made. Marty Jones made a motion to

approve the Long-Term Plan and the 2004-2005 Deer Management Plan. Nagel

seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Jones asked if the Task Force could meet again to discuss other alternatives. Nagel also

suggested meeting before December 6 to get organized and discuss other options. It was

agreed to meet again prior to the City Council’s December 6 Work Session.

It was further agreed that the sharpshooting inquiry from Gary Brown be deferred to the

next meeting along with discussion of the handouts.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

None.

OTHER

None.

NEXT MEETING

Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 5:30 pm Lobby Conference Room

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Kathi Johansen

[/ QUOTE ]

Another interesing thing to note is the timing, after Jan 10 is when they do it and say only antlerless deer should be shot, but a lotta bucks have shed by then, wonder how many bucks have been wacked by sharpshooters

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Deer sniper - how do I apply for that job?

Seriously though, that is kinda crazy.

[tedicast]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

[ QUOTE ]

Personally, this issue would never really effect me because there is no way that I would ever hunt in an urban setting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well Doc, it's a darn good thing you don't live in southern Connecticut. Urban hunting is the norm here. From my normal morning stand on week days, I don't need a watch. I can tell what time it is by which bus is going by. Thats just the way it is here. We all can't be so lucky to hunt in a rural setting.

[Doc]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

[ QUOTE ]

Well Doc, it's a darn good thing you don't live in southern Connecticut. Urban hunting is the norm here. From my normal morning stand on week days, I don't need a watch. I can tell what time it is by which bus is going by. Thats just the way it is here. We all can't be so lucky to hunt in a rural setting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Man! that is so unfortunate. I think in that situation, I would have to do some vacation planning and traveling to do my hunting. You don't paint a very pretty picture of your typical hunt.

Doc

[VermontHunter]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Unfortunately hunter like Tedicast and others that live in these urban settings, don't have the luxuries of 100's or even 1000's of acres of secluded woods to hunt and try to make the best of what they have to hunt.....All I can say is Im glad Im not in their shoe's and am thankful for where I live.

We all don't have the extra funds to travel and hunt where we would like so when political ambitions and politics become a bearier as well as rich neighbors getting their way over comon sense just because they have money to push the right buttons, I can see where ones frustrations would surface.

To me just to say that I would go somewhere else to do my hunting is easy to say but in practicality this aint going to happen my SALARY I make dictates where and how I hunt.......

And to add insult to an already distrubing problem politics and money hire snipers to do a job that experienced hunter are more qualified to do is just wrong, and just to admitt that there's a problem and not allow Sunday Hunting just becuase the neighbors in a said area have money is another injustice in my book, what about the rights of the everyday working man that supports his family the best way he or she can ??

So I guess my input on hiring SNIPERS is Im plain against it when there's plenty of good ethical hunters that are willing to take care of the problem...

[tedicast]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

[ QUOTE ]

To me just to say that I would go somewhere else to do my hunting is easy to say but in practicality this aint going to happen my SALARY I make dictates where and how I hunt.......

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank VH. You are absolutely right! I have limited time off, and limited funds to hunt. I bow hunted 39 days last year. Some of these were 2 hours before work, or a few hours after work. I have to take what I can get because I work 6 days a week, and we can't hunt Sunday in CT. . As for the "Urban" hunting, I have state forest in my areas, that are huge pieces of land. I see far more deer on my private land, that I get to watch busses from, than I do on the 3000 plus acre state forests I hunt. The deer are much more predictable too. Have to hunt where the deer are! Here it just happens to be in very urban areas.

[Guest lilcrackshot]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

THat's a really bad way to get rid of deer. What they should do is give out more tags. Instead of dishing out money to the snipers they would be making money through tag sales.

[VaTechHunter]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

Yeah I am a wildlife student at Virginia Tech and I hate when they use stupid management practices like that. Surprised they didn't try to sterilize the deer, relocate, or any other stupid practices like that.

[Guest deldeer]

Re: Herd Management with Snipers.

another point to ponder.....i heard that they tried the sniper thing at philadephia airport a few years back, and it turned out to be a huge mistake from what i read. seems that these so called snipers were pretty good at shooting at human forms, but when they were shooting at running deer it got pretty ugly. lot of wounded deer & not many were taken out. they kinda put a lid on it after that......