Pittsburgh is aiming to quickly fill the quiver of its deer management program with qualified archers. According to Mayor Ed Gainey’s office, the city’s deer population has multiplied to an unsustainable level, which has led to vegetation loss in local parks and hazards on neighborhood roadways.
“We’re seeing soil erosion and soil destabilization, and it has an impact on our ability to control landslides,” mayoral spokesperson Maria Montaño said last week when the program was first proposed. According to city statistics, animal care and control crews picked up 335 deceased deer from roadways in 2018 and 510 deer in 2021.
In response, the mayor’s office wants to allow controlled bowhunting of the animals this fall in two city parks: Frick and Riverview.
The city has already begun soliciting archers to participate in the program, even before City Council formally approved enabling legislation that includes a contract with the United States Department of Agriculture to launch the program. Council members voted 8 to 1 to approve the program Wednesday after signaling their support last week.
Applications from interested Allegheny County residents can be submitted on the city’s website. Qualified archers must pass a criminal background check and have a clean Pennsylvania Game Commission record. Archers will also need to purchase the 2B antlerless deer tag needed to hunt in Allegheny County.
The city is prioritizing the elimination of does.
“The main goal of this pilot program is to control the City's deer population, and requiring a doe first best helps us meet that goal,” the city website asserts. “A doe reaches breeding age at six months, and 98% of mature does can breed every year.”
Thirty archers will be selected by lottery, though the city has not indicated how they will be chosen. The Gainey administration suggested last week that city residents could be prioritized in the selection process, but neither the bills approved by council nor the city website codifies that idea.
Once selected, archers will undergo a skills evaluation with the USDA to test their accuracy. Then they will be assigned to either Frick or Riverview park.
During the hunt, archers must remain at least 150 feet away from occupied structures including homes, schools and playgrounds.
Gutting deer is prohibited on-site, and the first doe must be taken to a food bank program such as Hunters Sharing the Harvest.
Questions remain about the specifics of the pilot program, including an estimate for how many deer the city hopes to eliminate in the pilot program, or how many deer are currently in each park.
An original version of one of the bills cited a USDA estimate that there are an average of 51 deer per square mile of city parkland. But on Wednesday council was given an amended version of the bill in which that language was stricken. The new version says only that the city should aim to have 20 deer per square mile — twice the number deemed appropriate in the original text.
The first hunt could take place as soon as Sept. 16, when archery hunting season begins in Allegheny County. But the city has not yet publicized an official bowhunting schedule and a mayoral spokesperson said it's unlikely the program could be up and running before next week. The last day of the upcoming archery season is Jan. 27, 2024.
