This coming weekend will be the annual special park deer hunt at Green Valley State Park. The campground will be closed for camping on Friday, Nov. 15 through Sunday, Nov 17. The entire park will be closed to the general public for all activities Saturday, Nov. 16 and Sunday, Nov. 17, for the yearly deer hunt. To ensure a safe event, extra Department of National Resource staff will be on hand to patrol the park boundaries.
This will be the 16th year for the hunt and it will operate like last years’ hunt with hunters attempting to harvest one antlerless deer each. Hunters have already registered and will be receiving antlerless tags redeemable only during the special hunt at the designated areas and specified dates. The hunters are required to hunt with muzzleloaders only.
“The muzzleloader-only hunt in the fall helps keep the deer population in the park under control. We have had 15 successful hunts and we are hoping this year’s hunt will go just as well as the past years,” according to Park Ranger, Jason Hyde.
“All of the hunters must attend a safety meeting before the hunt,” Hyde said. “We explain the reason for the hunt, discuss the rules and show them the park boundaries. We hope to harvest as close to 30 female deer as we can and do it in a safe and efficient manner.”
“This is a great management tool for state parks,” Park Technician Daniel Stull said. “We are attempting to maintain a balance in the deer herd. People want to see deer when they come to park, but we can’t have so many deer that they destroy the habitat and create a lot of crop damage for neighboring landowners. A few years ago, we saw a decrease in the number of deer that were harvested. This was an indication that the total deer population in the park had been reduced. Thus, it was decided to lower the quota from 50 to 30 and we have maintained this quota the last three years.”
After the hunt, park staff along with wildlife biologists, will evaluate the harvest results to determine what will be done the next year. The hunt will remain an annual event for the foreseeable future. Research shows that if hunting stops completely, deer will quickly repopulate an area. The number of deer that are targeted for removal may change from year to year depending on research, harvest counts, and population estimates. The final decision will be made by the DNR’s depredation biologist.
For questions, contact the park office at (641) 782-5131.