Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Public hearing draws 75 opponent's at the Wednesday night meeting at the Milton High School
to the third annual controlled permit White Tail hunt at Blue Hills, Massachusetts. Estimates are that 50 deer per mile needs to thinned to 20 deer per mile to save the native habitat and avoid deer starvation.
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This would be the third year of the hunt, with a total of 122 deer being killed in the first two years
Peter Church, the director of forest stewardship of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Conservation, said the purpose of the hunt is to reduce the deer population which is harming regeneration of the forest.
“We have looked at every option and concluded permitted hunting offers the most success" Church said.
Under the plan, shotgun hunting will be allowed on four days after Thanksgiving, and bow hunting would be allowed on 11 days in limited sections of the reservation. The number of hunters would be restricted to 266 shotgun hunters and 75 bow hunters.
Julie Moffatt of Canton said birth control for deer would be a more effective method of controlling the population.
The lone speaker in favor of the hunt was Paul Johnson of the Plymouth County League of Sportsmen. “This population needs to be controlled for the good of the area,” Johnson said of the deer. “We’ve got to do this in a humane manner.
The bow hunt would be held Monday through Thursday from Nov. 6 through 22. The shotgun hunt will take place on Nov. 28 and 30 and Dec. 5 and 7.
The deadline for comments on the plan is Aug. 31. They can be sent to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Office of Public Outreach, 251 Causeway St., 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02114. A decision is expected in early September.
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