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BOUNTIFUL — Two Utah cities are using different methods to control the same problem: accidents and instances of nuisance caused by deer.
In August 2013, Bountiful joined Highland in an effort to reduce deer populations in urban areas. Bountiful’s program differs from Highland’s, however, in that the city is relocating substantial numbers of the animals, rather than using hunting to manage the herds.
The two-year pilot Bountiful Urban Deer Translocation Program was approved by the state Legislature, allowing the Division of Wildlife Resources to study the costs and effectiveness of translocation before the city begins management.
“We have a resource that does have a value, and we’re trying to use this as a way to most responsibly manage them,” DWR private lands, public wildlife coordinator Scott McFarlane said.
It follows on the heels of Highland’s pilot program, which resulted in the harvest of 74 deer, yielding more than 5,500 pounds of ground venison, most of which was donated to homeless shelters. The harvest season cost the city less than $2,000.
Between January and February, the DWR live trapped and moved 36 deer from Bountiful and translocated the animals to Cedar Mountain, according to the division. The animals were tagged or had radio collars placed on them for studying.
Bountiful selected the method, which is also being used in New Mexico, because officials didn’t feel the city had the open space to hunt the animals, according to Bill Bates, wildlife section chief at DWR. Though further cost-analysis needs to be performed, initial projections show that it will cost the city about $200 per deer to trap and move.
“The model they’re using is that the cities help to resolve their own problems and the state provides direction, gives them approvals or whatever needed to do it and find a way to manage urban deer at acceptable levels,” Bates said.
The goal of the program, according to DWR urban wildlife specialist Channing Howard, is twofold. First, it aims to reduce conflicts within urban areas — including collisions, nuisance complaints and messes — and second, to increase deer populations in areas where once-robust herds have dwindled.
This winter, the DWR will use dropnets and box-and-clover traps to remove close to 200 deer from Bountiful to an area where deer herds have dwindled. The translocated deer will be monitored by ear tags and radio collars, Channing said.
Translocation allows the deer to be hunted in their new location, and at least one buck was killed during the hunt this fall, Channing said. The possibility of hunting does affect how officials move the deer, she said.
“We don’t like to use a mobilization drug, partly because these deer will be harvested by hunters in the future,” Channing said. “So if they have any questions about their individual deer, we have all the records. We can use their ear tag info to look them up.”
The city and division have hired a company to conduct a scientific survey of 450 Bountiful households about the program. The survey, which will start on Dec. 10, will have about a dozen questions and will be used as part of the DWR’s research of the program.
