The City of Pewaukee Common Council discussed methods for culling the local deer herd. An alderman provided background on previous efforts to thin the herd using sharpshooters. A flyover counted 174 deer in areas of concern. While the council had previously committed funding, the mayor felt deer management should not be a permanent budget item. Options discussed included allowing increased hunting under Act 71 and obtaining agreements with private landowners. A DNR representative recommended delaying decisions until after the regular deer hunt season to assess population changes.

1. Waukesha Freeman 06/16/2015, Page A05
City of Pewaukee council discussesmethodsfor culling deer herd
CITY OF PEWAUKEE — Deer management was a popular topic at Monday night’s Common Council meeting.
The discussion on options about what can be done with the deer population also included possible
expenditures to cull the herd.
Alderman Jeff Kara opened the topic with background on the deer herd problem. The use of sharpshooters had
helped thin out the herd by 32 deer in the Rocky Point area. A flyover was done in January 2015 and 174 deer
were identified in the five sectors of concern including Deer Haven and Rocky Point.
In the past the Common Council committed to funding the management of the deer population. Mayor Scott
Klein said this wasn’t meant to be a permanent annual item in the budget, rather that the topic would be
revisited to see if progress was made.
Klein said, “To me it is not a citywide matter where taxpayers should pay for it.” The committee discussed
alternatives to funding including using volunteer groups, such as a group of hunters from the sanitary district.
Kelly VanBeek of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources mentioned options such as Act 71, which
allows residents to bowhunt in any municipality including allowing hunting on lands owned by the city. She
encouraged the city to seek agreements with private land owners whose land could be hunted during the fall
deer hunt, instead of their becoming sanctuaries for the deer. She said other areas such as Brookfield have
noticed a considerable reduction in herds.
She cautioned that Act 71 “is not a silver bullet solution; however taking advantage of it helps.” Finally she
spoke the nuisance permit which allows for hunting outside the regular hunting season.
The council ended the discussion by delaying any decision until later in the year. VanBeek recommended the
delay until knowledge of how the regular deer hunt could reduce the population and control plans can be
determined for applying the nuisance permit.
— Karen Pilarski, Special to The Freeman
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