Last Friday morning I was out on an early morning errand. It was 5:02 a.m. on the clock radio in my car. As I turned east on 41st street headed to Sycamore Avenue I noticed 3 deer. A doe and two fawns.  Trotting right along my car.

If you are up early in Sioux Falls, you are probably saying, 'happens all the time.'  There are loads of deer right here in Sioux Falls. So many that the city is now looking for ways to lower those numbers.

The latest, is a plea from the city that residents NOT feed the deer. I get that. I also understand, that if you have a lawn, or shrubs, or bushes, you are are in fact feeding the deer already. (Captain Obvious, I know.)

I know deer are pretty. Their awesome to watch. I've spent 'days' watching deer and how they react among each other. But what we really need to talk about is 'carrying capacity.' How many deer 'can there be' in an area, and those deer still have enough food to survive in a semi wild environment. I say semi wild, because deer born in the city limits already know that certain bushes are delicious and that lawns will provide late season sustenance in February and March.

Folks, we're going to have to thin the heard. I don't work for the Game Fish and Parks, and I don't work for the city of Sioux Falls. But unless you want to turn the city into a wildlife sanctuary, they'll have to be thinned out.

Yes, I bow hunt. Yes, I know people who bow hunt. There's no reason why we shouldn't have a pool of ethical hunters who can prove they can shoot and efficiently, ethically kill a deer. I would prefer people out tracking a deer in camouflage, rather than someone picking them off with a .223.

No, a deer that's been hit with a well placed arrow is not going to run out in the street. Most of the time, they'll head right back to the cover they bed in.

The meat could be donated. The last I checked, they welcomed venison at the Banquet. Win, win.

I know there are people who 'don't believe in hunting.' There are people who would rather watch them than hunt that. I can respect that. I also know there are MANY folks in Sioux Falls that would welcome a tree stand hanging in the back yard a couple weeks of the year or a ground blind set up on the corner of the property.

If you make an early morning drive though Sioux Falls, I think you'll agree, feeding them isn't the real problem. The real problem is there are too many deer living in the city limits of Sioux Falls.

Start small. Start in an area where a group of homeowners could agree that it's the right thing to do.

Stopping feeding the deer is one thing.  Thinning the population down is another thing. Probably the right thing to do.

 

 

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