Cape City Council to gather information for possible future deer hunt

Count Bonnie Coy-Svenson among those residents who want to see an urban deer hunt conducted within the city limits of Cape Girardeau.

Coy-Svenson, at the most recent meeting of the Cape Girardeau City Council, demonstrated her advocacy for the idea by sporting a COVID-19 mask featuring the imprint of a deer with a red slash through it.

“Deer have become a pest (and) a nuisance,” said Coy-Svenson, a resident of the city’s 1st Ward.

“I love Bambi, but we’ve got an unsafe situation with the number of deer in town,” she added.

Former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, himself a Cape Girardeau resident, urged the council Oct. 19 to revisit a deer hunt, suggesting the deer herd in the city “is at least twice the optimum population and growing.”

Specifically, Kinder asked city officials to “get some facts” about the current population of deer in Cape Girardeau and to lean on information provided by conservation biologists within the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).

A face covering supporting a future urban deer bowhunt was worn by city resident Bonnie Coy-Svenson at the Oct. 19 meeting of Cape Girardeau City Council.Jeff Long

Familiar territory

The city has trod this ground before.

In July 2012, by a 4-3 vote, an ordinance was passed by the City Council authorizing an archery hunt to thin the herd following MDC input and complaints of deer damaging property and causing vehicular accidents.

The ordinance was rolled back by voter referendum in April 2013 by a 53.7% to 46.3% vote — the first time such a council-approved measure had ever been invalidated by plebiscite.

A new day

“(The 2012 referendum) failed by 206 votes,” Coy-Svenson said. “We need to pursue (a deer hunt) again.”

The 1st Ward councilman who represents Coy-Svenson, Dan Presson, is not at all convinced a bowhunt should happen.

“Right now, I’m against (the idea) 100%,” said Presson, who has served since 2018 and whose ward covers the Red Star neighborhood.

“I will pay attention to what MDC tells us,” he said, adding he would only entertain voting “yes” on a proposed hunt under certain conditions.

“If MDC tells us the deer are suffering from chronic wasting disease, then yes, we have to do something,” said Presson, who works as director of career services for Southeast Missouri State University.

“If the deer are just seen as a nuisance, then that’s not enough for me,” he added, saying he will be persuaded by reputable “science” supporting a deer hunt proposal.

Next steps

On Monday, city manager Scott Meyer plans to tell the seven-person council, none of whom was on the governing body eight years ago, that he has amassed certain data for its consideration.

“We’ve looked especially at traffic accidents involving deer and deer injuries, and it appears the numbers are up in the last few years,” said Meyer, the longest serving city manager in Cape Girardeau’s history who plans to retire in summer 2021.

“It’s deer season now, and MDC is pretty busy at the moment, but as a city staff, we hope to get a meeting scheduled in November with them to do some game planning,” he added.

Mayor Bob Fox remains receptive to the notion of a future hunt.

“I’ll go along with the council but, yes, I’d be in favor,” said Fox, whose service as Cape Girardeau’s top elected official began in 2018.

Fox said he has heard from constituents on the issue.

“I’ve gotten 12-to-15 emails and there’s only been one negative one (to a hunt),” Fox said, adding some residents have asked why the city has not acted to authorize a hunt already.

“I can promise you, we will make a well-educated decision,” said Fox, adding he would automatically rule out the use of crossbows or firearms in any future hunt.

Fox agreed with Meyer that MDC’s current attention is on deer season and he does not expect any definitive hunting decision, one way or the other, until at least early 2021.

If the council acts to adopt a hunt, Fox said there is one thing he’d like to see happen as a result.

“I’d like to find a way to donate the deer meat to a worthy cause,” Fox said.