Hunting Archery Duck Deer

While nobody has an accurate count of deer on the preserve, the consensus is that there are too many. Tom Gettings, special projects director for the Wildlands Conservancy, which is managing the preserve for the next four years, says he has seen as many as 250 deer in several hours at the preserve in winter.

In fact, some sort of hunting on the preserve had been envisioned as part of the Conservancy’s management plan. Mr. Gettings said, ”The biodiversity of the whole Trexler Nature Preserve has been impacted by the over-abundance of whitetail deer.” During hunting season, deer use the preserve as a refuge. Over time, their browsing ”diminishes the ability of other creatures to exist in the same place,” Mr. Gettings said, while letting unwanted species like the autumn olive, which deer disdain, crowd out other plant species.

When the agreement is complete, bowhunting for deer could begin with archery season on Sept. 29. The agreement will also permit bowhunting for wild turkey.

None of this should create safety concerns at the preserve’s zoo. First, hunting won’t be allowed in that area. Second, unlike firearm hunting, bowhunting is a shorter-range activity, usually within about 30 yards from the hunter. So, Mr. Cunningham called the archery decision ”a perfect compromise.”

Nor is hunting on county land unprecedented. It is allowed on 300 acres of county land adjacent to the preserve, on the Seem Seed Farm in Upper Milford Township and at Walking Purchase Park along the Lehigh River in Salisbury Township. Having too many deer is good neither for the deer nor for the rest of Lehigh Nature Preserve. Because deer can carry ticks infected with Lyme disease, in high numbers they can pose a threat to people, too. Bowhunting on the North Range is a sensible way to rebalance nature in this area.