[Durham INC] council's decision regarding deer hunting

Thu Jan 9 17:51:36 EST 2014

George and I support the Council's decision regarding deer hunting, as well
as Duke University's annual deer cull in Duke Forest, near our home. 

The arguments pro and con deer hunting are well known.  Despite a tiny
minority of objectors, community after community is coming to the inevitable
conclusion that there are more and more deer until responsible hunters are
engaged to keep their numbers in check.  

The Department of Natural Resources of the State of Maryland is one of an
overwhelming number of sources which explain the necessity of keeping deer
populations under control through responsible hunting:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Hunt_Trap/deer/deer_management/deerhunta
stool.asp 

Most of us accept that humans are creating, not taking away deer habitat.
Deer are edge dwellers, and thrive on suburban gardens.  Deer are thriving
precisely because of human development.  

Let's support responsible hunting, including urban archery, and providing
deer meat to community kitchens.

Deb Christie  

From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
Behalf Of Dorothy Potter Snyder
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 4:39 PM
To: Rebecca Board; list at durham-inc.org
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] council's decision regarding deer hunting

Let's remember that we humans with our endless building are taking away the
deer's habitat which forces them ever closer into suburban areas. This is
their land, too. There is no harm the deer do that merits death, unless you
figure that the loss of the tip of a branch of an an ornamental should be
punishable by death.

No one is welcome to hunt here in my yard, or in our neighborhood. I will
stand up against any suggestion to kill creatures within city limits.

Peace,

Dorothy Snyder

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 11:59 AM, Rebecca Board <becca at cyberlily.com> wrote:

Personally, I support the City Council in this.  I'm a strong supporter of
gun control, but I also believe that within the city limits the only good
deer is a dead one.  They breed like bunnies, have no predators except cars
to cull the population, and they cause a lot of damage.  I've wanted a way
to cull my personal deer population on a city lot for decades now, and would
feel a lot better about bringing in an archer than someone with a gun - not
necessarily because the weapon does less damage, but because it takes more
skill and thought to use a bow than to pull a trigger.

Sounds like the hunter in the story below didn't care if what he was doing
was legal or not, endangered others or not,  disturbed the peace or not,
caused him to trespass or not.  My question is how do we keep jerks like
this from being allowed to hunt anywhere with any type of weapon?

As many gun problems as we have in this country, archers and even hunters
with single shot rifles are pretty low on my list of threats.

BUT, if I'd had the experience of the person below, I'd probably have sent
the same letter.  It's understandable.  But personally I've heard a lot more
stories about problems caused by deer than stories about crazy hunters.

--Rebecca

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 10:29 AM, Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Please see the following/forwarded message to the Council from my friend
Carol Young. While I agree with ecologically sound ways of dealing with an
overpopulation of deer when it exists, I am also concerned about allowing
people to hunt deer within city limits, whether with a bow, a boomerang,
whatever. The story described below is an example of the situations that can
(and have) developed (and this is with hunters on what is presumed to be
gameland).

I am interested in others' thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,

Melissa Rooney

> Dear Council,
> 
> Once again I'm informing you of our latest disturbing experience with a
"law abiding" hunter. 
> 
> As background information, there is a narrow spit of land between Lake
Park and Lyon's Farm north of Scott King Rd. that was included as NC
Gameland as part of the Jordan Lake 240 foot contour line. When this area
was designated as Gameland, there was only the beginning of construction of
Lake Park in the late 1970's. To the west was nothing but undisturbed forest
save for a few homes scattered along the dirt roads all the way to NC 751.
The distance between Lake Park and Lyon's Farm encompassing this Gameland is
between 300 feet and 500. Clearly this area should no longer be part of
Gameland due to its proximity to homes.
> 
> Today in the late afternoon, a hunter trespassed on my neighbor's and my
property to access the northern edge of Gameland, less than 150 feet from my
property to set up a his deer stand aimed into a wooded area that is within
the city limits. I watched him as he scoped into this area and advised him
that he was aiming into the city limits and I would call the police if I saw
him shoot illegally. I further advised him to turn his stand around facing
into Gameland where he would be legal. In the two plus hours he was there,
he maintained his aim into the city limits.
> 
> I alerted a neighbor to the hunting activity as he was about to walk his
dog in this area. He walked down to our property with his dog and talked to
my husband who was finishing up yard work and at that point, not interacting
with the hunter. By this time it was dark and my neighbor shined a light on
the hunter and asked him what he was doing. The hunter taunted my husband
and neighbor saying he would be up in the stand all night and "hoped" his
coyote calls wouldn't wake us up. Then he made a few coyote calls to prove
his point. The hunter opined to my neighbor that he didn't think it wise for
him to be talking like he did to someone who had weapons, clearly a veiled
threat. It was now past legal hunting time (being more than one half hour
after sunset)so my husband asked the hunter if he knew what time it was. The
hunter either didn't answer or didn't know. My husband walked into the house
and called 911 having felt threatened by this man.
> 
> When the male deputy and my husband walked to the rear of our property
they were greeted by the hunter shining a light on them and mockingly
saying, "Hello ladies." The deputy said, "Durham County Sheriff's Deputy,
turn your light off," which the hunter ignored. Upon the second request by
the deputy the hunter asked the deputy for identification. The deputy
responded, "Don't you see my uniform?" The deputy then informed the hunter
that deer hunting season ended one half hour after sunset, it was past that
time and this man needed to leave. This hunter had the nerve to ask the
deputy to give him a ride to his vehicle which would have meant walking
through our property to reach the patrol car. The deputy said he would not
give him a ride and waited until the man left the area. 
> 
> To say this latest encounter was un-nerving is an understatement. No one
should have to put up with this dangerous nonsense. In light of your recent
decision, clearly ignorant of the behavior of many hunters, you are putting
residents at risk. Have you thought about adjacent property owners not
knowing that hunting will occur next to them or that a hunter will know the
boundary of the land much less know where 250 from the boundary is or god
forbid a child goes into the area and is shot? Do you honestly think hunters
will care about these rules should a deer be sighted outside of the legal
hunting area?. Law enforcement has enough to do without responding to
dangerous situations created by your unanimous decision.
> 
> Citizens should not be on the front line ensuring that hunters obey the
rules. I trust none of you live where you've dealt with this type of
situation. Again, I am asking you to overturn your bow hunting decision, and
failing that, at the very least land owners who allow hunting should clearly
mark their property lines identifying the property as hunting land as well
as mark the 250 foot no hunting buffer, notify adjacent property owners
and/or register their property with the city as hunting land.  
> 
> Considering this latest unsettling encounter with a person who holds his
right to hunt above the safety of others (and he is not an isolated case), I
believe a response from you is warranted. Again, please reconsider your
decision. I'd rather take my chances with the deer, at least they don't
retaliate, something I don't put past this hunter.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Carol Young

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-- 

Dorothy Potter Snyder

The Art of Language

919-237-2931

www.dorothypotterspanish.com

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