Whitetail hunting can be a safe and effective way to control white-tailed deer populations in urban and suburban areas. However, not all areas are willing to allow hunting to keep deer numbers in check. Many places that once banned hunting are now looking at expanding harvest opportunities for sportsmen. Of course, not all towns and cities are the same. Too many deer can be a big issue, but people that are too narrow-minded can make a big issue even bigger.
When the issue of overpopulation becomes an issue, deer control by some method is warranted. The trapping and removal of deer is very time consuming and, as a result, expensive. Direct harvest, on the other hand, through either gun or archery can help keep local deer densities at managable numbers. However, the killing of animals does not come without critism.
Source: “For a decade or so, towns, villages and counties in the New York region, similarly concerned about too many deer, have dispatched bowhunters and sometimes sharpshooters to cull the herds. But now the cull is getting bigger, as one of the largest local jurisdictions — Westchester County — allows culling for the first time in its own parkland, and a few towns and villages within that county are considering similar moves. What’s more, these places, more densely populated than many of the communities that currently authorize such culling, are focusing on bowhunting rather than shooting, for safety reasons. That preference is prompting criticism from animal-rights groups, who see bowhunting as particularly cruel.”