Oakmont Borough moving forward with harvesting program to reduce deer population

The borough of Oakmont has voted to move forward with a harvesting program to bring down its deer population.

This has been a wildlife management tool used to great effect by other places before, including the city of Pittsburgh.

While Oakmont is known for its famous golf course and bakery, it is now also known for a large deer population that residents have been reporting are all over both private and public property in the town.

On Tuesday night, the borough council voted to retain the services of Suburban Wildlife Management LLC to harvest some of Oakmont's deer population.

"This coming hunting season, when archery starts, through their vetting process, we will have hunters on public or private property, public that we identify and private property that meets the safety requirements, to allow archers to hunt deer," said borough manager Scot Fodi.

The borough says there was no other way to manage the deer population in town.

While fine details are still being worked out with the wildlife management company, there is some information residents should be aware of:

• Archers will be vetted by the wildlife management company and known to the community and borough police when they are working
• Hunters will not come onto private property without prior authorization
• There are provisions in the agreement to donate a portion of the harvested meat to food banks
• Borough hunting will coincide with archery season, which runs from September through February
• After the season, if needed, the borough can opt for a sharpshooting phase of management

While the borough recognizes that some may find this management method a bit harsh, council has stated that even environmental groups like the Sierra Club cite it as the most humane.

"We may take out 20 deer this year," said Fodi. "It may be 10 next year, then 10 the next year, and 10 the year after that. It is just going to be part of the process now. The deer will come back. There is always going to be a deer population in Oakmont; we're just trying to thin that crowd down."