WILL OTHER CITIES FOLLOW HELENA'S LEAD?

Our Most Expensive Deer

By Bill Schneider, 1-09-08

Pardon the cliché, but if you want to know why something is happening, follow the money. So, that's what I did this week, and at the end of my search, I found what must be the most expensive deer in the world.

You could have some of these high-priced deer in your town, too. What's happening in Helena, Montana, could be coming to a city near you.

Most cities have urban deer populations. In Helena, we host as many as 700 deer, both whitetails and muleys. These are not country deer coming into the city for a geranium treat now and then. These are third or fourth generation city deer born, raised and reproducing within the city limits, deer that have probably never heard a rifle shot or seen a hunter. They’ve become habituated to humankind for a simple reason. Helena is great deer habitat. Cities unintentionally provide the two primary characteristics of quality wildlife habitat, food and security.

	Killing deer might cost less than $2,000 per animal going forward, but will still cost us deerly.

Some people in Helena consider deer an amenity or a nuisance, but others consider them a pestilence--no better than oversized, hoofed rats. And sure enough, once or twice each fall, an aggressive, love-starved buck threatens somebody, and the incident gets the front page play it doesn't deserve. Adding to the furor caused by these high profile incidents, our deer neighbors always make landscaping and gardening a challenge, which most of us solve by fencing or netting and planting deer-resistant species.

(All this has, incidentally, created a substantive "deer economy" in Helena for fence companies and nurseries--and auto body shops, of course.)

To me, urban deer are just part of the we-don't-live-in-a-perfect-world deal, no different than pigeons and squirrels and dog poop or your lawn amd neighbors who don't shovel their walks. We city folks created this great deer habitat, so how can we be surprised or upset when deer use it? As any hunter knows, game animals naturally gravitate to habitat closed to hunting--and stay there if they find enough to eat.

But I might be in the minority in Helena. A survey conducted by the University of Montana Business School for the Urban Wildlife Task Force, (UWTF) created by the Helena City Commission to advise them on what to do about the "deer problem" found that 78 percent of city residents surveyed wanted the deer herd "reduced," but only 54 percent wanted this reduction if we had to use "lethal means."

This majority appears to be carrying the day in Helena, and the city commission has decided we need to kill deer because they pose a public safety hazard.

So, here's the plan. Or perhaps I should say, here's what probably will happen--unless the city commission steps in and stops it. Sometime next winter, Helena police officers will start baiting deer into open space areas and then in the dark of night using night-vision scoped rifles, they'll shoot 50 deer.

Plan A was to kill 350, but the Fish and Game Commission, the board that sets policy for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), rejected this proposal. At a later meeting, though, the commission agreed to allow the city to kill 50, as long as no hunting license dollars were spent on the project. (That qualifier is sort of comical, as you'll soon read, because lots of "hunters dollars" have already poured into Helena's deer management plan, and under any government scenario, more will be spent.)

I'm hardly against killing deer, having done it as much as possible in my life. But the Helena plan brings out my fiscally conservative side. When I followed the money, here's what I found. (As a disclaimer, agencies can't accurately track all the publicly financed staff time that goes into administering projects, so the following figures certainly undershoot the true expense of killing deer in Helena.)

To get the ball rolling, the City of Helena created the UWTF and tapped its general fund for $12,000 to finance its work. FWP joined in with a $7,000 grant, which covered most of the cost of the survey.

In addition, according to FWP information officer Tom Palmer, the agency has already devoted $23,000 in staff time to work with the UWTF. The city didn't keep track of the staff time, but parks and recreation director Randy Lilje told NewWest.Net that "a fairly substantial amount" of staff time has gone into the deer plan. Since I'm fiscally conservative guy who supports equality, I'll be kind and assume the city only did as much as the state, even though the expenditure of city staff time was likely much higher.

If you're adding this up, you know we've already spent $65,000, all public funds, on targeting these 50 deer or $1,300 per deer. And many more thousands will be spent. The city must hold public hearings and plans to lobby the legislature to pay for its deer reduction plan. I doubt the police department has special urban deer-killing equipment, so we have to buy it. And by the way, I'm a bit stressed about my police force out baiting and killing deer when they should be catching child predators, closing down meth labs, or busting those punks who prowl around Helena slashing tires and shooting out car windows with air pistols.

The venison must be handled properly, so somebody has to field dress the deer and take the meat over to Montana Food Share. And clean up the gut piles, of course, because I suspect people might object to finding them in our city parks.

I've probably missed a few expenses, but I feel safe saying the true cost isn't any less than $2,000 per deer this year. It might be less in future years, and I suppose it's a little unfair to put the entire amount on those 50 soon-to-be-dead deer instead of amortizing it over hundreds of more deer we plan to kill in the future. Killing deer might cost less than $2,000 per animal going forward, but will still cost us deerly.

If somebody wants to challenge my numbers, I'll make the adjustment and move on because the exact cost is not the point.

The point is: Do we want to spend so much public money to kill urban deer? And then repeat it every year to keep up with Mother Nature? Keeping in mind that close to half of Helenans don't want deer killed, would this public money be better spent on maintaining parks, buying a fire truck, reducing energy use, making our town more pedestrian or bicycle friendly, promoting recycling, repaving streets, or paying for a hundred other underfunded city services? Ditto for FWP money. Would it be better spent on hunting access programs or wildlife research?

In conclusion, I'd like to see the UWTF do another survey and ask this question: Are you in favor of reducing Helena's deer population at a cost of $2,000 per deer the first year and an undetermined expenditure of public funds in future years? I suspect that when the results came in, I might be in the majority.

[End of article]

Why not wolves to cure what ails? After all people pay a lot of money to travel to Jellystone to watch them. Helena could make money on this with 'urban safaris' to watch the wolves take down a few deer. Kind of a Roman sporting event. Bed, breakfast, blood, guts, and gore all before going to the legislative gallery. And if a few of the miscreants that shoot out windows get chomped, well....

More seriously, over at the Bangor sub base, when the deer became a nuisance they held a hunt by handicapped hunters. I'm sure within the Helena hunting and law enforcement communities there would be mentors, in conjunction with FWP, who would assist with a similar program as Bangor had at NO cost to the city or the state. Mentors might be incentivised with an elk tag in the district of their choice. I can't help but roll my eyes at how expensive govt can make simple solutions.

No need for wolves. Just have everyone in Helena let their dogs run loose like they do in Butte. There's no deer problem here.

This is a democracy. People get, and pay for, exactly what they want. Like teenage kids, what they need and what they want are many times not practical.

The answer to any technical problem can sometimes be best gained by having a contest. Last week I read about a contest to see who can build the best guidance system to safely drive a car around on public roads. Before WWII, Lord Beaverbrook in Great Britain sponsored an aeroplane race to find the fastest seaplane in the world. The Spitfire won. The RAF took off the floats, and it saved Britain. Man is driven to prevail in challenges.

Have an urban deer population control contest. Advertise nationally. Have a $20,000 prize for the accepted solution. Copyright the winning design, and the fund your program by leasing the rights to your methods and data.

"This majority appears to be carrying the day in Helena,"

Yeah, democracy must suck when it doesn't go your way.

If the majority always ruled in this country there would be no snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Al Gore would be President! Why not "haze" these deer out of town. The DOL could do it on their ATV's. Ripping through people's private property etc. I understand they are pretty good at doing that to wildlife (and property owners).

Right On Frank N - it isn't the majority of the peoples opinion that counts anymore - it is the majority of $$$$$!

This problem is not specific to Helena. When I lived in Minneapolis/St Paul, MN awhile back they had this same problem. There were more deer in the 5 country regional area around the cities and suburbs than there were in the rest of the state. While some animals were trapped and relocated, the primary poulation control solution became special draw, urban archery hunting units.
The most remoe areas of parks and open lands became very productive hunting areas a couple weeks a year. And what areas proved the most productive? Golf courses.
I had an aquaintence with more trophy, seriously big buck whitetails on his wall than anyone I've ever known. Everyone of them taken on a golf course less than 1/4 mile from a residential street.

Everytime the need to 'cull' a herd or population of 'whatever' needs to be culled, the 'conservationists' go bananas. Their suggestion will be to abandon the city and make the area a wildlife corridor. I remember back in the 80's, Boulder County, CO had a mountain lion problem. Some suggested putting up signs delcaring the urban mountain neighborhoods 'mountain lion free zones'. Yep...true story. Don't advocate for urban wolves. Once the deer are gone, and the ESA regs. are still in place, the urban wolves will have more rights than you and I. I like the special hunt permits idea. Better hurry. One of those urban deer might get elected to the city council.

do not care, not an important issue to me.

in a racist state like montana, a state that killed native americans and took thier land and now is destroying the environment

i think it should cot $100, 000 for a deer permit, free to mexicans and native americans and those whose relatives were slaughtered by racist whites in montana

more important is to have open borders in usa and allow native americans free homes

Donny, in case it may have not occurred to you, Montana doesn't have races of deer, only species, both whitetail and mule deer.

By the way, it wasn't the state that killed Indians such as Chief Heavy Runner along the Marias (known as the Marias or Baker Massacre), but the federal govt. representatives. See: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1151066

Crap. I'm Native American. I thought we were talking about urban deer sleeping on steam vents in alley's in cardboard boxes.
Why is it someone always has to drag Indians into their self-indulgent, emotionally crippled rants? By the way...many Indians are not enrolled, receive no tribal benefits, and don't want any government handouts or anyone advocating for them. Keep the free houses. Close the borders. Quit picking on the white guys today...they weren't there in the 19th Century. Back to the deer...Donny could bore them to death with his moral relativism.

I'm setting up my deer stand on Benton Ave. on the golf course.
Just to let you guys know. If you come out bring hot chocolate and cookies.

Bruce as you hunt on Benton Avenue, remind people of the immortal words of Elmer Fudd: http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/sound/elmer002.wav

There's not a bunny's difference between wabbits and deer.

Regarding Donny's beef, Elmer would say: http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/sound/elmer03.wav

Hold on....there's some guys who need to play through between my shots. I thought the golf course was closed for the winter.
????

What about all these geese out here? Are they considered pests?

Thanks for the reply Craig.

Bruce try not to think of this story when you use your bleat call.

This old deer hunter walks into a bar; sits down and orders a drink. Along comes a pretty woman,.who asks, "whats up big boy?" He responds - I'm a deer hunter, been one all my life. Everything a hunter could do, I've done it and I love it. Then he asks, what's up.

She responds, I am lesbian, been one all my life. Every waken moment I think about women. I think about kissing, hugging, holding and having sex with them. The deer hunter says hummmm, gets up and sits a couple stools down. Along comes another women and asks, "whats up?"

The deer hunter says, been a deer hunter all my life;everything a deer hunter could do I done it. But, I just found out something a few minutes ago. What's that she asked? Deer hunter says, "I am also a lesbian."

Gentlemen,

My memory gets weaker every day, but I sort of remember this column being something about the high cost of killing urban deer.

Bill

Bill, sometimes that cost involves pain, suffering, medical bills, and failed expectations.

It was November and Bill and Bruce decide they are gunna get a big buck this year. Bill says " How bout we learn that doe matin' call and we wear a doe suit. Bruce agrees and they practice until the opener. They go to a Helena golf course and they zip up their suit. Bruce is the head and Bill the back. Bruce starts calling and this big 12 pointer shows up. " Oh crap " Bill says. " What's wrong?" Bruce replies. Bill complains, "The zipper is stuck, what we gunna do? " " I'm gunna eat grass but Bill ya might wanna brace yourself for impact!"

Darn! Darn! Darn! There's a collared wolf in my pickup! @#$%!
Hold on guys. I have to call the Fish and Wildlife guy. Its illegal to harass wolves in your pickup. TOO LATE! The wolf just took off in my truck and hit one of those urban deer! Great.....
another Environmental Impact Study paid for by the Citizens of Montana. ......@#$$....stupid wolf....

Bruce, do Helena's urban deer have tine signs like they do in LA?

I don't know. I've never been to LA. What's a tine sign.
I've been to Cheyenne, Rawlands, and Butte. Do they have tine signs there? Learn something everyday.

http://mail.csufresno.edu/~haralds/htmlfiles/gang-signs.html

The urban mule deer and whitetail have their respective signs....since they lack fingers they use tines.

So if you see a forky with his antlers on sideways, you got a gang banger muley? Or a whitetail hanging real low to the ground, the tail almost dragging, you don't shoot because you know it's a spike even though you can't see the head.

That's the answer!!!!! Eureka!!!! Teach them how to be gang bangers and they shoot themselves!!!! And each other!!! Get them into 'hoes and does, blow, mary jane...Grow some backyard dope so the townie deer get loaded every night and shoot each other. How simple. See, we can learn something from the Mexican drug cartels. Self regulating population control. And of course, the illegal alien community can learn how to easily hop fences, and take over the town at night.

Bearbait, those anti-social Helena quadrapeds don't have drop tines and stickers for nothing.

I think it was the highly regarded artist, Ludicris, who wrote:

"There's does in tha room, there's does in tha car
there's does on stage, there's does by tha bar
does by near, an does by far"

Stop! You guys are killing me!!!!!
Craig & Bruce, I have laughed until my sides hurt.
Sorry Bill, some times the environmental community takes themselves too seriously solving all the world problems.

WHAM! Hey! Knock it off! Those guys are hitting golf balls at my deer stand! WHAM! I gotta' get down. There's an urban deer protest gathering on the golf course. The urban deer are holding little American flags and chanting they were here first. WHAM!
.....@#$%!!!.....I'm outta' here. I have to get to my belly dancing class. You just watch...the next endangered species Environmental Impact Statement for the pygmy rabbit will start right here on the golf course. I think the pygymy rabbit trumps the urban deer crisis. WHAM! MORONS! KNOCK IT OFF!

Marion, news today includes a story about Helena squirrels gone wild. Panicy screams heard from urban woods.

A Helena city fellow asked his friend the country boy to take him deer hunting in one of Helena's open spaces, as he had never been hunting before. The country boy agreed to this, as long as the city fellow did EXACTLY what he was told to do.

The two men got their gear together and went into the woods. The country boy told the city fellow to sit down on a log that lay beside a deer trail near Benton Avenue, and that if he stayed quiet and waited, the deer would come right by him on the way to the creek, and he would be able to get a good shot. The country boy said that he was going to go on down the trail about a mile to another good spot, and he would be back to meet the city fellow later.

But a few hours later, the country boy heard all kinds of yelling and screaming as the city fellow came running down the trail!! "Well what's wrong with you?", he asked the city fellow. "Why didn't you stay where I told you to?"

The city fellow, still very excited, replied, "Well, when the bobcat came over and sharpened his claws on the log, I didn't move. When the bear came and sat on the other end of the log, I didn't move. But when the two squirrels came up, climbed into my lap and then one said to the other, 'Shall we take them with us or eat them here', well I just couldn't stand it any more!"

When the city fellow told his story to the Helena police, they just sort of shrugged and said, "Now you know what we go through and suggested that all Helena urban hunters wear protective gear.

Between West Nile and squirrels gone wild, it's no wonder Bill hung up his rifle.

Marion,

Well, I guess there's no way to get this back on track, but Craig is sure right about one thing..."the squirrels have gone wild."

Bill

Ray Stevens has a song/video about squirrels gone wild in a church. It fits this thread perfectly.
I think we needed a blog that had a little humor in it.
I live out of town and I know city dwelling deer are more of a problem than here, nothing like it will be if lions and wolves come to town to thin 'em out though. I doubt if people would even obey a no feeding law, they don't seem to pay much attention in Jackson and ther they have ended up with lions in yards.
I don't feed deer in my yard becasue I don't want them getting hit on the highway, on the other hand they do eat tomatoes out of the planters against the house in the summer.

Bill: What is your solution to the urban deer problem?

Were it so simple to view at as an economic issue. Yes the cost did continue to mount. Yes the cost per antler went up as the proposed # to cull went down. The idea was a good one to start, and may still be worth it if there's one kid in the south central 'hood, the mansion district, or by Bill Roberts Golf Course, that doesn't get seriously hurt or worse by one of our urban deer. My big friendly mutt is now scared to death of deer after one went after him last summer in town. These are not your skittish Bambis. Not to mention the occasional mountain lion that wanders into town anyway but might be more inclined if he figures out we've got lots of venison for the taking.

Bruce,

Like I said, I have no problem killing urban deer (or non-urban deer), but I have to believe there's a less expensive way to do it. Personally, I don't consider deer a big problem compared with the other challenges we face in Helena, but I have friends in other parts of town who obviously have a serious problem, so I wouldn't object to something being done to solve it. I consider dogs running around town uncontrolled as a greater hazard than deer running around uncontrolled. We all know domestic dogs have killed many more people than deer have.

Bill

Thanks Bill. The problem with urban cervid populations are the danger in traffic, private property damage, ordinances prohibiting discharge of firearms within city limits, major carnivore migration following the cervid into populated areas, and wasting disease among a concentrated population of cervids. People have accepted the presence of elk in Estes Park, CO. Estes Park is situated in the mountains and right at the door step of Rocky Mountain Park. The elk pass through town, but very few make it a 'home'. Helena is larger and too close to wildlfe zones to allow an urban cervid population to thrive. The urban herd needs to be removed at great cost to the taxpayer. I don't have a answer as how the state would want to accomplish this. When a child or adult is seriously injured by one of these urban deer, that answer will become apparent.

Bill: What is your solution to the urban deer problem that is less expensive?

I don't know why my comment came up a second time.
Disregard....computer clitch.

Bruce, another serious disease issue is lyme disease as has been experienced in the East. That tends to tick off the city folk. That just mite be a major factor in encouraging the removal.

Charlie,

I admit that I don't have the solution, but I sure would look at less expensive options, including the "no nothing" option. How about selling hunting permits and make money off of our urban deer? It's worked elsewhere, and with the bucks we have running around town, we'd probably have 50 applicants for every permit. Plus, no expense in caring for the meat or clean up. Montana law requires hunters to use the meat, and the permit can require disposal of the gut pile.

Bill

An urban hunt would be a revenue generator instead of a revenue drain. My concern is where is that 'missed' shot going to hit.
I'm not trying to be an obstacle to the solution, but I'm concerned about a flood of new and inexperienced hunters, hunting in their backyards or in city parks.

The guy who made the first big plastic owl to scare away pigeons probably made a mint. How about I sell the city some big plastic wolves to place around town. My idea. I thought of it first guys!

Bill, I think the handicap hunt, as was done at Bangor, is the way to go. Permits sold and the like. At Bangor, it was archery only but I could see firearms limited to shotgun slugs or buck shot so as not to have the long range carry.

Personally I think a handicap hunt is a great idea, with limited numbers each of alternating days. That way you wouldn't have the town full of people shooting all at one time. After all it wouldn't be like they had to stalk their deer, so it shouldn't take that long.
Another idea would be to have volunteers to kill them for a food bank or something like that, again a few hunters at a time.

Oh, deer, someone is passing the buck in Helena.

Eiselein, I sure hope that buck someone is passing is one of those gummy candies. Otherwise, those horns may really hurt. Since those bucks tend to hang around Helena I guess a buck just doesn't go as far as it use to.

In terms of the money issue, why doesn't Helena pursue a change in the law so that it could sell the antler sheds. Ten dimes takes a whole buck out of circulation.

When I lived in Ancorage there was an in-town bow hunting season for moose every year. Hunters had to qualify so they did not just injure them, pay fees and it helped keep the moose off the runway...free market solutions win again...

Too bad it is not turnips or tomatoes over running town. Then the vegans could get involved. But deer are a pretty good grade of meat. Probably not organic as household pesticide use far exceeds farm use on a per square foot basis. Somehow, that meat should be used, because when it is, there are fewer deer. I think a master hunter kind of hunt is a viable answer. And if there are enough trees, or attic windows, for suitable shooting platforms, so much the better. Shooting down is the best answer to control where projectiles travel.

I would not fawn over any one solution, or dote on all of them, but the buck has to stop somewhere. Perhaps a staggered season is a good deal.

Bearbait, the buck that stops in Helena has acquired a reputation for ravaging the local does and pillaging the gardens. He goes by the name, "Antilla." He prefers the Francophile ladies with the cheap perfume and stiletto heels. He has become very fawn of a particular delicate bored doe and cheese.

Shiraz hell a hunter in day-glo red would be confronted by Annie Greensprings and her crew of deer protectors just when he was about to help Antilla catch the Nightrain to eternity. But, with Brut force, the hunter was able to prevail. Antilla will Pinot more.

Red Foxx use to say mix a little champagne with ripple and get champipple for less than a buck. One of the tiner elixers for getting the doe to stand on all fours.

I would like to add Bearbait's ability to buff a pun to a brilliant shade of lagniappe is something to behold. Like the blinded deer discovered, there's not a good eye deer to contine down this path.

Sorry about the digression Bill, but life is too short not to get a little side tracked once in a while. And, as you so skillfully point out, Helena seems to want to spend a lot of money on a problem that is nationwide.

I have a friend who said he went to visit a friend in a winter southland gated golfy kinda place, and the first thing he saw after the gate closed behind him was a coyote trotting proudly down the middle of the street with a mouthful of dead siamese cat, around whose neck a rhinestone tennis bracelet sparkled. Uptown dog.

There are myriad studies out of the East on geese and goose poop. Some municipal sewage lagoons never get their ecoli numbers down due to goose poop from resident Lumpy Lake geese. If you saw the ecoli numbers for geese, you would never eat another goose from town.

Squirrels have become a problem, and when the lights go out, you mostly know another squirrel bought it on a transformer.

It appears a good reference study would be a very good pathfinder for Helena. I have to bet the answers and results from many municipal deer reduction efforts are in a good reference study, literature review. Find a good high school biology class and let them develop a plan from a literature review.

When I lived in Jackson Hole in the early 70's I had a deer problem and a jackrabbit problem. The deer were looking in my windows and the jackrabbits were staying up late making noise under my cabin. I rigged up a recording of a predator, the wolf, growling and howling and set out speakers outside. I didn't play it too loud. It worked. I had it outside for about two weeks and the varmits went away. One day I came home and found my speakers and tape recorder inside a Wyo. Fish and Game live trap.
....@#$%!!....

For nearly 40 years, my family has lived in Helena's so-called "mansion district" (which it's NOT, btw, that's a realtors' conceit, it is historically the "West Side"), the mule deer overpopulation is a relatively recent problem but one which will engender more problems down the line. My proposal for how to underwrite the culling is to impose a surcharge on developers &/OR a higher tax rate on those whose McMansions (e.g. Reeder's Village) & residences have displaced the deer into "town". My friends who live in historic houses on the south end of Howie St. spoke out against the Reeders Village development, knowing it would increase the deer population by destroying their habitat. Not to mix animals, but the horse is out of the barn on this one unfortunately. Other developments (like Westridge, the Parriman PUD, the one nearly on the face of Mt. Helena) are the newest chapter in this deer diaspora & will only intensify the problem. The Independent Record (1 Oct 2007) had an interesting interview with FWP wildlife biologist Gayle Joslin before her retirement from which I quote here:

"The new subdivision just west of Kessler School is in the middle of a wildlife corridor. The landscaping in the median on Highway 12 west draws the deer into the middle of the highway on a blind curve. That proposed biathlon course atop MacDonald Pass couldn’t be in a worse possible place.

'I like trying to help people understand what wildlife needs,' she said quietly, reflecting on her career. 'Wildlife is a public trust and the public expects us, as a state agency, to do what’s best for wildlife. Our only real hope, as more and more subdivisions and energy development occurs, is to have a strong appreciation and public awareness for wildlife, so people are willing to make sacrifices to maintain the integrity of our wild lands.'”

I say: make the developers &/or people who live in the developments pay for the deer culling!!

There once was a columnist named Chuck
Who wrote his stories with pluck
One day he fell
And yelled, "What the hell
Was that whiskey, women, or the buck?"

Bill: I think you need to do a cull yourself. On the "comments."

It is a serious issue in Helena. I hope it doesn't get more serious, but I'm afraid it will. Chase some of the puns over to a wolves column.

There once was a 42 point buck named Farley
He terrorized Helena's punnies on his Harley
One day as he rode
As if seated on a commode
Screams rang clear
Directed to the love crazed deer

"We wished that Harley would get the buck out of here."

Charlie, what are your suggestions for Farley and all his kin? We would dearly like to know.

I was squarely in favor of the commission's original plan to take out 300-350 of them. As in these postings, I believe the Fish & Game Commission didn't take the issue seriously. 50 is a start, though.

I think a vast majority of people agree that the deer problem should be addressed. Bill, points out a very exspensive govt solution involving city police. Now why not look to make money on this, involve the hunting community, and turn lemons into lemonade? One person commented that a similar problem was addressed by allowing archery hunters to hunt the urban areas. The Bangor sub base had a handicapped hunt. The archery idea makes sense to me with archers shooting downwards from elevated positions. People PAY for these opportunities.

Some discussion with the Montana Bowhunters Association might just be fruitful. See: http://www.mtba.org/

In re-reading the article, I see that there may not have been as much of the back story as there could have been .

I can't find the task force report online, but here's what a little googling turns up:

http://deerimpacts.blogspot.com/2007/03/montana-news-helena-task-force.html

http://www.understand-a-bull.com/Articles/OtherBreedBites/2006/June/Deerkilledafterattackingwoman0606.pdf


This really wasn't all that controversial in the scheme of Helena politics as it was going on. Bill's criticism of the cost, while not unique, really only gained much if any traction after the F&G;Commission cut the number to 50.
The task force seemed to do a good job at the time, and I frankly don't remember why they discarded the other options. At 350 deer, the city contribution to the project anyway didn't seem like much. I know one of the concerns that went into doing something in the first place, though, was cops' time spent responding to dead deer, deer-car accidents, and buck and doe attacks on our fellow citizens and mutts.

Bill: If you think the story still has legs, give Matt Cohn a call and have him post something.

100,000 dollar task forces to address a problem when cheap, and possibly revenue raising, solutions abound seems like a waste of an ocelot of money.

Sometimes instead of recreating the wheel it's best just to use an existing design.

http://www.mdwfp.com/Level2/Wildlife/Game/Deer/Articles.asp?article=172

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Management options for urban and suburban deer include lethal and non-lethal methods. The lethal methods include hunting, sharpshooting, and trapping and euthanasia. Hunting is the most common method of managing deer herds in both suburban and urban areas of Mississippi. Mississippi has a four-month deer season, extending from October 1 until January 31. Many urban and suburban areas do not allow the discharge of firearms, but most do allow hunting with archery equipment. A hunter may hunt with archery equipment the entire four-month season. Hunting allows for both recreational and consumptive management of the deer herd. Hunting also results in no expense for the community.
<<<<<<<<<

I again suggest a call to the Montana Bowhunters Assoc. Perhaps Mississippi's experience of " no expense for the community," might just appeal to those that oppose govt. waste.