A Montgomery County, Md. judge has ruled the county's archery hunt to reduce deer numbers does not violate the state's cruelty code, as alleged by a member of the notorious animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
In September 2015, PETA member Eilene Cohhn filed a lawsuit against the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in an effort to halt bowhunting in the parks. At that time the court refused to issue a temporary restraining order requested by PETA to block hunting in two county parks until Cohhn's suit was heard.
Health and safety issues have prompted the county parks department to cull deer in area parks for the past 19 years, according to Bethesda Magazine, though the agency has only recently opted for bowhunting due to access and regulations prohibiting the discharge of firearms.
An increasing number of urban bowhunting programs for problematic deer herds in whitetail-rich urban parks and neighborhoods from Connecticut to Iowa have been overwhelmingly successful and trouble-free for the better part of the past decade. Most impose strict guidelines for participating hunting archers, often including proficiency tests, doe-only restrictions and used of elevated treestands.
A 2014 survey conducted in Watts Branch Stream Valley Park in Potomac determined there were 67 to 84 deer per square mile, according to Montgomery Parks reports. In its public hearings prior to implementing the bowhunt last year, the parks agency said acceptable deer density levels should be 30 or fewer deer per square mile in an effort to decrease deer-involved vehicle crashes and local cases of Lyme disease.
In seeking public comment on the archery hunts, a majority of residents and respondents said they want expanded efforts to manage the deer population, according to Bill Hamilton, the principal natural resources specialist for Montgomery Parks.
"We have determined archery managed hunts are a safe, lawful and effective way to address these requests in areas where firearms would create a greater risk," Hamilton said.
Not surprisingly, the extremists at PETA were not counted among the majority favoring managed archery hunting.
Following the Aug. 25 summary judgment issued by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Steven G. Salant against Cohhn and PETA, the Norfolk, Va.-based animal rights group issued an official statement on its online blog.
"We are extremely disappointed by the ruling and deeply saddened about the fate of the deer, who are Montgomery County's gentle Cecils. The day will come when human beings must recognize that wild animals have a right to live on their ancestral lands and not be forced out and slaughtered simply for living as they have for generations. We'd like to point out that the county's 'management' program appears to be purposely set up to increase the size of deer families each year so as to make more living targets for hunters. Were that not the case, after all these years, the population of deer would have declined, and it has not. PETA believes this act of violence needs to be replaced with a program of chemical sterilizers if the county cannot 'live and let live.'"
At this point, it is assumed PETA will appeal Judge Salant's ruling. But for now, the bowhunting in Montgomery County's Parks will continue.
We'll keep you posted.
- J.R. Absher