Thinning the herd: Cape City Council looking at allowing urban deer hunting

Judy Graetz gets it: Deer are adorable.

The 66-year-old Cape Girardeau resident knows that many are charmed and delightfully surprised when -- especially in an urban setting -- they come across whitetail does or strapping young bucks.

"Deer are cute. I like them," Graetz said. "But this past summer, we've just grown disgusted with them."

For the past several years, the ruminant mammals have been unwelcome visitors to Graetz's carefully cultivated lawn on Sylvan Lane -- making a buffet out of the flower beds and maiming trees with their sharp antlers.

"Each year it gets worse and worse," Graetz said. "But the last three years have been just really, really bad. We can't even put any flowers out because we know they'll be gone."

The deer amble up to her back door, skirt across her driveway. They have made a mess of her weeping willow and killed a cherished dogwood tree. And they are plentiful, she said: "It's nothing for us to go into our back yard and see 13, 14 deer."

If Graetz considers that an all-out assault, she's tried to fight back. She peppered her yard with cayenne, put moth balls in her yard, erected three-foot fences around her flowers, invested in deer repellent spray and has even resorted to costly coyote urine that runs $80 an ounce.

"Just old wives' tales and different things," she said of where she got her ideas. "I've tried everything, but I haven't found anything that will keep them away."

Now, Graetz is hoping the Cape Girardeau City Council will help. Just as she did a few years ago, Graetz has contacted her council representative, John Voss, and asked that something be done.

Voss has again broached the possibility of urban deer hunting in Cape Girardeau, and the council will hear a presentation from the Missouri Department of Conservation at its 5 p.m. study session Monday.

Urban deer hunting is a practice that allows hunters to harvest deer inside city limits. In this case, Voss is thinking it would be closely regulated bow hunting -- never guns -- over a specified period of time. Hunters would have to be licensed and go through special training, he said.

"It wouldn't be that anybody who has a bow would go and take care of deer in someone's backyard," Voss said. "They would have to be highly trained and get a license. They'd have to account for all the arrows they fire. ... We need to be very scientific with the right way to approach this."

Voss also says he's not looking at eradicating the deer population, just reducing it.

Constituents like Graetz have contacted Voss with concerns about deer-related car accidents and property damage.

"I've heard about landscaping being destroyed by herds of deer in the city limits," Voss said. "They don't have any natural predators. It's just something we need to address. We've got to take some sort of remedial action. I'm not sure this is the solution. I'm just asking for some more information."

The idea didn't gain traction with the council a few years ago, for whatever reason, Voss said. But he thinks the council should at least investigate the possibility and learn as much about it before considering. He's in no hurry: An ordinance creating urban deer hunting is not imminent and the process could take as long as a year, he said.

Urban deer hunting is allowed in other Missouri communities, such as St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and Jefferson City. Two weekends ago was urban deer season in those communities and, in total, those regions killed 570 deer, according to published reports.

Hunters harvested 165 deer in St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties Oct. 7 to 11.

Such a program here could help thin the herd, and residents like Graetz said Cape Girardeau's growing deer population needs to be thinned. Not only to protect landscapes, Voss said, but to make the city's streets safer.

In 2010, the city received 76 deer-related calls, including 47 to pick up dead deer and 38 for car collisions, according to the city manager's office.

The local office of the Missouri Department of Conservation is all for it, said protection regional supervisor Ken West. Several experts from the department's St. Louis office will be on hand Monday to talk about the matter to the council, he said.

But West said as long as whatever ordinance the city adopts is within the regular archery season and the hunter has a permit, there's no conservation law that would make it illegal to hunt in the city.

The department already offers bowhunting courses and urban deer hunting courses. Most cities require that hunting only take place on private property and with the consent of the property owner, West said.

West agreed that the deer population is getting out of hand in Cape Girardeau, especially in the city's northern third. While the department doesn't track complaints, he said, there is a growing number of complaints each year.

"But I know the council is looking to see if it's a good fit for Cape," he said. "So we're going to be there to provide information and answer questions. But I think it's a good idea and something really needs to be done."

West added that safety would be of utmost importance. While people in the past worried about arrows hitting cars or people, West said hunters are stationed in deer stands.

"The most dangerous thing about this kind of program is falling out of one of those stands," he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO