City controlled hunt will coincide with state bow season

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A controlled archery deer hunt in the city of Hudson will be conducted concurrently with the regular Wisconsin bow season, the City Council decided Sept. 6.

The council had considered a two-month hunt this year after it was requested by Eighth Street resident Jeff Richie.

Council members indicated at their Aug. 15 meeting that they wanted the city’s Ad Hoc Deer Committee to recommend how long the hunt should be.

Tom Redner, the chairman of the committee, told the council at its last meeting that the recommendation was for the hunt to coincide with the regular bow season.

This year’s season will run from Saturday, Sept. 17, through Thursday, Nov. 17, and from Saturday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012.

This is the first time the state will allow bow hunting during the regular nine-day deer gun season that begins Nov. 19. This year, bow hunting will be suspended for only the Friday immediately preceding the gun hunt.

River Valley Deer Management, a group of experienced hunters led by businessman Lon Feia of North Hudson, will conduct the controlled hunt. The City Council approved the contract with the group at its Aug. 15 meeting, but delayed the decision on the length of the hunt to Monday night.

Redner also recommended that the city:

--Continue the deer control program with River Valley until deer numbers return to a normal level, and then monitor the size of the herd to determine if further action is needed;

--Continue to have the police department perform background checks on the River Valley hunters; and

--Reduce to 100 feet the distance that hunters must stay from houses where the owners haven’t given them permission to hunt.

Last year, the council asked River Valley hunters to stay 150 feet from houses that weren’t part of the territory open to the hunt.

The hunt will take place on city-owned property and on private parcels at least a quarter-acre in size. River Valley needs permission from the owners before its hunters can go on private property.

The 2010 controlled archery hunt was the first for the city. It previously had contracted for special gun hunts from time to time. The gun hunts generated more resistance from city residents than the archery hunts have.

Hunt not open to homeowners

Redner also asked the city to inform home owners that they aren’t allow to participate in the archery hunt. He said a home owner had inquired about whether he could hunt in his backyard during the controlled hunt.

Hunting by the general public is prohibited in the city. The City Council amended its no-hunting ordinance prior to last year’s controlled hunt to allow contracted hunters to reduce the deer herd.

Feia reported to the Ad Hoc Deer Committee on Aug. 30 that he and his five partners in River Valley Deer Management, plus 10 associates, would conduct this year’s hunt.

The group’s contract with the city says they all have many years of bow hunting experience and must be members of the National Field Archery Association. The hunters also are required to have completed a bow hunting certification course.

The hunt will be for antlerless deer only, unless the hunter possesses an unfilled archery buck tag, according to the contract. It says that River Valley’s policy is to require the hunter to harvest a minimum of five does before taking a buck.

No cost to the city

River Valley will conduct the hunt at no charge to the city. The group has a $3 million general liability insurance policy, with a limit of $1 million per occurrence and $300,000 per occurrence for property damage.

Feia told the Ad Hoc Deer Committee that 42 deer were harvested last year, with no unrecovered wounded deer or negative incidents.

He said it took an average of 11.4 hours of hunting to kill a deer.

The Stonepine subdivision area provided the most productive hunting, Feia said, and Birkmose and Prospect parks were the least productive because of the number of people in the parks.

State regulations allow bow hunting from half an hour before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset.

Tags: outdoors, hudson, government