The city’s deer management program had a successful first year, according to new numbers from the city.
Eight landowners were approved to have deer hunters come on to their property this hunting season, killing one deer each. 22 hunters received permits.
Rockwood Park Naturalist Emilie Murphy says those eight deer were all does, meaning there will be less fawns come next spring.
Murphy does have her suspicions as to why numbers weren’t as high as similar programs in the Kennebecasis Valley.
“A lot of people may not have applied. Maybe they were waiting to sort of see how the program went and how it was managed before applying,” she said.
“From what I’ve been hearing from residents, there has been some that were a little unsure about the program but once they learned more about it, felt a little more comfortable. Certainly there are some that were opposed to it but I would say the majority of people…are in favour of continuing the program.”
The pilot program was also limited to Millidgeville, and even then, many properties didn’t meet the criteria for a bow hunter to be allowed.
Murphy says while the numbers of deer were lower than they expected, education around deer management has improved.
“Feeding them is not only encouraging more deer to come in to neighbourhoods but its also harmful to them. it causes car accidents, and also there’s an over-population for what the natural food sources can provide,” she said.
“It’s certainly not a one time fix. It’s a program that has to sort of take many years to reduce the population.”
Murphy says successful deer management programs in Quispamsis and the KV area have seen deer population levels remain stable.
“That’s a good sign because if the program was not in place, the population would be expanding exponentially every year,” she said.
Deer hunting season ended mid-November.
