Urban bowhunting opportunities present themselves often, so if you're a deer hunter, don't miss out.
Because of overpopulation issues, it appears the Winston-Salem City Council could vote on a proposal from a local resident to allow urban bowhunting for whitetail deer.
After hearing complaints about deer excessively disrupting traffic and eating plants, the unnamed resident looked into other areas that permitted urban hunting and saw its potential as a way to control the whitetail population.
Per the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, there are roughly a million in the state currently.
According to a report from WXII, the City Council is currently divided on the proposal, as many worry about public safety. Many of those opposing believe it would be necessary to prohibit hunting in a lot of different areas within city limits for there to ever be a chance, but also worry about the ability to enforce regulations.
Many were in support of the proposal, though, including district wildlife biologist James Tomberlin.
"The wildlife commission is in favor of providing that additional hunting opportunity," he told WXII. "Like I said, it's really our best way to try and manage the deer population. You know we don't want deer viewed as a nuisance, they're a part of the natural landscape. When residents start viewing them as a nuisance, then we know we've got too many on the landscape. So, this is just a way to try and balance that population.
"Deer numbers can get to levels where residents may consider them a nuisance because they're eating all their gardens and landscaping plants. Deer-vehicle collisions can be an issue in those areas. So urban archery season is just an additional opportunity for people to harvest deer and trying to control those numbers inside the town. Hunting, regulating hunting, really is our best tool for managing deer numbers."
It's possible the public safety committee will vote on the proposal as soon as March 18, but if it passes, it will still have to go through City Council.
NEXT: SOUTH DAKOTA ONE STEP CLOSER TO SWEEPING DEER HUNTING CHANGES
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