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Proposals to hold a tightly controlled deer hunt inside Warsaw city limits have been canceled.
Warsaw Mayor Jeff Plank said controversy over who can hunt deer and where they can hunt is overshadowing the reason for the hunt.
Plank suggested the hunt several weeks ago. He said the purpose was to reduce or stabilize the deer population in the city, and to make the deer meat available to hungry area residents.
After the proposal for the hunt was announced, Plank said, his phone "started ringing off the hook." While he received some calls from people who were opposed to the program, most of the phone calls were from hunters claiming to have exclusive rights to hunt on specific properties.
"We weren't going to allow people to hunt at will," Plank said today.
He had originally proposed contracting with Wildlife Management Resources, which has a local chapter, to provide bow hunter certification and to determine who could hunt.
But the controversy over who could hunt began to overshadow the purpose of the hunt. While nothing formal has been declared yet, Plank said, "I doubt seriously if we're going to have this opportunity made available to people this year."
He said he will continue to talk with Wildlife Management Resources about future programs, but for now, "so far as this season is concerned, the deer have won a resounding victory."
