Hunters harvest 84 deer at Tyler State Park hunt
NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP - A shotgun hunt at Tyler State Park on Dec. 5 harvested 84 deer, according to park officials who termed the hunt successful.
“We accomplished our goal, which was to continue managing the deer herd,” said park manager Brian Flores. “We had no incidents. All the hunters had a good experience and said that everything was run well.”
During the deer hunt, 84 deer were culled from the herd -- 21 of those were buck and eight were button buck, which are male deer with antlers that are not fully grown. The rest were doe.
On average, about 100 deer per year are harvested during the regulated shotgun hunt. Three deer were harvested last year during the regulated archery hunt.
The deer were harvested throughout the whole park, according to Flores, who said a high percentage were from the middle of the park, some on the periphery and in other parts of the park.
There were a total of 141 hunters.
“We talked with the hunters,” Flores said. “A lot of the meat is used for supplementing people’s food -- helping to supply some winter meat. It’s a good cost-effective way to feed the family.”
According to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees the operation of state parkland, the large whitetail deer population is adversely affecting the natural habitat at Tyler by causing damage to shrubbery, wildflowers and other park vegetation resulting in a severe reduction in the biological diversity of plant and animal species in the area.
In addition, the amount of deer has resulted in a number of auto accidents and damage to vegetation both in the park and surrounding property.
A regulated late season archery hunt will take place in the park north of Dairy Hill Trail, including the Covered Bridge area, for a total of 500 acres. The hunt will be held Dec. 26 to Jan. 26. There will be a maximum of 12 hunters per day allowed in the hunting area. All hunters will be required to attend a mandatory safety orientation.
Meanwhile, opponents to the deer hunt picketed the recent hunt at the park entrance along the Newtown Bypass.
Barbara Pearl, a college math professor from Lower Makefield, led the protest at the park. She said the protest was successful.
“We had more protestors this year than previous years with a dozen in total,” Pearl said.
She said she was pleased with the reaction from the public driving past the picketers.
“Many motorists did slow down and beep at us with a thumbs-up as a sign of approval and support against the hunts,” she said.
Pearl has collected a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to stop the hunts at Tyler. “The park officials need to hear their voices now,” she said
Pearl said it “is abundantly clear that there is a lack of education among public officials and Pennsylvania citizens regarding the availability and effectiveness of non-lethal tools for mitigating any perceived human and wildlife conflicts.”
Pearl contends that the current methods employed “are antiquated and ineffective and need to stop now.”
And she is calling
for a moratorium on the hunts at Tyler State Park and has sent a letter to Bob Barth, chief of the bureau of state parks in Harrisburg, asking that he form a task force to study and implement non-lethal options.
An e-mail campaign is also under way to encourage people who support the group, In Defense of Animals (IDA), to request that officials “immediately stop the killing of deer in Tyler State Park” and to cancel the bow hunt scheduled for Dec. 26 to Jan. 26.
“There are humane and non-lethal solutions to deer/ human conflicts, including deterrents which protect property. Warning signs for motorists and scientificallydesigned light reflectors have been effective in reducing deer-vehicle collisions,” Pearl told BucksLocalNews. com. “A recent study by Erie Insurance Company concluded the rate of collisions between deer and vehicles increases three to four times during hunting season.”
She continued, “Immunocontraception for deer addresses the core problem - reproduction - and provides a non-lethal and long-term solution.”
Pearl also said, “Shooting innocent, trusting animals in Tyler State Park, where deer are unafraid of people, is inhumane, and serves no purpose other than hunters’ recreational interests. Bow hunting is an extremely cruel method of killing deer which should not be permitted anywhere, let alone an urban park. With bow hunting, wounding and crippling is inevitable. Most deer are not rendered immediately unconscious and death takes place over several minutes, while they experience unfathomable pain and fear. Many are not killed by the arrow, and run off, wounded, only to die days later from internal bleeding or infection.”