Eighteen Deer Harvested During Hunting Season; No Complaints Filed with Weston PD
The Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen will review the 2012 Deer Program tonight and discuss plans for 2013. The 2012 deer management program report is available online.
Bow hunters had access to five conservation areas in Weston during last fall's hunting season as part of a deer management program agreed to by the Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen.
According to the 2012 Deer Management Program Summary, the program was implemented after residents wrote letters in recent years urging the Conservation Commission and selectmen to "look into the problem of too many deer."
The program summary (PDF here) posted on the Town of Weston website outlines the steps pursued leading up to the implementation of the program as well as major efforts both for and against it.
According to the report, a total of 18 deer, 10 does and eight bucks, were harvested between Oct. 15, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012, from Jericho Forest, Ogilvie Forest, Dickson Fields, Blaney Aquifier and Sears Land. There were no hunting complaints filed with the Weston Police Department or the Massachusetts Environmental Police and 25 of 26 hunters filed hunting logs via the commission's electronic database.
In late January, the Conservation Commission voted unanimously to request that selectmen continue the program in 2013. The commission will meet with selectmen tonight at 7:30 at Weston Town Hall to discuss the results of the 2012 program as well as the recommendation to continue the program this fall.
Tom Anderson
10:18 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Unfortunately, the above article is a bit deceptive. It may be true that there were no "hunting complaints filed with the police". However, there were a number of incidents reported to the police. Additionally, the Con Comm is concluded the program a success without actually cited any improvements relative to the historical trend on their 3 main issues (car accidents. Lyme disease, and forest destruction). In fact, deer car accidents had dropped dramatically in the 3 years prior to this action in Weston and Lyme Disease had also decreased in the state prior to this action. Neither of these facts were disclosed by the Con Comm.
Brooklyn Lowery
11:02 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tom, thanks for weighing in. The info in this article came directly from the report issued by the Conservation Commission, and I assume it will be further clarified at tonight's meeting, which I plan to attend and cover. I appreciate your adding your thoughts and additional info to the article.
Sonia Zighelboim
11:25 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The key question in this debate, is NOT if we do or don't want hunting in Weston, the KEY QUESTION is: "is hunting going to resolve any of the problems that the Con Comm says Weston has?"
The answer to that question is a resounding NO.
Let me touch on the issue of Lyme Disease:
To combat Lyme Disease you need to go after the black-legged tick and the white-footed mice. Unless you control the tick population, you will do nothing to reduce the incidence of Lyme disease. Killing deer by hunting, will NOT reduce the tick population, since the ticks will just go to other hosts or increase their numbers in the remaining deer.
Further more, when you kill deer by hunting, the remaining deer become more prolific (having twins and triplets, and having babies younger), so that the deer population "bounces back" and the number of deer actually increases!!!!
We invite everybody to the Weston Deer Friends Educational Forum on May 1st: "Living with Deer and without Lyme Disease", 7pm Library Community Room.
Please vote against hunting in our public lands on May 1st, at the Annual Town Meeting.
Sonia Zighelboim, Ph.D.
Member of Weston Deer Friends
Diane Anderson
11:59 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
I have looked into the issue of Lyme Disease and deer populations and I agree with Sonia that hunting won't solve the problem. There are better, safer and more humane solutions. I am looking forward to attending the Weston Deer Friends forum at the library on the evening of May 1 to learn more from a panel of specialists. I will be attending the town meeting on May 13 and voting "no" to hunting on town land. I hope others do as well.
Isabella Jancourtz
12:47 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Our town forests are for all to enjoy in peace and safety. The selectmen's decision to allow bowhunting of deer has seriously interfered with that.
Please come to town meeting on Monday, May 13 and vote to ban hunting on all town owned land in Weston.