Howard residents voice concerns as village expands deer hunting areas

HOWARD – During its Aug. 25 meeting, the Howard Village Board discussed an updated Deer Management Program from the village’s Deer Control Committee (DCC).

“In an effort to safely reduce the deer herd in the Village of Howard, the Deer Control Committee recommends the Howard Village Board approve the proposed Deer Management Program (DMP) that will initially be focused on harvesting deer through the State of Wisconsin archery deer program. This program will allow hunters to earn a buck by harvesting two does via nuisance permits issued to the village from the State’s Department of Natural Resources,” said a statement from the DCC.

Included in the DMP are the following:

• Two already hunted areas, the Howard Industrial Park and the Howard Dog Park, would be converted to DMP, and up to two hunters would be allowed at each hunting location.

• Four other areas of village-owned properties were also added to the DMP.

“To facilitate hunting in these areas, the DCC is recommending the Village Board approves lowering the 100-yard rule to 75 yards for these areas. If this change is implemented, the village will request another 20 nuisance permits from the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) to be provided to hunters in these four areas. Once these 20 permits are used, additional permits will be obtained from the DNR until half of the surveyed deer in these areas are harvested,” the DCC stated.

When the board opened the floor for public comment, multiple village residents gave praise to Howard’s deer control committee; however, these residents still shared further suggestions.

One unidentified resident mentioned that the DCC has yet to share an estimate of the current deer population.

“It’s impossible to suggest what your measure of success of the actions that you propose to take is. If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know whether you’ve gotten there or not?” they questioned.

The same resident also commented on an update to the DMP that expands the area that qualifies eligible hunters, stating “I’m really not concerned about where the hunter lives. I am interested in how good they are, because having a collection of licensed hunters who happen to live in the village but are not very good is not going to make much impact on the herd.

“I think this is a first step, but I still have skepticism about the effectiveness that it will have, and I think that the village is going to have to, in the future, turn to bringing in professional users of crossbows in locations to severely reduce the herd. I personally would like to see it come down to levels of 35 to 40% of what it is now in a single season.”

Next, Howard resident Monica Hoff stepped up for public comment.
“First, I think the committee members deserve a big thank you,” said Hoff. I went to almost all the meetings, and I think there was a lot of thoughtfulness and a lot of information that they looked at. So thank you to the committee members for the work.

“Some people will take those precautions, some people won’t care, but people should have the ability to make an informed choice if they’re near a hunting area.

“While implementing this program, though, the areas where the hunters are going to be, people should know where that is. Like, if my yard is next to a conservancy area where there’s going to be a hunter, I would like to know that, because I might get a little closer control on my dog, tell the kids to stay up. You know, don’t be running around in brown with white mittens on, that sort of thing.”

In addition to this, Hoff also requested that hunting periods at the village’s dog park be posted.

“You know, this date through this date, so that people know if they go in there with their dog off leash, there might be a hunter in that area. Some people will take the extra precautions, some people won’t care, but people should have the ability to make an informed choice if they’re close to a hunting area.”

Later in the meeting, the board came across the matter as an action item, and Village Board President Burt McIntyre reiterated that “more and more” village residents had approached the city with concerns of Howard’s deer population.
The board conversed about the suggestions mentioned during public comment, yet took no action to make any amendments to the DMP; however, McIntyre mentioned that the board would “monitor this program as it goes along.”

The board was then approached by a village resident, “Keith,” and although public comment had been closed for over thirty-five minutes, the board still allowed Keith to share his thoughts.

Keith, a lifelong Howard resident, took the stand to argue against the DMP and deet hunting in general.

“They are living beings. They do have emotions, they do have thoughts, they do have personalities, they do have social relations. They have families who they share love with,” he said.

Keith even offered to pay $1,000 per month to cover the cost of fences for residents who are anti-deer because of the damage done to their lawns.
He also brought up alternative solutions such as relocation and population control through sterilization.

“I’m not saying you necessarily have to do nothing, although that would be better, in my opinion. But if you want to do something, there are other solutions,” Keith concluded.

Moments prior to the board’s vote on the DMP, Trustee Maria Lasecki shared her thoughts, inspired by Keith’s testimony.

“I wasn’t going to say anything because, for me, I recognize that we all have different perspectives about this. Wisconsin is a hunting state. For me, it’s not my thing. My best case scenario would have been that this went out for referendum and that we asked people, because I really do think there are people who are very much in favor of this, and then there are those who are very much against it, and it’s hard for me not being a hunter. I appreciate the comments that were just made and I agree, but I have to acknowledge that this is a hunting state… And while this is a small change, and we’re only broadening the space, we’re broadening it… We’re going to make a bigger impact…This is a hard thing. I’m sure it was for the committee as well, but the committee was made up of hunters and trappers and people from the DNR, and not people who just enjoy seeing the deer and trying to deter them. I just wish we would have had a more balanced approach, I guess… because the committee said this is not about killing deer, this is not about taking extreme measures, but the reality is that it is… Again, it’s just an opinion and I respect everybody else’s, so I’m hoping that you respect mine,” said Lasecki.
Shortly after, the board moved to approve the DMP with Trustee Lasecki being the only opposing vote.