Group to fight deer hunting in Cape Girardeau city limits

In November, Cape Girardeau city manager Scott Meyer appointed a seven-person committee to take a look at allowing trained bow hunters in the city limits to thin the ever-expanding deer herd.

Now, a group that calls itself Cape Friends of Wildlife is organizing to serve as the counterpoint.

"We want to educate people that there are other ways to deal with problems with deer and other wildlife short of killing them," said Stephen Stigers, a local physician and group organizer.

The group's first meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Stigers has been opposed to allowing deer hunting from the start, speaking out at city council meetings and attending some of the Deer Management Committee's first three meetings.

A car travels north on Sprigg Street on Jan. 20 as four does graze in the field near the intersection of Sprigg and Bertling streets in Cape Girardeau.LAURA SIMONlsimon@semissourian.com

Council member John Voss asked for the city to consider looking at ways to reduce the number of deer in town, suggesting that the citizens committee zero in on urban deer hunting. Some residents have complained that the deer are destroying landscapes and have led to an increase in motor vehicle accidents.

But Stigers and others have said they don't think killing the animals is necessary.

"We feel like the bowhunting proposal is jumping to the most extreme measure without evaluating other possibilities," Stigers said.

Stigers also pointed out that reliable estimates about exactly how many deer reside in the city limits aren't available, a fact recently confirmed by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

If those numbers still show that the numbers need to be reduced, Stigers thinks the city ought to be considering nonlethal measures, such as deterrents, relocations or contraception.

Some members of the citizens advisory committee agree with Stigers. At its most recent meeting, Beverly Weakley talked about resigning from the group because she feels like the members have already made up their minds in favor of allowing hunting in the city limits.

Member Jim Whitnel on Friday said he would vote no and intends to let the council -- which will have final say -- know that he doesn't think it's a good idea. He has not been convinced, he said, that allowing bow hunting in Cape Girardeau would be safe. He agreed that somehow a count needs to be made of how many deer live in the city limits.

"I'm not saying if we had 100 deer a square mile, we wouldn't have to do something, but I don't think we're there yet."

Whitnel also said he intends to attend the Cape Friends of Wildlife meeting Tuesday night.

Dru Reeves and several other members of the Deer Management Committee are leaning toward recommending that urban deer hunting be allowed. He pointed out that the committee has asked the Missouri Department of Conservation if a count or estimate could be made available.

He also reiterated what the conservation department told the committee at a recent meeting -- that nonlethal means are also the least effective means to manage deer populations.

"They're very expensive, and things like relocation stress the deer and kill them anyway," Reeves said. "You will not accomplish greatly reducing the density per square mile with nonlethal means. You're shooting in the wind. It's not going to get you anywhere."

Reeves also didn't understand why so many people are against hunting in the city's limits, something that takes place just outside its borders.

"This is what I don't get: We hunt in 90 percent of the state and nobody says anything about it. But we talk about doing the exact same thing, a managed hunt administered by the conservation department, and everybody gets up in arms."

But for Stigers and his group, he just wants the city to know there are other options and that not everyone in town thinks this is the best idea.

"I think if they see how large the opposition is in the community, I think they will stop and re-evaluate," he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

711 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO