Summit deer hunt to go on
Metro Parks receives permission to shoot 197 more by end of March
Akron Beacon Journal
Thursday, January 19, 2006
By Bob Downing, Beacon Journal staff writer
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, will continue shooting white-tailed deer in four parks and one nature preserve through March 31.
The park district's sharpshooters killed 58 deer by Dec. 31, when its state-issued permit expired, said Damon Greer of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
His office has issued a new permit that will allow the district to shoot an additional 197 deer by the end of March.
That was done because the park district's original paperwork was not finalized until early December, which did not leave enough time to complete the deer shooting by Dec. 31, Greer said.
The park district had requested state permission to shoot 175 to 255 deer because the animals were threatening the park's flora and other fauna.
By Dec. 31, the sharpshooters -- working at night from elevated stands in closed parks -- had shot 34 deer in O'Neil Woods Metro Park in Bath Township, 10 in Cascade Valley Metro Park in North Akron, five at Munroe Falls Metro Park in Munroe Falls and nine at Waldo Semon Woods Conservation Area in Boston Township, Greer said.
The district also is authorized to shoot deer at Liberty Park in Twinsburg, Twinsburg Township and Reminderville.
The venison goes to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
The 2005-06 operation marks the third year in a row the park district has shot deer.
The district shot 134 deer in three parks in November and December 2004, and 119 deer in four parks in February and March 2004.
Park officials repeatedly have declined to comment on the deer management plan, citing an Illinois animal rights group's lawsuit against the park system.
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is a defendant in a suit filed in 2004 in U.S. District Court in Akron by Showing Respect and Kindness (SHARK). The suit was filed after the park district took no action on the group's complaints about the deer killing in 2004.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
