DWR trapping, relocating deer in Bountiful


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BOUNTIFUL — For homeowners along the foothills, urban deer are both a joy and a nuisance. Alan Hill says at times it can seem nearly impossible to maintain a garden.

"I'm not real happy when they eat my tulips," Hill said. "We used to see them on a daily basis. I would say that we're still seeing them probably every three or four days."

The decrease in numbers may be thanks to a pilot program, run through a partnership with the Division of Wildlife Resources and the city of Bountiful. With the help of several volunteers, DWR biologists trap the deer and then move them to less populated areas in Duchesne and Box Elder counties.

"When they come in contact with people, they're gonna come in contact with cars and fences," DWR spokesman Mark Hadley said. "So it's just better for the deer in general to be away."

The pilot program has been running for nearly two years. The DWR is testing it along with an urban deer hunt in Highland, which is open to carefully selected archers. Hadley says it's giving them and the cities a chance to see which method might be more effective and economical. So far, about 200 deer have been moved from Bountiful this season alone.

"We're hoping to have some guidelines put together by June of this year, based on what we've learned," Hadley said. "We will be ready by this summer to start entertaining more cities, as far as folks coming to us and saying, 'we want it in our area too.'"

Some homeowners along the benches in Bountiful feel the relocation program is good for both humans and deer.

"We've encroached in their area, and we have to live here also," homeowner Paul Ord said. "So it's good they have them thinned out to where we don't have such a big nuisance."

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UtahOutdoors
Mike Anderson

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