On Tuesday, the St. Louis County Council passed a bill that would allow bow hunters to have deer hunts in county parks in an attempt to help prevent deer overpopulation that affects homeowners.
Councilman Mark Harder’s bill passed 5-2, but County Executive Sam Page is still deciding whether to sign it. Harder said the legislation is in response to complaints from homeowners who live near the parks.
“We’ll have recommendations by the Department of Conservation on where the deer population is the greatest,” said Harder, R-Ballwin. “And they will make some recommendations to this council in the next month or so. And then we’ll pick parks where we think that would be helpful to cull the deer.”
Several members of the public criticized the bill, saying it’s cruel to animals and dangerous to humans.
Bill Ash said he was worried that an arrow wouldn’t kill a deer instantly and could result in a slow and painful death for the animal. “And it would require that the hunter hunt down and follow and track the deer wherever it goes in order to finish it off,” Ash said. “We wouldn’t kill human beings this way. We would call this cruel and unusual punishment.”
Harder said he understands why people are concerned about the bill. But he said that those participating in the hunts are highly skilled and experienced.
“It’s a very close-up type of archery, because of the distance the arrows have to fly,” Harder said. “This isn’t like shooting where you could shoot from, you know, three blocks away. These folks do this almost every weekend of the year. It’s very organized, very coordinated. These are highly trained volunteers.”
Harder also pointed out that the hunts would happen when parks are closed, adding, “This isn’t a blank check to just go out and bow hunt deer anywhere.”
The proposal would allow the Missouri Department of Conservation to hold archery deer hunts at county parks. Each scheduled hunt would still be subject to county approval.
A similar measure failed earlier this year, however deer overpopulation has become a greater problem since then. The Audubon Society said deer’s grazing has made its efforts to conserve trees and shrubs difficult.
