Connecticut Deer News

... Sunday deer hunting with a bow and arrow could soon be permitted on private land in Connecticut. The state House of Representatives voted Thursday, 107-19, to repeal a ban on such hunting as part of an effort to manage the state's deer population...

Redding, Town's deer wardens resign en masse May 10, 2013 Connecticut, The Redding Pilot
... the wardens believe the “goal” of reaching 10 deer per square mile in town is “inappropriately low.” They  “strongly” urge town officials and the commission to be “very careful about reducing deer populations to extremely low levels.” ... “The deer wardens would therefore like to formally announce our withdrawal/resignation from the Redding Town Property Bow Hunting program, effective immediately,” the email said... “We do not wish to play a role in the over harvest of the resource.”

Redding, For the town: Deer management plan is still in the works May 3, 2013 Connecticut, The Redding Pilot
... Dr. Howard Kilpatrick, a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wildlife biologist, hopes to have a deer management plan for Redding finished sometime this summer.... a comprehensive plan to reduce, maintain and monitor the deer densities across town to levels of 10 to 12 per square mile .... “Research shows at 20 deer per square mile that we can get forest re-growth,”  [the latest U.S. Forest Service research shows 15 to 28 deer per square mile is optimal for forest growth, and that some growth occurs at much higher levels] Town Health Officer Doug Hartline calls Lyme and other tick-borne illness the No. 1 health concern in town [deer density not correlated to Lyme disease] ... 

Watching the yard in the night April 22, 2013 Connecticut, Meriden Record-Journal
... Do I blame the demise of the tulips on the deer alone? Yes, I do. But even all these years later, long after the last of the hundreds of tulip bulbs planted over the years have withered from lack of nourishment and chomped before maturity, I run to the window in excitement when the deer arrive in December. It is OK that our yard is part of their winter itinerary. What few bulbs remain are protected by the frozen soil... The grandchildren arrive for the holidays and watch eagerly through binoculars ...

... The group has contracts to hunt whitetail deer on about 30 properties in Connecticut ... “Middle-aged women love us,” said Andronaco. “With the amount of efforts that they put into the lawns, and seeing the damage that deer do, they love us.” ...

     The Committee on Environment reported through REP. GENTILE of the 104th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:  Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 26-82 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):  
(a) No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill any deer or sell or offer for sale or have in possession the flesh of any deer captured or killed in this state, or have in possession the flesh of any deer from any other state or country unless it is properly tagged as required by such state or country except as provided by the terms of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and except that any landowner or primary lessee of land owned by such landowner or the husband or wife or any lineal descendant of such landowner or lessee or any designated agent of such landowner or lessee may kill deer with a shotgun, rifle or bow and arrow provided a damage permit has first been obtained from the commissioner ... 

TV tonight: new reality show 'Chasing Tail' on 'History Channel' April 11, 2013 Connecticut, Washington Times
... “Chasing Tail” focuses on hunting for trophy bucks in the urban sprawl of aristocratic Connecticut. But in the last sentence of the show’s description lies the real goal of the show; “to capture the culture clash when the arrows begin to fly.” ... maybe the network’s past premise of airing one Hitler show after another doesn’t look that bad afterall...

Norwalk officials rescue deer stuck on fence March 11, 2013 Connecticut, The Hour
... "We wrapped the deer up in a blanket so it could not see, and then we lifted it up and over. As soon as it hit the ground it ran off into the woods," ...

... Tweed Regional Airport in New Haven, Conn. is in the process of installing a fence to close off, not just the runway, but the entire airport property... a result of a small Learjet air-ambulance striking a deer during takeoff four months ago...

Southwestern CT: A 5 Year Update January 4, 2013 Connecticut, E. Faison. Highstead, Redding, CT 
     The towns of Redding and Ridgefield CT began deer hunting on several town preserves in 2006.  In 2007 Highstead established forest monitoring plots in these preserves and nearby unhunted properties to document any changes to forest understories resulting from deer management.  These plots were resampled for the first time in 2012, and the results are presented here. 
     From 2007 to 2012, tree seedling (≥30 cm<2.5 cm diameter) density increased in both hunted and unhunted properties (Fig. 1), whereas species richness of tree seedlings (the number of different tree seedlings per plot) changed little from 2007 to 2012 in either management category.   [click on image to enlarge, tree density increased more in unhunted properties]

Westport, Finance Board Approves $6K for Infrared Deer Survey December 5, 2012  Connecticut, Westport Now
The Deer Management Committee ... said the survey would help determine if Westport had a deer problem, where they were, and set benchmark to measure the success of any deer control measures...  conducted by Vision Air Research, Inc. of Boise, Idaho ...

Suburban Connecticut Deer - December, 2012



Weston, Hunting opponents aim to end Weston deer hunt December 5, 2012 Connecticut, Boston.com
... “We still think there is a question whether anything needs to be done at all about the deer,” said Diane Anderson, a cofounder of the group, [Deer Friends of Weston] ... “We still think there is a question whether anything needs to be done at all about the deer,”  ... The group also has set up a Facebook page ... “Now we have a high school sophomore who had a deer run through her yard with an arrow through its neck, all bloody ... *

Weston's annual deer hunt comes to a close December 5, 2012 Connecticut, The Hour
According to the Conservancy, the size of the deer population in Fairfield County varies from town to town, with estimates in the range of 60 per square mile ... "Over the last 10 years, more and more people have started to recognize the number of deer-related vehicle accidents and injuries associated with deer and Lyme disease," said Steve Patton, Director of the Devil's Den Preserve [deer density not correlated with Lyme] ...

Westport, Two towns take different paths in dealing with deer population December 2, 2012 Connecticut, Westport-News
As another deer hunt continues at Devil's Den in Weston, Westport's Deer Management Committee ... "It's a contraceptive program that's used by darting deer," said Susan Pike, the committee chairwoman. "We estimate (it) would cut our deer herd down by half within five years, where we wouldn't have to hunt, where we wouldn't have to overturn the ordinance."  Westport has long had a no-hunting ordinance in place... 

Eastern wolves howl for recognition November 17, 2012 Connecticut, USA TODAY
 Eastern wolves preferentially prey on white-tailed deer, unlike gray wolves, which are more wide-ranging in their tastes, and have one other notable difference with them: They mate with coyotes instead of preying on them. That may explain the appearance of hybrid "coy-wolves" preying on deer in Eastern states such as Connecticut in recent years. And it may explain how coyote genes are making their way into Western gray wolves. "Eastern wolves may act as a conduit for coyote genes making their way into gray wolves by mating with both of them ... 

Weston, Deer Hunt Starts Wednesday In Devil's Den Preserve In Weston November 13, 2012 Connecticut, The Daily Voice
... “The high density has been associated with a high incidence of deer and vehicle accidents and Lyme disease cases [deer density not correlated to Lyme]... Many of our tree species were unable to regenerate because the acorns and saplings were consumed by deer.”  The goal is to cut the population to eight to 12 deer per square mile, which maintains healthy forests, said Steve Patton, the conservancy’s director of Devil’s Den. [recent U.S. Forest research suggests 15 to 28 deer per square mile]

Connecticut Reminds Hunters Of Deer Imports November 12, 2012 Outdoor News Daily
With the recent confirmation of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a Pennsylvania deer, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is reminding hunters of the ban on importing intact deer carcasses from CWD-positive jurisdictions, such as Pennsylvania and New York, into Connecticut ...

... To date, CWD has been found in wild or captive deer or elk in 22 states ... CWD is a contagious neurological disease fatal to deer, moose, elk, and other members of the cervid (deer) family.  Since Connecticut began testing in 2003, nearly 5,000 deer have tested negative for CWD.  Currently, Connecticut is only testing deer or moose displaying symptoms of disease ... 

Town weighs winter hunt, fly-over deer count October 18, 2012 The Ridgefield Press
... Controlled in-season deer hunting on 11 open space tracts was approved by the Board of Selectmen recently... The selectmen also backed the idea of a fly-over to count deer, with board members surprised to hear an estimate that a count could be done with state help for about $2,000...

Westport, Committee Seeks Accurate, Infrared Deer Count October 11, 2012 Connecticut, Westport Now
Westport's Deer Management Committee told First Selectman Gordon Joseloff tonight that the first step to understanding the town's deer problem would be to have an accurate count via a flyover using infrared cameras in January ... A subcommittee report presented by Michele Lamothe, a veterinarian, described a PCP contraceptive vaccine expected to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency within three years.  Unlike other contraceptive methods... the vaccine, which causes does to create antibodies against sperm, only requires one application costing $80 each ...

Brookfield, Annual Controlled Deer Hunt Begins in Brookfield October 3, 2012 Connecticut, Patch.com
... according to Brookfield Health Director Dr. Raymond Sullivan.  
“We are seeing less and less Lyme disease ... [deer density not correlated to Lyme]  “If we can get them down to 10 per square mile, tick diseases go away,” he said. [according to the CDC there is no reliable research support for this idea] ...

Ridgefield, Hearing on deer hunt Wednesday September 17, Connecticut
Danbury News Times
... The committee is proposing hunts ... Maps and related documents for the controlled hunt proposed locations are available for public inspection in the office of the first selectman and the town clerk...

Weston Selectmen OK Controlled Deer Hunt September 11, 2012 Connecticut, Patch.com
To help curb the spread of Lyme disease and other ticke-borne illnesses, many argue controlling the deer population is necessary [deer density not related to Lyme] ... "I always have an emotional issue with killing these innocent animals, but at the end of the day I do feel that we do have to look at what’s good for the greater good and I do agree with what you’re trying to accomplish by having the controlled hunt," First Selectman Gayle Weinstein ...

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Other useful links:
 Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (also the Connecticut Division of Wildlife and the Connecticut Fisheries Division)
Goal: Founded in 1971, the mission of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is to conserve, improve and protect the natural resources and environment of the State of Connecticut in such a manner as to encourage the social and economic development of Connecticut while preserving the natural environment and the life forms it supports in a delicate, interrelated and complex balance, to the end that the state may fulfill its responsibility as trustee of the environment for present and future generations. from Mission Statement

Urban Deer Management: East Hampton Group for Wildlife

White Tail Deer wandering in Connecticut Backyard