Hunting is the most cost effective management tool to dealing with deer over population. To locate a hunter in your area and for interview questions in selecting the correct hunter please visit www.findahunter.com

How many were killed this first monday??

I am a hunter and have been for many years. With this said I am split in my support for this hunt. I understand the over population issue and the need for this hunt. My main issue is timing tho. In the deer world this time of year is about a month "post rut" meaning a majority of doe are pregnant now. Most hunters are against shooting does period, especially this time of year. I sure hope these hunters are using discretion while hunting. This should have been done earlier in the season and focus on targeting old and mature deer, preferably bucks and not the little spotted fawn like pictured above or pregnant does.

Another issue I have with this hunt is "10 of the most expierenced volunteer marksmen" aka local cops and friends. This couldve been done a better way.
How about a raffle or lottery for the hunter slots. Anyone interested pays
$X dollars for a ticket and have a public drawing open to union county residence. 10 available slots, 5 different mondays = 50 winners. In order to obtain a slot you must be a licensed hunter with all the neccessary licenses and register by a certain date. This solves the deer population problem and raises some extra money for the park.

Controling the deer population is good for the forest, it's good for the other animals that share the forest with deer, it's good for reducing car accidents, and it's more humane than breeding animals just to be killed and put on our kitchen table for food. Anyone that is against killing deer because they feel it's cruel but who buys and eats poultry, meat, fish, etc is as much a killer as any hunter.

Really????? Making some good points??? You came into their world and they have to be slaughtered for it. Oh..sorry your plants and shrubs have been attacked?? Then put up a fence or use food repellant. Or better yet go move to Elizabeth or Rahway or Linden. They dont have much forrestry around them. This is so disgusting how this problem has been addressed. How many cars have been hit by deer this year? Hmm morons probablly have not even done thier homework.

I am FURIOUS! Why can't these beautiful animals just be left alone? I do NOT believe in deer hunting! Why can't you just learn to live with these animals? Is slaughtering them really the answer?? Or is this just going to be another sporting event? LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!

Is there an update on totals from yesterdays hunt? Total number of Bucks/Doe harvested? Id be interested in seeing the quality of these bucks harvested beings they've had years of maturing without any threat. Any stats would be very interesting and much appreciated.
Linda and Nancy, yes "slaughtering" them is the answer for over population. It is the most cost effective way in dealing with them. Fences and food repellent cost money unless you want to donate then the only other way is to raise taxes. Too many in such a small area is a safety hazard to motorists. Plus now, hundreds of pounds of high protien, low fat vension goes to the hungry. Why should we move? Why dont you move to PA if you like them.

Hey Joseph.....why don't your move to PA if you love to hunt deer. Food going to the homeless...yea right!! I live by the park and yes food repellant does work and it is cost effective. Raise taxes??? of course... is there any other way?? Give me a break dude....I do love the deer and they should be left alone in thier natural envirnment not hunted and killed.

I agree with Joe. Food repellent? This is about over population and the safety hazards it poses to motorists as well as the deer themselves through disease. When you have over 125 extra deer in a recommended area what good is food repellent? You have to remove them.
With deer come other problems. Not just the vehicle crashes. Deer carry ticks that carry lyme disease. This increases human chance of exposure to anyone in the park/woods.
With the deer being killed by cars brings animals that feed on them. Rarely do deer die when struck by cars. Theyll run in the woods and die to be fed on or be injured inviting predators. With coyotoes and fox reported in every county in NJ this also increases human risk.
Get with the program, this is 2012. You are in NJ less than 50 miles from NYC with an ever growing human population. Their "natural enviorment" is a small park in union county. Overpopulation means what it says. The deer are fine there in moderation. Its kill or relocate. Nothing is going to waste.

Just as an FYI, I have updated the story. According to the county, 22 white-tailed deer have been killed so far by eight hunters. The program will take place next Wednesday (instead of Monday) due to the holiday.

Jillian, FANTASTIC points.

Linda and Nanci, your comments demonstrate a lack of understanding in regards to the scope of this problem. I personally choose not to hunt, but this is completely necessary. Nanci, I believe YOU are the one who has not done your homework. I suggest you put the internet to work and look up two things. The first, the natural predators of white tail deer, and let me know how many of those predators you estimate to be left in this County. The Second, please look up the actually ecological effects of over population of deer.

A real wake up call for you may be to head up to Watchung this spring and look at how little undergrowth is actually left in the woods because of the deer population, and start considering the repercussions of that. I am generally a big fan of basing decisions like these on facts and science, not emotions.

I am totally disgusted. This isn't even real hunting-to bait deer and shoot them from up in a tree ?? I do not believe in these hunts--not the deer hunt, not the coyote hunt. We have usurped all the areas that wildlife used to inhabit, and instead of blaming ourselves, and limiting the population in certain areas, we kill off innocent animals. I have a Certified Wildlife Habitat, and a lovely garden--and I do not kill any of my animal "interlopers". I use repellents on the things I want them to stay away from ( and for the most part, they work). And when I drive in "deer areas" I keep careful watch. Simple as that. I have lived here all my life, and any problems with animals have been few !

Disgusting Human Beings

I think humans commit far more heinous acts than hunting deer. It would be nice if there were more opponents of those acts like Nancy.

Well I guess that long line of ragged people by the old shotgun range i Lenape Park were the starving homeless people waiting for their portion of Venison.

From years of watching National Geographic I was of the understanding that the old buck who was strong and mean enough to dominate the herd kept the gene pool strong. Selectively kill him off and weak wimp's come in and produce more wimp's.

I have hiked and biked all over Lenape Park and never seen more than ten or twelve deer at one time (.Estimates of 300 per square mile.) Never got a tick. Never seen all the scavengers devouring all the road kills. I have seen over thirty deer at the end of Riverside Dr.in Nomahegan Park last winter. Some old Lady was feeding them corn and I guess that was what attracted them.
But they are destroying the vegetation and like the Lenape and the Nomahegan we should get rid of them and name a park after them

What part of overpopulation do people not understand? Overpopulation means what it says. There are 125 too many deer in a .63 sq mile area. Reguardless of how many deer YOU see when walking through the park there are too many. A study was done with EXPERTS and theyve determined the area is overpopulated. There are limited options in dealing with overpopulation. Hunting is the most cost effective way especially using volunteers. If you have 125 too many deer this year and they breed next year there will be even more of an overpopulation problem and so on. There are entirely too many to tranqulize and relocate nevermind the costs. Food repellent is effective but doesnt stop the overpopulation or vehicle accident problems. The deer NEED to be removed. Hunting is an american tradition and has been before you and will continue to be after you. The advantage of being top of the food chain. The shotguns make it quick and painless and nothing is going to waste. The only thing they couldve done better was open this to the public licensed hunters. Some type of lottery for a certain amount of special permits. There couldve been a lot of money made in benefit of the park. I own hunting land in NJ and would still pay good money to get a special tag to hunt here. Hunters without land would unquestionably pay good money for special permits. Funds generated go back to the park to buy fences in key locations and food repellant. PS thanks for the stats Toniann.

deer should have been left alone in watchung in the first place! Hunting in watchung reservation caused them to leap route 22 and begin to populate on this side! Duh!

The deer have no natural predators in this area and the tiny size of the park land has no vegetation left to support their population. Many come down with Chronic Wasting Disease and die of starvation because of the lack of under-story growth in the woodland. After Hurricane Irene swept through the area, an outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease also infected a number of deer in the area, caused by tiny biting insects brought in by flood waters. 300 deer in an area of about 2/3 sq.mi. of parkland is totally unsustainable (biologists recommend 20 per sq.mi.), and forces them into residential neighborhoods in search of food. This makes it incredibly dangerous for both drivers and deer at feeding time, from dusk onwards. It is almost a daily occurrence that I see groups of 4-10 crossing busy roads. And quite often it results in accidents. The bone and muscle structure of a deer combined with a lack of body fat on the animal, basically makes it like hitting a brick wall when a driver hits one with a car. So now you have a costly repair to the car, chance of injury to the driver, and an animal that is dying painfully on the side of the road, with the only recourse being to euthanize it.
The numbers have to be kept in check and culling the herd by hunting is the easiest and cheapest way of doing so. Capturing, sterilizing, and releasing, is both difficult and costly, and does not address the lack of food supply issue in the environment.

And I am not a hunter.

People that do not live in the proximity of the parks shouldn't even be allowed to take part in the survey. They don't even have a clue as to the nightmares groups of deer can cause when they're on your street or in your yard.

It there were 300 deer per square mile in Lenape you would not be able to walk outside without running into them. It's a lie. I do not know what the answer is I only know that hunting does not work. As as example, years ago the powers that be said there would be a deer hunt in the Watchung Reservation for approx 5 years to control the population. That hunt has now been going on 20+ years. Instead of culling the population the deer population continued to grow. You know it's there world too.

LOL the survey is all a lie.... Theres no 300 deer in the park.... Its the hunters fault there on this side of 22.... You tree huggers are so simple.... Nature deals with it?? How so? If more deer are born each year than that die what is nature handling?
Rocky is 100% right with this information. As a hunter, everything he said Ive heard before. Hunters call the deer disease "black tongue" spread by a biting bug usually attaching to the inner nostrils of the deer. It severly dehydrates the deer and has been known to cause madness in some deer. A majority of the infected deer are found dead near a water supply.

They should construct a 10 foot fences around the park because a deer can jump a 6 ft fence. Spray the fences and surrounding neighborhoods with food repellants, better yet use a crop duster plane. They should close the surrounding area roads from dusk-dawn so no deer get hit by cars. We should plant tulips, apple trees and corn all thoughout the park. State hunting in NJ should be ilegalized and punish hunters are if deer are humans. So what if they estimate 110,000 deer in NJ with 55,000 killed annually. In 2 years there be quarter million deer roaming the state getting hit by cars daily and I will finally be happy.

For those who think that hunting is the only answer please note the following that I copied from - idausa.org/facts/deercontrol

Present Wildlife Management Practices
Wildlife and land management agencies purport to effectively limit deer populations to numbers sustainable by their natural habitat. In reality, the policies of such agencies exacerbate deer overpopulation, serving only to provide a population large enough to suit sport hunters. The overpopulation of deer stems not only from the specific mismanagement of deer populations, but from the mismanagement of our forestlands and natural areas.

Hunting does remove some animals from the population, but it does not keep deer populations at a continually reduced level. Immediately after a hunt, the remaining animals flourish because less competition for food exists, allowing the remaining animals to live healthier lives, and resulting in a higher reproductive rate.

Venison steak is a great meal combined with a glass of red wine after cleaning my gun.

Laura, how right you are! Please note that on the one hand there is so much talk of giving the venison to the homeless. On the other hand there is talk of how "diseased" the deer are. Obviously the slaughtered deer are going in the garbage. It is a disgrace on the part of the county parks Department and cranford.

Not to mention the fact that the deer hunting in Watchung began as a group of corrections officers wanting to hunt! Originally had nothing to do with overpopulation!

Any updates from todays hunt will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

If it were left up to Michele and others with that attitude, we'd also be trying to save the mosquitos. Afterall they have so much in common with the deer, they eat, breed, and spread disease. But to the mosquito's credit, they don't cause traffic accidents or leave piles of waste in our yards.

Michele
I reaslly wish I knew you--I feel we would have a good deal in common besides our aversion to the deer hunt ! And thank you for repeating a wonderful quotation !!!Trouble is, as always, the people who need to read and take to heart such things are the ones who never do.

Ghandi has nothing to do with the deer problem, he's been dead for over 60 years, deer probably had natural predators back then. One should never compare philosophy with reality. If anyone had done any research, instead of quoting Ghandi, they would have discovered this reality.In this country last year there were 1.5 million reported accidents involving deer, damages exceeding 1.1 billion dollars. There were over 10,000 reported injuries, including 202 fatalities. If that's not enough there were also 35,198 cases of lyme disease, including 4,973 in NJ. Maybe we should poll these people about thining the deer population.

There is close to 300 deer if not more I seen it if you go to the side of lenape behind auto land when it snows they group up back there and run in hundreds. Its a shame because during the rest of the year union county does nothing to stop illegal pochers that hunt back there while kids are walking around I came back once and somone killed 4 deer and cut out small pieces and left the whole deer there for sport. There being regulated illegally belive me and there also is 2 piebald deer which is mostly all white deer (which now are probably dead) back there I've easily spent half my life back there. All the people who are hunting back there now "legally" are all related/ and or cops. I feel mixed about this situation.

New to this post and being a hunter for 40 years i have seen the devastation from animal overpopulation. Short range elevated bow hunting is the best and lowest cost effective way to help solve the problem and believe it or not we are also helping strengthen the remaining herd. Hunters helping the hungry have supplied plenty of food for the hungry and have also payed to have some of it butchered after the state moneys run out. Now if you do not eat any kind of meat what so ever i do not want to hear any conflict about hunting and consuming what i harvest. Unless some one can come up with a better way of reducing the herd why not utilize the bow hunters to help with the problem and make it mandatory that all useable meat be used for soup kitchens and the homeless. Arguing about this does not solve the issue at hand.

Rare white deer killed by Union County hired hunter in previous hunt.

Perfect example of lack of scruples in hunting community.