To The Reader’s Forum:

I’m writing in response to “City Needs A Deer Population Plan” in the April 19 Post-Journal. I do agree! I don’t understand why this city cannot set up designated areas to hunt and let your bowhunters (longbow, recurve, compound, crossbow) go in and take some deer out of these overpopulated areas.

I never liked the idea of your so-called sharpshooters with rifles set up over baitpiles. In my opinion, it’s risky.

Let your bowhunters go in and use the permits that they acquired when purchasing their licenses. The DEC or wildlife manager could monitor these areas for any harvests. Permits could be issued to hunt in these areas (either free or a small fee) and checked in; for example, the town of Ellicott Building. I was told years before that this couldn’t be done because of the cost of insurancce, etc. When issuing the permits to hunt these areas, have the person sign a waiver saying they will not sue in case they get injured, etc. Also, have places where they can park their vehicles.

Areas in the city that I can think of to hunt would be the Allen Park area, Bergman Park, the woods between Baker and Hallock streets, Southwestern Drive, Livingston Avenue, just to name a few.

This wouldn’t be a short-term solution, but rather a long-term one. But, I believe that it would definitely help.

Don Southwick,

Falconer