TRURO, N.S. -- The town of Truro is quite literally taking aim at a growing deer population.
Starting on Monday, non-firearm hunting will be permitted in the town’s watershed area for registered and licensed bow hunters.
The new hunting rules come as the town continues to see a growth in the urban deer population.
“If we expand the hunt or we allow hunting in the watershed, with non-motorized means and no firearms – basically bow and cross bow. We wanted to see what effect that may have on the population of deer,” said Truro CAO, Mike Dolter
Dolter says the new hunt zone is within town boundaries, but not in a built-up area, and while it borders the popular Victoria Park, access through the park will not be permitted.
“We’ve taken measures to protect residents, we’ve actually set buffers that are well above what would be required by natural resources,” he said.
But in a survey done last year, it was found that half the town’s population considered the deer to be a nuisance, while the other half did not.
Residents like Yolanda Cleaves says she enjoys seeing the dear in her yard, she believes more should be done to encourage people to stop feeding the animals and she says expanding hunting zones won’t help.
“I think it’s actually going to have a negative effect, I’m worried it’s going to draw the deer into town, therefore causing accidents,” she said.
Dolter says this is just the first step in the ongoing process to manage the deer population. Once the hunting season closes in December, they’ll use the information gathered to help determine what course of action will be take next.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh
