No fair!

<snip>3,000 deer on LI in federal sharpshooters' sights this winter

U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters aim to kill as many as 3,000 deer on eastern Long Island this winter in the largest federal deer removal program in New York State history. The cull, planned over 40 nights starting in February, would be an aggressive step to curb a white tail deer population estimated at 25,000 to 35,000 on the East End and in Brookhaven that residents blame for car wrecks, the spread of Lyme disease and the destruction of crops, forests and home gardens. The cull -- backed by the Long Island Farm Bureau and key officials on the East End <snip>

More if you have liberal newsrag access http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/3-000-deer-on-li-in-federal-sharpshooters-sights-this-winter-1.6573185

U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters aim to kill as many as 3,000 deer on eastern Long Island this winter in the largest federal deer removal program in New York State history.
The cull, planned over 40 nights starting in February, would be an aggressive step to curb a white-tailed deer population estimated to be from 25,000 to 35,000 on the East End and in Brookhaven that residents blame for car wrecks, the spread of Lyme disease and the destruction of crops, forests and home gardens.
The cull -- backed by the Long Island Farm Bureau and key officials on the East End -- would involve agents shooting with night-vision equipment and silenced rifles, and from the backs of trucks and atop tree stands.
"We're not talking about wildlife management anymore," said Southold Supervisor Scott Russell, who supports the effort. "We're talking about pest control."
A final agreement between the Farm Bureau and the Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program, which would conduct the cull, is expected by the end of the month.
Wildlife Services has conducted smaller deer-removal projects on Long Island, but Allen Gosser, assistant state director of the program, said the February cull would be the first "landscape level" effort to comprehensively reduce a deer population.
Local opposition has been slight. At a forum in Southold, about 250 residents complained about the deer.
"I've never been to a meeting where there was practically no opposition to an idea like this," Gosser said.
Anti-hunting activists oppose the cull, saying that much of the sentiment against deer is unfounded.
"Deer have become a convenient scapegoat for all sorts of things," said Bill Crain, president of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife. Crain, a psychologist, and his wife, Ellen, have held hunger strikes in the past four years at the January start of firearm hunting season.
"To expand hunting or bring in a cull is incredibly misguided and cruel," he said.
A petition against the cull at the website Change.org. reports that 5,000 deer would be "slaughtered." The petition has recorded more than 2,600 signatures from local residents and people around the world since it was posted on Nov. 25.
But a July 29 letter from the Agriculture Department to the farm bureau estimated that sharpshooters could kill 2,400 to 3,000 deer. Gosser said that with a late-winter start, the estimate is now between 2,000 and 3,000 deer.
A push for bow hunters
In addition to the planned cull, East End officials are pushing state legislation to allow bow hunters to come within 150 feet of residences, down from the current 500-foot restriction. Southold is urging residents to sign permission slips to allow hunters on their properties, and the town wants to reimburse bow hunters for their arrows.
The Long Island Farm Bureau estimates that deer-related crop damage costs growers as much as $3 million a year. Bureau executive director Joe Gergela said he is confident the cull will take place even if some local governments don't participate.
"Whether people like it or not, we need to take out a few deer," Gergela said.
Southold, East Hampton Town and Brookhaven have budgeted money toward the estimated $300,000 cost of the cull or committed to the program, as have East Hampton Village and Sagaponack. Other town and village officials said they are waiting for the final plan.
Gergela sent a letter asking all East End towns and villages to provide written commitments to the farm bureau before Jan. 1 if they want sharpshooters in their areas.
Gosser said the culls would focus on does, the female deer, which represent a larger part of the population. The deer would be shot in the head or neck so they die quickly and humanely, he added.
In more developed areas, the plan would include "drop nets" to trap deer. They would then be "immediately euthanized by a shot to the brain by a small-caliber suppressed weapon," according to Gergela's letter. Sharpshooters in stands would kill deer attracted by corn or apples, Gosser said.
"For it to have any kind of success, it has to be large-scale like this," he added. "They're beautiful creatures, but over a period of time they become despots. It would be nice to get them back to cherished status again."
The meat would be donated to Long Island food pantries, Gosser said.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that the area's deer herd is mostly in Brookhaven and the five East End towns. In recent years, deer have spread west into Nassau County and even into Queens, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation deer management plan released last year.
Gosser said he believed that to effectively reduce the deer population, the effort should continue annually for three years. Gergela said he hoped the program would continue for at least two years.
Gergela said he expects to be able to get $200,000 from the state. He wants to supplement it with other money from towns and villages.
Brookhaven set aside $5,000 in the town's budget, but Supervisor Ed Romaine is waiting to see the final agreement between the agriculture department and the farm bureau before committing, said Jack Krieger, a town spokesman.
Southold has budgeted $25,000 and East Hampton Town has committed $15,000 for the program.
East Hampton Village is to pass a resolution this month to allow and fund the cull, said Mayor Paul Rickenbach, who described the deer issue as a "public health crisis."
Sagaponack also passed a resolution to spend $15,000 on the cull, contingent on Southampton and East Hampton towns, which surround the village, also participating.
Action plan needed
Other towns have not committed. Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said in a statement that the town "needs an action plan, and soon," but wouldn't take a position on the cull.
Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said the town would like to participate in the federal sharpshooter program but doesn't have the money. Instead, he is pushing to open more areas for hunters.
Shelter Island Supervisor James Dougherty said his town is considering the plan. "I'm delighted to hear of the effort," he said.
Shelter Island invested in feeding stations for deer that roll a tick-killing chemical on the animals as they eat. Dougherty said those units have effectively controlled tick populations on the island.
Tom Wickham, whose family owns 300 acres of farmland in Cutchogue and New Suffolk, said he has concerns about the safety of the sharpshooter program, as well as increasing the number of hunters roaming North Fork residential areas.
"Being good shots isn't enough," he said. "I don't want people on my farm that I haven't vetted myself."
To protect his peach and apple crop, Wickham has obtained a damage permit from the state, which allows him to bring in hunters to kill as many as 60 deer a year. Bucks rub their antlers against young peach and apple trees, scraping off bark, breaking branches and eventually killing the trees, he said.
"They're decimating the orchards," Wickham said.
He added that the problem is made worse as many other farms as well as vineyards have erected 8-foot-tall deer fences around their property, pushing deer into unfenced areas.
The controversy over the correlation between deer population and the population of deer ticks "is about as old as Lyme disease itself," said Jorge Benach, chairman of Stony Brook University's department of molecular genetics and microbiology, whose research specialty focuses on the tick-borne disease.
Deer play an important role as a source of food for ticks, he said. If the deer population was reduced, "you would see a decrease in number of ticks, for sure. But deer are not the only host," Benach noted, adding that ticks also feast on dogs, raccoons, possums and humans.

Great, bring in a bunch of non-local invincible quasi fish cops just itching to kill something to trample over private property and turn the semi-residential areas of Suffolk County into a free-fire zone at night.  What could possibly go wrong?  Wonder what will happen to the first property owner who tells them to go somewhere else.  I swear people just want to kill shit.

What?

What?



 

You're telling me!

Use your big boy words....



 

Meat goes to the pantry but a couple of years ago they were giving out carcasses to anyone who calls. IIRC, those deer were shot with slugs. I guess it was a different program.

And clips?
:P

I know a guy that was on a nuisance permit at an airport out on eastern LI.
As a hunter, he found what he was doing (spotlighting at night and blistering
deer with a slug gun up close) actually reprehensible.  He hated it.

No one has to sell me on hunting - I love it and it's my passion, but outright killing
while completely necessary, is not for everyone.  I would think one would get
sick of it pretty damn quick.  I guess the real joy in hunting for me is the pursuit

Those  people  are  " Rambo " idiots   who  are  willing  to  put  the  population  of E.  Long Is.  at  considerable  risk . Feed  the  jumpers  some  birth  control  and  be  done  w/  it  in  a  safe , and  effective  manner .

How about we start with a  FREE solution to the problem?  Open the bow season a month or two or three earlier/longer? Increase bag limits? All things that would make money rather than cost it.

they will miss half of them and/or use double the amount of ammo needed.

The 2-3,000 they plan to kill will really put a dent on the 50-60,000 out on the east end!

I'm available for hire if anyone needs any deer killed anywhere anytime you just pay my expenses.
Seriously
Oh and coyotes to. There just fun to shoot.

So far only 1 confirmed coyote recorded on LI. I'm sure its protected too

I am presently on that permit, but will not hunt that way, even though we LOVE venison.
and before anyone asks, the permit list is closed, and since I have been hunting on it the
number of hunters has gone from 60 to just under 30.  I tried to complain about this deer slaughter
on my local paper, Newsday (snoozeday to patriots) but the comments are closed.   Rather than pay these
alleged professional killers, many real hunters with bows could accomplish much the same and would pay a fee !

I have been told by someone in "authority" that...

"You don't need that to kill a deeah."

FUAC

What the fuck are you talking about?

yes wounding scores of deer is way more effective than spotting and shooting.
Ahh bow hunters

I tolerate hunting because it's largely necessary, and I accept the killing of nuisance species because it too is sometimes necessary to bring ecological balance, but killing things shouldn't be fun.  There is a certain subset of repressed sociopaths who use hunting to fulfill their desire to just kill for the power trip and pleasure of it all, and there are people who forget completely that what they are engaging in is a solemn experience on some level, so be careful how comfy you get and how much respect you lose for the animals and life in general.





 

I am glad you tolerate it...


Sincerely,
Repressed Sociopath






Fucking nyhtf is full of peta members all of a sudden

Thank you for your contribution.  

Coyotes are out of control and seriously in need of population reduction.  Is it going to take them attacking toddlers in their front yard to wake people the fuck up?

Add me to the list of Repressed Sociopaths please.  When do I get the newsletter?

ad me also and is there a secret handshake??
i would hunt / kill creatures every day and have a differrrrrrrrent wild game meal to go with it.
and who said we were repressed ?? and not the normallllll

Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system !

Your choice to label yourself, there are plenty of other legitimate options, if you elect to seize on one in particular to try to make a point it's not my fault.  

 

Deep thinker

I only hunt because I enjoy killing stuff. I like to shoot deer with my different guns just to see how quick they die.
In all honesty I hate other hunters, do not really enjoy "hunting", venison is not my favorite meat, and it costs too much money...I just enjoy killing.

Explain to me what's wrong with expressing a little measure of respect?

 

Explain to me why killing deer shouldn't be fun?

Animals are here for our benefit.  I don't give a fuck about their "feelings."

We killed the wolves off so there are no natural predators left. We are the predators and the deer population needs to be thinned.
Imagine what they think when there being hunted it must be like the movie Predator. There's are invisible beings shooting at you lol.