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Too many deer in several Arkansas town is a controversial problem. Cherokee Village will launch an urban deer hunt, bow only, this fall to attempt to curtail deer. (Joe Mosby Photo) Town calling on hunters, lots of deer Saturday, Jul 5, 2008 By Joe Mosby Another Arkansas community is attacking its problem of too many deer in town by calling on hunters. Cherokee Village is the newest to use an urban deer hunt. It joins Bull Shoals, the first to use hunting in town. Bull Shoals was followed by Diamondhead and by Heber Springs. The hunts are managed by the city, by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and with the help of the Arkansas Bowhunters Association. The success of the previous urban hunts depends on who you ask. A safe conclusion is that they have been fair - not wonderful in solving the problem, not disastrous or a waste of everyone's time. Cherokee Village's hunt is scheduled Sept. 15 to Oct. 31 and Jan. 1 to Jan. 31 within the Cherokee Village city limits. There will be no bag limit, although the first deer taken by a hunter must be a doe. Deer taken after that may be either sex. Deer taken in Cherokee Village do not count in a hunter's seasonal bag limit, and the three-point rule does not apply. Hunters must have a current Arkansas Sportsman's License and an Urban Bowhunting Permit. A $35 fee, which includes Arkansas Bowhunters Association membership, covers liability insurance. Only longbows, recurve bows or compound bows with at least 40-pound draw weight and arrowheads at least seven-eighths of an inch wide may be used. Crossbows are not allowed, nor are any kind of firearms. Hunters on private property must have written permission from the landowner. The hunting will be limited to 200 participants. If more than that many apply, a random drawing will be held. Chosen applicants must pass the International Bowhunter Education Course before they attend a hunter orientation class and take a shooting proficiency test on Sept. 13. From these rules it is apparent that the urban deer hunts are not for the casual outdoors person. You don't just drive to Cherokee village and look for deer in town. You have to prepare, you have to prove that you are competent with a bow, and you have to have permission from people on whose land you will hunt. If a deer runs off next door and you don't have permission from that place's owner - too bad. You let the deer go. Each of these urban deer hunts in Arkansas has brought controversy. Some town residents enjoy seeing deer in their yards. Many put out food for them despite warnings from wildlife people that feeding deer invites problems. When no food is found, the town deer may turn to munching on shrubs and flowers. Some opponents of the hunts envision weapon-carrying participants running past kids playing in yards to draw beads on deer. On the other side of the coin, some hunters don't like the rules of the urban events because they say it favors bowhunters who already have preferential treatment in the form of a five-month-long regular hunting season in Arkansas. Most people, however, acknowledge that using guns in a town to solve the excess deer problem is not practical. Even limiting firearms to shotguns, which have shorter ranges than centerfire rifles, has not won favor. With its deer hunting in town going on for several years now, Bull Shoals has seen a reduction in the number of deer inside the town limits - but not an elimination of the problem. The hunting is difficult. Deer have become wary. Fewer bowhunters are participating. But there is a degree of satisfaction among city officials and with Game and Fish Commission personnel involved from the standpoint that action is being taken and result achieved, although they may not be as significant as wanted. Hunters wanting to participate in the Cherokee Village urban event can pick up an application and a list of all regulations go online to www.agfc.com for applications and the rules. They can also obtain the needed information and forms at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission headquarters, 2 Natural Resources Drive in Little Rock, or at the AGFC Calico Rock Regional Office on Arkansas Highway 56 North. Applications must be postmarked by July 31. -------- Joe Mosby is the retired news editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas' best known outdoor writer. His work is distributed by the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. He can be reached by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com. |
