DeForest officials consider deer management proposal

In DeForest, deer are commonly spotted in and around the community, and under normal circumstances, they are often a welcome sight.

But right now, they are more than a common sight -- there are far too many of them, and they are becoming a danger to themselves. As a result, discussions about culling the herd are taking place.

According to Deer Friendly , a site concerned with managing white tail populations around the country, the environments where the subspecies of white tailed deer native to Wisconsin (the Northern Woodland Whitetail) are found can support roughly 20 to 25 specimens per square mile.

While white tailed deer and their subspecies are the most adaptable species of deer native to North America , with habitats ranging from Florida to western Mexico up to Northwest Canada and over to Nova Scotia, they too fall prey to the dangers of overpopulation.

Judd Blau, the Director of Public Services for DeForest, says that the deer population is far exceeding the upper limit of 25, and the effects are becoming more noticeable.

“We’ve been getting an increasing number of reports from around the village of deer in various states of health, sometimes in places you wouldn't normally find them, too,” said Blau. “Recently, a colleague of mine and I went out to try and do a population count using a drone. Just in an area of about 1.65 square miles around the conservancy, we counted 223 deer. So something does have to be done about that. Personally, I want to see the deer living in healthier circumstances.”

Blau further explained that the deer are beginning to contract diseases such as CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease), which is essentially a fatal disease that attacks the nervous system and withers the infected specimen down to nothing.

The DeForest Police Department has already been called several times to put down infected deer in an effort to keep it from spreading to the rest of the herd. The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) does offer services to have venison tested for CWD, and also advises citizens to report sick deer and not to handle carcasses of deer suspected to have died from the disease.

Blau, who enjoys hunting himself, has made a proposition to have the herd culled professionally. That proposal was to be discussed and potentially voted on at the most recent village meeting on March 19.

“There are multiple methods of culling deer in an urban and suburban area,” explained Blau. “The bottom line of it, though, is that there has to be lethal sharpshooters who do quick and safe work.”

Although nothing is set in stone yet, Blau says once a healthy amount of deer are culled, the venison possibly could become available to the locals of DeForest. He further explained that it would likely be something people from the community could sign up for on a first-come, first-serve basis to receive the meat.