Once Scorned, Deer Hunters Find Welcome in Suburban Md.

[Are_grits_groceries]

A year ago, this would have been illegal: Mark Eakin, a federal oceanographer and avid deer hunter, sat in a portable tree stand with his bow at the ready, overlooking a small creek and two Rockville back yards on a cold January morning. As the camo-clad Eakin peered down, the weekday routine rolled down the street behind him, school buses, trash trucks and commuters heading toward Wootton Parkway.

"The worst is when people are out here with their leaf blowers," Eakin said. "You don't see a lot of deer then."
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The new rules largely do away with the added restrictions the county had maintained in the so-called urban zone of southern Montgomery, almost two-thirds of the county stretching from near Germantown to the District border. No longer do licensed hunters there have to obtain special permission from Montgomery police to hunt with firearms on land parcels of at least 50 acres, as long as they have the owner's permission.

The rules also reduce from 200 yards to 150 yards the distance hunters must stay from houses or buildings. And there is no longer a requirement that bow hunters be at least 100 yards from any road; now they can station themselves near a road as long as they don't shoot across it. Hunters are also required to shoot downward from an elevated stand, which reduces the distance a slug or arrow can travel.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102587_2.html?hpid=moreheadlines

I understand the problem when the deer population gets out of control. However, this gives me a bad feeling. Montgomery County is densely populated. There are some hunters I know that I wouldn't want anywhere near my property even if they could only shoot downwards into a big hole.

[1620rock]

1. This is Amerika, we LOVE to kill.

[Raskolnik]

10. A bit dramatic, aren't we? n/t

[elleng]

2. Guess I shouldn't go out

during 'deer' season, eh?

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. I wouldn't be thrilled about this.

I've known some goobers who have shot people wearing bright orange clothing.

It should make the outdoors more exciting.
:sarcasm:

[Lorien]

4. I feel the same way. There's no way in hell I'd want a hunter that close

I know several people who quit hunting because other hunters (not with their party) nearly killed them when "mistaking" them for a deer. There was a mother killed by an avid deerhunter in her own backyard while hanging laundry several years ago and the judge let the hunter off scott free because he was a hunter himself and said it was "an honest mistake" (I can't imagine how her young children and husband felt at that ruling). If you aren't safe in your own backyard, then where?

[Botany]

5. this very much needed

lyme disease is a real problem

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. I know you have to cull.

In an area like that, I'd want to be careful about who was hunting.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. I would make it bow only

Also it still requires permission from landowners, which will help considerably. I have friends who subsist of the deer and elk they cull. Not that bad an approach for us omnivores

[L0oniX]

16. Bow hunting is much more sporting.

[tuckessee]

17. Why bow only?

Do you like to see animals suffer?

Bow hunting, as you certainly know, is a rather inexact method.

Lots of bow wounded deer have to be tracked down. Many victims of the bow are never found, destined to spend their final hours or days in abject pain and suffering while they die slow, horrorific deaths.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. Limits the yahoos and the road hunters

Its also much less likely to result in civilian casualties.

A good bow hunter is up there with a good rifleman when it comes to dropping an animal in its place. Rifleman tend to take longer shots, have overshoot issues, are much more likely to hit non-targets, and still have to chase their prey down many times.

I have hunted deer and elk with bow, rifle, shotgun, and black powder. Bow would me by method for close to civilization hunting.

[tuckessee]

14. So what's your solution?

Killing all deer? Eradicating them from the face of earth is the only way to truly curb lyme disease.

[FourScore]

15. The American Lyme Disease Foundation does not advocate the killing of deer.

In fact, it's the ticks, not the deer that infect people.

there are better and safer alternatives to fight this than firearms.

Check out this link and scroll down to the section 3 on Lyme Disease:

http://www.cayugadeer.org/alternatives.htm

[bertman]

8. We have a small herd--five or six--that come to our house every night for the corn my

wife feeds them. They are all over town all year long. Constantly being run over by motorists.

They are beautiful creatures and fun to watch, especially the fawns. Where we live they really have no natural enemies except humans, automobiles, and the occasional coyote.

My wife loves animals and says that she gardens for wildlife, but lots of other residents don't appreciate losing their landscape plants to deer herds.

Personally, I like having meat on the hoof in the back yard. Just in case.

[FourScore]

9. This is why it SHOULD bother you...

This has been discussed in my town. It doesn't look like it is garnering much public support thatnks to this website and A STRONG campaign against it.

Read these case studies...

http://www.cayugadeer.org/safe.htm

[Raskolnik]

11. If you can show that the culling program is more dangerous than car accidents caused by

deer overpopulation, then I think you may have a point.

Otherwise, I don't think the argument has a lot of merit.

[FourScore]

12. There are other ways to handle this rather than with firearms.

No one is saying to do nothing.

BTW,I come from a hunting family and no one in my family thinks that shooting weapons in this populated area is a good idea.

[Raskolnik]

13. Yes, other methods that cost a huge amount of money.

Honestly, I understand not wanting to have gunfire in a relatively populated area, but I think this line of argument from the website you posted is disingenuous at best.

[FourScore]

18. The notion that collision fatalities have risen in this area due to deer

is also disingenuous.

Check out this data:

Deer-vehicle collisions

In 2006, 2007 and 2008, there were, respectively, 11, 12 and 3 (as of 9/30/08) deer-vehicle collisions in Cayuga Heights.2 None of these accidents resulted in serious human injury. This reflects a state-wide trend, where only a small percentage of deer-vehicle collisions result in serious human injury,3 a trend that is likely accentuated by Cayuga Heights' relatively low speed limit. In fact, most fatalities from deer-vehicle collisions happen in speed zones of 55 mph or higher, when the victims are not wearing seatbelts or motorcycle helmets.4 It is interesting to note that a report by the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University in 2001 found that the rate of deer-vehicle collisions in Cayuga Heights had been approximately 10 per year for the previous six years.5 Hence, the idea that the deer population in Cayuga Heights is spiralling out of control, and bringing with it a dramatic increase in deer-vehicle collisions, is not supported by the data. http://www.cayugadeer.org/alternatives.htm

I wonder if it excedes the number of colisions from people swerving to avoid hitting other wildlife. A professor here in town died just over a year ago on his motorcycle trying to avoid hitting a cat. There have been no deer fatalities. Should we now shoot cats?

A system called Streiter-Lite is being used in surrounding areas with remarkably good results. Federal grants support the installation and can help reduce the cost.

It could be much cheaper than a huge lawsuit because someone was killed or maimed by a ricocheting bullet. The argument is not as disingenuous as you may think. If you're going to go shooting bullets at wildlife in a populated area, then you can hope for the best but you better be prepared for the worst.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. I also ride motorcycles...deer really scare riders...refered to as Hoof Rats

Take for example: http://www.mikeoneill.com/reeky/roadkill.html

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. That is why I would advocate bow hunting instead

[Faygo Kid]

19. I live in Silver Spring

Not thrilled with this.