It’s a common sight on many Bucks County roads: The carcasses of deer, apparently killed by passing cars.

But solutions to this problem – in particular an annual deer hunt – remain controversial.

As the www.naturetourism.allegheny.edu website states: “Deer populations in Pennsylvania have been increasing since the early 1900’s. In suburban and urban areas, deer densities have reached 60 to 100 per square mile. Pennsylvania’s population of whitetails has grown by 20 percent in the last five years, from 1.2 million to 1.6 million.”

To put that into context, Bucks County is roughly 604 square miles, so the deer population is expected to be somewhere around 60,400.  With roughly 34,000 car accidents caused by deer alone in the state of Pennsylvania, this is obviously a problem.

But where are all these deer coming from?

According to naturetourism.allegheny.edu, the suburbs have essentially taken over what was once the deer’s territory, pushing the deer out. Very few places are left for deer to roam freely.

“I don’t really think shooting something is necessarily the best answer to any problem,” said Michael Plassa, 18, a liberal arts major from Yardley.
“For me, it’s more the fact that the deer wouldn’t be ‘overpopulated’ if society hadn’t built buildings over all the land the deer live on,” he said.

One of the “safe havens” for deer is right next to Bucks in Tyler State Park. With over 1,000 acres of land, Tyler State Park not only offers a peaceful place for students, but also a home for various wildlife that originally inhabited the surrounding land that is now filled with suburban tract houses.

For the past couple of years, Tyler State Park has had a deer hunt in the late fall, which draws somewhat of a mixed reaction in the community.  Some students can even hear the gunshots from the park all the way on campus.

Brian Flores, manager at Tyler State Park, explained how the hunt takes place: “We allow 125 hunters, or so, as well as 15 of what we call ‘stand-by’ hunters (essentially a waiting list]). Per hunt, we average about 100-140 deer killed.”

“Obviously, hunting licenses are needed, and are free to use the deer for meat.  If a deer is left unclaimed, the meat is donated to a local food bank.  The deer-hunt is very costly, and while it does its intended job of maintaining the deer population, some people do see it as an inconvenience.”

“I have no problem with the deer hunt, as long as they are putting the meat to good use, and it can help someone. As long as the deer isn’t wasted, I’m fine with it,” said Joseph Morrison, 20, a resident of Newtown.

Flores also stated there are a few archery hunts throughout the season, and made it clear that with these hunts, Tyler State Park’s deer population is “maintained.” The hunt starts Dec. 7.

According to Flores, the hunters do run into some resistance at Tyler State Park.

“We had about five protestors last year, very minimal resistance,” said Flores. Honestly, I’d say we have more support than resistance. Multiple people look at it (the hunt) as a resource management.  The protestors have gone down in recent years.”

Arthur Forgione, a member of Bucks County Fish and Game, supports the hunt by saying, “The hunt needs to be done.”
“While I no longer hunt there, some members do,” said Forgione. ‘The unfortunate thing is where the deer should be—upstate—the population numbers are low and ultimately this discourages the hunter. ‘The problem down in Bucks is that there are not that many places people can hunt. ‘It’s mostly private land.”

While this seems like hunting is more of a sport in certain circles, In Defense of Animals, an animal rights organization on a national stage, suggests that the population figures are often exaggerated simply for the sport of hunting, and that “The overpopulation of deer stems not only from the specific mismanagement of deer populations, but from the mismanagement of our forestlands and natural areas,” says the organization’s website.

When asked about how many deer are currently in the park, Flores said there was no definitive answer, and methods at Tyler State Park have varied over time.

“We used to do aerial surveys [observing the population from an aircraft], and they would pull up hundreds, our first, in 1987, had listed 455.  The last aerial survey we did—in 1997—pulled up 205,” says Flores.

“Now, we do what is called a ‘deer browse survey’, where we place a ‘transit line’ [of 50 feet, almost like an enclosed area] in our three areas of the park, and based off droppings and food, we consider figures from there.”

Flores said given recent trends, there were roughly 55 deer per square mile at Tyler, and with Tyler State Park at 2.6 square miles; it is believed there are roughly 143 deer in the park.
While deer pose a threat to the common driver and an annoyance to the average home-owner, they also are a hazard to other wildlife and foliage, especially at Tyler State Park.

“The deer have ‘eaten themselves out of a home’ in a sense,” Flores explains.  “It’s affected our forest regeneration efforts, and the deer have slowed it down.  There are also problems with farmers and crops nearby.”

Outside of the park, however, Flores believes the deer deserves a place where they won’t be bothered at all: “They’re a part of ‘quintessential’ Pennsylvania, a natural landscape.”

Even so, the conflicting ideas on what to do with deer vary even from park to park: “At the previous park I worked at, the believed part of Pennsylvania culture is in fact, hunting deer as compared to how to manage the deer population,” Flores said.

“If you’re interested in getting a hunting license or have any questions, you can contact the park office at 215-968-2021,” offered Flores.     “For those interested in helping conserve wildlife, I’d get in touch with the Wildlife Conservation Society.”  The aforementioned society can be contacted at [email protected]

Tyler State Park offices can also be reached electronically at [email protected].

For more information on either side of deer hunting and wildlife in general, the Bucks County Fish and Game can be reached at [email protected], while In Defense of Animals can be contacted at [email protected].