From: kdw@icd.ab.com (Kenneth D. Whitehead)
Subject: Anti-hunters issue death threats in Ohio
Organization: Allen-Bradley Company, Inc.
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 16:15:34 GMT

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/10/92

WILDLIFE OFFICIALS RECEIVE DEATH THREATS OVER DEER-KILL PLAN

Wildlife officials faced with shooting whitetailed deer that have overpopulated
Sharon Woods MetroPark in Columbus have received death threats if they carry out
the plan this winter.

"Killing those deer is something we certainly don't want to do" said Pat Ruble,
head of game management for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, who confirmed the
death threats.  "Because of the threats I really can't talk about the management
plan, such as when and how it will be done, only that it will be sometime this
winter.

The Sharon Woods MetroPark between Columbus and Westerville, which is bordered by I-271 and I-71, has developed a serious deer dilemma in the past two years.  Deer living there have consumed much of the vegetation within their reach.  Many of the more than 500 bucks and does are malnourished and could die this winter.

It's a problem that has plagued MetroParks director Roger Hubbell and the
MetroParks board.  After much soul-searching and public discussion, the board
has decided the deer must be shot.  "To do nothing" said Hubbell, "would be
cruel".

Platforms will be built in the coming months in the Sharon Woods and
Reynoldsville's Black Lick Woods.  Sharpshooters will climb those platforms
after the park has closed and use rifles to "cull" the herds of deer.

The venison shouldn't go to waste, but nature may already have stepped in to
cause problems.  Because of overcrowding, many of the Sharon Woods deer have a
virus that has caused open sores to form on their bodies.  Some of the meat
might be tainted.

"Our biggest deer problems around Ohio over the next decade will be in urban and
suburban counties like Cuyahoga and Franklin", said Ruble.  In rural areas we
can handle agricultural damage with liberalized hunting regulations.  In
metroparks and refuges we can't control the deer herds and deer damage through
hunting."

Ruble said there are 60 to 70 sites in Ohio that are potential trouble spots. 
At Sharon Woods, the deer population seemed to explode almost overnight as
shriking habitat pushed more deer into the suburban park.  That scenario, said
Ruble, is being duplicated throughout Ohio.

ODOW officials might be stuck in the middle of a sticky situation, but Ruble
thinks it's their job to develop procedures to manage the deer, even if it means
having to shoot them.

"This is the first time this is being done on Ohio, and we want to get the
procedures worked out", said Ruble.  "Then we can turn over these problems to
local officials."

"We don't have the manpower to deal with these situations when they begin to
crop up all around Ohio.  It's important, though, with this being the first
effort of this type, that we work closely (with Columbus MetroParks 
officials)."

Car-deer collisions and crop damage have become common in Ohio.  TO trim Ohio's
deer herd this season, wildlife officials have allowed a 50% increase in the
second-deer permits issued to Buckeye hunters.  Sportsmen should set
deer-hunting records during the 1992-1993 season.

"Last year,we issued about 42,000 two-deer permits," said Ruble.  "This year,
that jumped to more than 60,000.  As a result, the total deer kill this season
will be about 135,000 animals.  That's a lot of deer for a little old state like
Ohio."

What is not increasing is the size of Ohios army of hunters.  About 300,000 deer
hunting permits will be sold this year, the same as in the past couple of years,
despite the growing deer herd.  About 50,000 hunters to not require deer
permits.

"We've got enough deer hunters in Ohio," said Ruble.  "What worries me much more
is the closure of hunting grounds to expanding human populations.  Those are
areas we won't be able to effectively manage through hunting."

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