Sharpshooting team to thin state park's deer herd
The Associated Press
2/25/2004, 12:28 a.m. CT
PELHAM, Ala. (AP) -- About a month after bow hunters managed to kill only 27 deer at Oak Mountain State Park, the federal government is sending a team of marksmen to try to reduce the herd to a number the park can support.
Sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enter the park sometime in the next few weeks, state officials said Tuesday.
The shooters have been given a few weeks by state Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley to harvest an undetermined number of deer. The team will use rifles with suppressers to reduce the noise, said Frank Boyd, a state director for Wildlife Services in Alabama.
A harvest of mostly does is the goal of the hunt, and the venison will be donated to a food bank through the Hunters Helping the Hungry program.
Rain could delay the shooters for several days, said Jerry de Bin, chief information officer for the conservation department. The plan had been to begin the hunt Monday night but foul weather interfered, he said.
Campers at the park will be notified in advance, de Bin said.
The declining health of the herd was confirmed during the bow hunt last month. All the deer killed were underweight and in poor physical condition, de Bin said.
Friends of Oak Mountain, a park user group that supports the sharpshooters, said they were unaware of the timing of the kill but knew it had to be near.
"We understand that the department has to take measures where the end result will be an overall benefit to the park," said Scott Stone, the group's president. "We all can only hope that they place safety at the top of their list."
Officials would not speculate on the number of deer expected to be killed by the sharpshooters.
The Associated Press
2/25/2004, 12:28 a.m. CT
PELHAM, Ala. (AP) -- About a month after bow hunters managed to kill only 27 deer at Oak Mountain State Park, the federal government is sending a team of marksmen to try to reduce the herd to a number the park can support.
Sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enter the park sometime in the next few weeks, state officials said Tuesday.
The shooters have been given a few weeks by state Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley to harvest an undetermined number of deer. The team will use rifles with suppressers to reduce the noise, said Frank Boyd, a state director for Wildlife Services in Alabama.
A harvest of mostly does is the goal of the hunt, and the venison will be donated to a food bank through the Hunters Helping the Hungry program.
Rain could delay the shooters for several days, said Jerry de Bin, chief information officer for the conservation department. The plan had been to begin the hunt Monday night but foul weather interfered, he said.
Campers at the park will be notified in advance, de Bin said.
The declining health of the herd was confirmed during the bow hunt last month. All the deer killed were underweight and in poor physical condition, de Bin said.
Friends of Oak Mountain, a park user group that supports the sharpshooters, said they were unaware of the timing of the kill but knew it had to be near.
"We understand that the department has to take measures where the end result will be an overall benefit to the park," said Scott Stone, the group's president. "We all can only hope that they place safety at the top of their list."
Officials would not speculate on the number of deer expected to be killed by the sharpshooters.
