By The Archery Wire
After nearly a decade of debate and controversy, Sunset Hills, located in suburban St. Louis, Mo., ended its first urban bowhunt last week with at total of 53 deer taken.
The affluent community is among the latest communities in St. Louis County to permit bowhunting to control a problematic deer population. Other area cities that recently began allowing bowhunting include Ballwin, Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, Ellisville, Manchester, Creve Coeur, Maryland Heights and Wildwood.
A 2012 study conducted by the Missouri Department of Conservation found 72 deer per square mile in a four-square-mile area -- more than double the concentration at which deer are considered a nuisance.
But Erin Shank, an MDOC urban wildlife biologist, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch this week there is less concern than in the past about permitting bowhunting in urban and suburban locales.
"The mentality has changed," she said. "I find people are more willing now than they were 10 years ago to view deer as an abundant, renewable resource."
More at http://www.sunset-hills.com/Index.aspx?page=31&recordid=378&returnURL=%2findex.aspx
