Bowhunting reduces deer in two cities – STLtoday.com

By Stephen Deere

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

01/13/2009

CLARKSON VALLEY — The camouflaged figure climbed a tree in the middle of the subdivision and waited, scanning the hillside for antlers, listening for a hoof snapping a twig.

In the distance, a basketball thumped on the pavement, a car door slammed. Only 50 yards away from the deer stand, the lights on a Christmas tree glowed through the living room window of a $500,000 home.

Hours passed and still, there were no deer.

Lou Salamone has hunted these backyards for the past couple of years and is having days like this more and more — as if he’s a victim of his own success.

“It’s like mission accomplished,” he said.

For a couple of municipalities in west St. Louis County, Salamone and other bowhunters have become an inexpensive solution to the growing conflict between suburban development and wildlife.

Clarkson Valley and Chesterfield have adopted ordinances in recent years allowing bowhunting in residential areas during deer archery season, which begins in mid-September and ends Thursday, to combat an overabundance of deer.

The cities say they are happy with the results so far, even if they can’t pinpoint what effect bowhunting has had on the deer population.  Click link below for full story!

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