Small Town News

Deer reduction permit hinges on feed ban

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Council to give final reading on animal feeding ordinance at Tuesday meeting

A work session held August 24 brought together the Sundance City Council and Wyoming Game and Fish personnel to discuss the reduction of deer population in Sundance. Following that work session, the City is waiting for the final permit through the WGF; which, according to Joe Sandrini, Wildlife Biologist for the State of Wyoming, is contingent on the passage of a feed ban in town. The council is presently in the process of passing a no-feed ordinance which is expected to have a third and final reading during next week's meeting.

As part of the prospective permit, the following stipulations and conditions have been set. The permit would be issued for a number of deer to be specified by the City. In this case, 75 was previously discussed as an appropriate number but that has now been lowered to fifty, and would include mule deer and white-tailed deer, both ant-lered and antlerless. All antlers from harvested deer will be turned over to Sundance game warden Chris Teter.

The City will name an official or employee as the person to whom the permit will be issued. Other persons approved by the city council to conduct lethal take would also need to be named on the permit, and only those whose names appear on the permit may participate in the lethal removal of deer under the permit.

The permit would be valid for all lands within the incorporated limits of the City of Sundance. Within city limits, the City would be allowed to bait deer into a safe shooting zone, and the locations where deer may be harvested will be determined by the City.

Deer may be taken with any caliber rifle or shotgun, with no ammunition restrictions to facilitate safe shooting in residential areas. Deer may also be taken outside legal shooting hours, and with the aid of artificial light to promote safe shooting. The City is responsible for following up to humanely take any deer crippled during a shooting.

Each harvested deer will be tagged with a donation coupon for tracking purposes and to provide a legal means to donate the deer. Before the meat from a deer is donated, it will be tested and if a harvested deer is deemed unfit for human consumption, the carcass would be disposed of properly.

Once issued, the permit will be valid from the issue date through December 31, 2009, and a final report of deer harvested will be submitted to the WGF by January 31, 2010. The report would need to include the date, species, sex, age, and donation coupon number for every deer harvested, along with documentation of any deer shot but not retrieved.



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© 2009 The Sundance Times Sundance, Wyoming. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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