Devil’s Den In Weston To Close Weekdays During Limited Deer Hunt

**News Release Submitted by The Nature Conservancy**

Oct. 26, 2023

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has announced that it will hold its annual controlled deer hunt at Devil’s Den Preserve during the state-designated firearms hunting season for private lands.

The hunt will take place on the following weekdays only: November 15-16 (Wednesday, Thursday); November 20-22 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday); November 27-30 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday); and December 4-5 (Monday, Tuesday). Devil’s Den will be closed to visitors on these days and signs will be posted at all public entrances to the preserve. The Conservancy provides this information so that residents and their families, guests and tenants can make plans to refrain from entering the preserve on these days.

TNC is working with experienced hunters who have knowledge of the preserve and local area and who will hunt only in select areas of the preserve’s interior away from any neighboring properties. Signs will be posted at all public entrances to the preserve.

The purpose of the controlled hunt, which has been held each fall since 2001, is to improve and maintain forest health by reducing the deer population. In recent decades, the high density of deer in southwestern Connecticut and associated overbrowsing have caused ecological damage in the region’s forests, harming the understory, limiting tree regeneration and contributing to the gradual loss of native flowering plant diversity.

The annual hunt, in combination with additional restoration efforts conducted by The Nature Conservancy and other conservation organizations contribute to improving and maintaining the resilience of forests in this region.