Deer committee to decide on recommendation at Tuesday meeting

After five months of meetings, a highly attended public forum and reams of data to sift through, Cape Girardeau's Deer Management Committee is poised to officially decide on its recommendation Tuesday night.

And, barring any last-minute changes of heart, it seems all but certain that the committee will recommend that city leaders implement urban deer hunting to help curb the number of deer inside the city limits.

Three of the committee's five members -- Dru Reeves, Bard Womack and Judy Graetz -- are staunch supporters. Member Jim Whitnel has said he opposes urban deer hunting, and member Mel Dockins has not made his opinion publicly known.

The committee's next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Committee members have said they'd like to make their recommendation at the Cape Girardeau City Council's March 19 meeting.

"From what I understand, we will call this thing to a vote," Reeves said. "We'll lay out all the facts and vote."

Reeves said the committee has received the city's compilation of all public input since the idea was broached last fall. At the Feb. 28 public forum, the roughly 30 people who spoke at the Osage Centre were almost evenly divided.

However, most of the opinions collected by the city online and through letters expressed opposition to the proposal, which supporters say should help reduce the number of traffic accidents and stem the destruction of lawns that some homeowners say are caused by hungry deer.

In fact, the number of those who oppose deer hunting, according to a packet of information collected by the city, show that 76 said deer hunting is unnecessary and possibly unsafe. The city collected 31 votes or letters of support.

Stephen Stigers, the leader of the opposition group Cape Friends of Wildlife, had also obtained copies of the opinions.

"The number of people against hunting is vastly greater than those who support urban deer hunting," Stigers said. "It's hard for me to see if they want this to represent the will of the community, how they can recommend jumping to deer hunting at this point."

Reeves said he was still going through that information, but he remains in favor of allowing urban deer hunting. He understands some people want a scientific count of exactly how many deer are within the city's boundaries.

But he said that will be almost impossible to get and that he is willing to trust the Missouri Department of Conservation and the city's nuisance abatement officer, who told the committee at earlier meetings that the number of deer is getting out of control.

"My feeling is that even if we did a count and it showed that the city is overrun with deer, Stigers and his group would still oppose allowing deer hunting," Reeves said. "From watching them, they would oppose any type of physical harm to the deer no matter how bad the problem."

Reeves still believes it is more cost-effective and would thin the herd better than nonlethal options, such as fencing.

"I have found very little information that says nonlethal methods are effective," he said.

But Stigers said his group does not oppose urban deer hunting for no reason.

"Most of us are not fanatics," he said. "Most of us believe we have a responsibility to approach this issue in a more responsible scientific manner than the committee has done. Frankly, I'm more concerned about people than animals. But I'm also concerned about animal welfare."

Roger Fields, the city's assistant police chief who serves as the committee liaison, said the committee will discuss the issue Tuesday and determine if its members feel like they're ready to present something to the council.

"I'll know more about that after this next meeting," Fields said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO