Weston Conservation Commission Votes to Recommend Deer Hunting
Following unanimous decision, and controversy, commission will make recommendation to Board of Selectmen.
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In a unanimous decision, the Weston Conservation Commission voted to recommend allowing authorized bow hunting of deer on portions of town-owned land to, over time, gain some control over what they say is an “intractable problem” in Weston.
The recommendation followed a lengthy, at times uncomfortable discussion at the Weston Community Center last night about options for deer management, the last in a series of forums and meetings held on the topic by the Conservation Commission over the past six months.
While the views expressed by individual members were largely shared by the commission as a whole, a number of residents voiced concerns about hunting deer that ranged from safety to whether bow hunting is humane. The commission will present its recommendation to the Weston Board of Selectman, who will discuss the issue at its June 11 meeting.
Check Weston Patch on Monday morning for full coverage of the meeting.
Dan Beyer
8:00 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
Scientific data shows that deer have exceeded the carrying capacity of these urban areas and deer mgt through hunting is a safe and cost effective method. To also assist the town in its efforts and are interested in having a hunter manage deer on your property we invite you to visit www.findahunter.com There is a listing of recommended interview questions and suggestions. Also recommend that your selected hunter donate the deer to help those less fortunate through out our state through the Hunt To Feed program. It is a Win Win for the entire community.
John Memishian
11:33 am on Sunday, May 20, 2012
It looks to me like the hunting community is the driver behind this. If there is "scientific data", then it should be available to the public. And if there is going to be discussion, it should be open and announced in a visible way, just as town meeting notices are mailed, so that people other than those who love killing animals can participate.
Among other things, I'd want to know
- what the definition of a "problem" is, and specifically what harm has been done.
- what other measures were considered and why they aren't proposed,
- why the natural processes that limit deer population have failed here.
I'd also want to know, since the streets are town land, how I could walk out into the street in front of my own house without intercepting the flight of an arrow from some concealed shooter.
Jack Memishian
Weston
Elizabeth S. Leaver
12:10 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Hi John,
Most of your questions were covered in the May 17 meeting. Check Weston Patch tomorrow morning for full coverage.
Diane Anderson
2:24 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Jack, you made some great points. I was at two of the Con. Com. deer meetings and found them both to be very disturbing. The "specialists" they brought in to give presentations were both pro-hunting. One showed slides of his teenager with a rifle and a dead deer on his lap. They also had lots of pro-hunting brochures available. You should watch the recordings of the last two meetings on the Weston cable channel and you'll see for yourself how biased it was. The Con. Com. dismissed all of the humane options and didn't even take time to consider whether there really is a "deer problem". Very disappointing! Also, read the letter to the editor on this site about Lyme Disease. She writes about how Lyme could go up if we introduce hunting.
John Memishian
2:03 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Thanks Elizabeth! I'll certainly check it out, but I think would have preferred something before the fact. With little or no publicity, the public often finds things out too late to take any real part in the process.
Elizabeth S. Leaver
3:00 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Hi John,
We did post announcements of the event both on May 7 - http://patch.com/A-tcRy - and the day before the meeting - http://patch.com/A-tt2J
Just fyi.
Carolyn Spaulding
1:09 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
"a number of residents voiced concerns about hunting deer that ranged from safety to whether bow hunting is humane".
Efficacy was also voiced as a concern at the May 17th meeting.