Public Hearing on Deer Management June 30
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Division of Fish and Wildlife will be holding a deer management public hearing at 7 p.m., June 30 in DNREC's auditorium, Richardson and Robbins building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover to amend the deer season under the Wildlife and Non-Tidal Fishing Regulations. DNREC is amending the regulations to promote the harvest of female deer.

The changes include increasing the general deer bag limit from two deer to four deer, adding one day to the October muzzleloader season, adding shotgun deer hunting days in October for antlerless deer and changing tagging requirements for deer checked using the automated phone/internet system.

"This will hopefully bring the deer population to manageable levels and address the growing issues of ecosystem damage, crop damage, property damage, vehicle collisions, and lyme disease transmission," says DNREC's Deer Damage Assistance Program Manager, Ken Reynolds.

"I believe that deer overabundance is an ecological crisis. Deer browsing of vegetation has been documented to cause decreased abundance and in some cases local extinctions of amphibians, birds, mammals, rare plants, and reptiles," says University of Delaware Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Dr. Jake Bowman. "Reducing deer numbers will help conserve Delaware's fragile biodiversity and promote overall ecosystem health."

The Department has contracted Dr. Jake Bowman to develop a comprehensive deer management plan for the State.