There are 24 archers who will participate in this year's deer-reduction effort in Warsaw.
Police Chief Steve Foster began notifying archers by phone last week that they were selected by the deer task force to participate in this year's reduction effort.
The task force will again be overseen by a management committee of Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, Deer Task Force Chair Jeff Grose, Foster, and task force members Matt Dick and Joe Thallemer.
Foster said half of the hunters that participated in last year's deer reduction effort will again participate this year. The other half will participate for the first time.
The Warsaw City Council approved a resolution and declared nuisance zone at its June 18 meeting to allow trained archers to hunt in the declared nuisance zones.
Last year was the first year for archers to hunt in declared nuisance zones in the city limits.
Trained archers will hunt in the same nuisance zones as last year including the entire area around Spring Hill, Oakwood Cemetery, Kosciusko Community Hospital and U.S. 30.
There were 18 deer harvested during the reduction efforts by the 15 archers that participated in last year's reduction efforts from Dec. 18 through Jan. 8.
This year's reduction effort will begin Oct. 1 and run through Jan. 6. Hunting only will take place during weekdays. Archers will not hunt on holidays.
Hunters have been picking up packets this week that include data collection sheets, identification cards and contact information for deer task force members.
Foster said he is happy with the archers who have been selected to participate in the deer reduction efforts.
"I am pleased with the archers who have been selected, who will represent themselves, the sport and the city," Foster said.
There were 25 hunters who attended deer reduction training Aug. 25 at the Warsaw Police Department for this year's hunt.
Foster said one of the archers was not allowed to participate in the training because he did not meet age requirements to participate in the deer-reduction efforts.
Archers were required to complete an application form and Warsaw Police Department criminal history release form during the training. They also were required to hit a practice target range with their archery equipment.
Grose said the archers are qualified and he looks forward to another deer-reduction effort.
"The training went well and we hope that the archers who hunted last year will help the new archers," Grose said.
Grose said each archer has four permits to use during this year's hunt.
Archers will be required to wear tags identifying them as a member of the task force and complete a daily log sheet and submit it to the management committee.
