Councilman Proposes Hunting Deer In City Limits
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - A city councilman is proposing hunting within the city limits to help control the deer population.
Colorado Springs City Councilman Dan Knight says one option is hiring trained marksman to control the deer populations, but that might be too expensive.
A more cost-effective solution could be allowing citizens to hunt the deer.
Knight says it would probably be limited to archery from an elevated stand, would only be allowed for a few months out of the year, and only in certain areas of town.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife say deer are thriving, although sometimes with deadly consequences, and garden season may have something to do with it.
"You know, they have all those good groceries, and there's not very many predators for them, so their population numbers increase, and their densities increase, and it gets to a point where even though there are a lot of deer, they're not very healthy deer, so their body condition is not very good," said Frank McGee, who's with Parks and Wildlife.
The councilman says the proposal is just the first step. He'll need approval from at least four other council members at Monday's meeting before moving forward.
If it does go ahead, residents would also be given the opportunity to weigh in on the issue.