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HERRIMAN — They seem to be everywhere; on city streets, looking for food around houses and in the shrub brush in the nearby mountains.
"I just saw four big bucks up here,” said Steven Russell, who, like all the deer, makes his home in Herriman. “It's fun to look at them. It's just sad someone has the idea to shoot it and then leave it there."
For as peaceful as these deer look to many people, someone doesn't like the sight of them at all.
In fact, that person doesn’t like them so much and he or she has been killing them with a bow and arrow and leaving them to die.
"This is not a fun story. There are some serious crimes that have been committed,” said Mike Roach with Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources.
In the past couple of months, three doe and one buck have been killed with an arrow.
Roach says he’s pretty sure the shooter isn’t a hunter who legally shot the animal during hunting season, then simply couldn't find it.
"This is not that. This is just someone being belligerent. They're doing it just to be spiteful," he said. "Even though there are some problems with the deer in Herriman that the city has recognized, this is not the procedure we want to follow. These are crimes that are being committed."
Herriman’s city council has had meetings to talk about the deer and what to do with them.
"We just see a lot more of their presence," said Coralee Moser, who is on Herriman's City Council. "We're having more traffic accidents.”
This is not that. This is just someone being belligerent. They're doing it just to be spiteful. Even though there are some problems with the deer in Herriman that the city has recognized, this is not the procedure we want to follow. These are crimes that are being committed.
–Mike Roach, Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources
Moser said some residents have filed complaints that deer are eating their flowers and plants around their homes. A handful also said the deer are spreading diseases to humans.
More homes are being built in the mountains surrounding Herriman, but Moser feels construction isn’t the main cause for the increase in deer complaints.
“Certainly we are building closer to the mountains, but also, I think the deer population is exploding in this area," Moser said. "There’s no reason for them to migrate, so they’re reproducing and living right here.”
Herriman has filed an application with the DWR asking for permission to control the deer population within city boundaries.
There are three possible options to control the deer.
One is a relocation program that would be expensive, and a second option is to sterilize the deer, though the DWR doesn’t seem to support that option.
A third option would be to allow hunters to take part in an archery program to kill deer within city limits and then donate the meat to homeless shelters.
“We hope to have an answer some time in the spring,” said Moser. "We hope all our residents will be patient with us as the city council goes through this process."
The DWR doesn’t know for sure if whoever is killing the deer is doing it because of the city’s application process. However, the DWR thinks the person responsible is the same person because all the arrows are the same.
"Someone is just doing this maliciously, and we need to put a stop to it,” said Roach.
Killing the does is a misdemeanor, while killing a buck is a felony. That means whoever did this is facing big fines and possibly jail time.
The DWR is hoping someone knows who shot the deer and emails or calls their poaching hotline. Callers can remain anonymous and there could be a reward for good information.
