County Deer Hunt Starts Jan. 17

The Essex County Sheriff's Office has announced multiple road closures that will be made to accommodate the upcoming annual county-sanctioned deer hunt, which is scheduled to start on Jan. 17.

The fifth annual Essex County Deer Management Program will be held each Tuesday and Thursday from Jan. 17-31 at the South Mountain Reservation, which runs through Millburn, Maplewood and West Orange. County-approved volunteer hunters will be allowed to take deer out of the 2,047-acre reservation during daylight hours on the days of the hunt, when roads in the area will be closed from midnight until 10 p.m.

The following roads will be closed Tuesdays and Thursdays from midnight-10 p.m. from Jan. 17-31:

Turtle Back Rock, Walker Road, May Apple Hill (Northfield Avenue and Cedar Avenue entrances), Crest Drive (off South Orange Avenue, and Locust Grove (off Glen Avenue)

South Orange Avenue, Cherry Lane and Brookside Drive will remain open.

The second phase of the hunt is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from Feb. 2-23, and will be held at Hilltop Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation.

The following roads will be closed Tuesdays and Thursdays from midnight-10 p.m. from Feb. 2-23:

In the vicinity of Hilltop Reservation, a 284-acre parcel that spans Cedar Grove, Verona, Caldwell and North Caldwell, Fairview Avenue, from Myrtle Avenue to Durrell Street, will be closed.

All roadways within the 408-acre Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, except for business traffic for the Highlawn Pavilion only. No other roadways in the immediate vicinity of Eagle Rock Reservation will be closed.

In the three years of the Deer Management Program, 1,089 deer have been killed in total, including 339 last year, the highest number to date.

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. said last year that culling the population of white-tailed deer is necessary for the safety of motorists traveling on roadways, and for the health of the county's forests. was Anne Stires, president of the Hilltop Conservancy.

The program is not without its detractors, who say population control methods including sterilizing the deer, are more humane. Last year, a the hunt outside Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, holding signs with slogans like "Stop the Brutality!" and "Honk if you Love Animals".

DiVincenzo will hold a news conference on the annual hunt on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at noon at the satellite office at the South Mountain Recreation Complex, 560 Northfield Ave., West Orange.

For further information about road closures during the dates and times of the Deer Management Program please contact the Essex County Sheriff’s Command and Communications Center at 973-621-4111.