Essex County Deer Cull Returns, 2,158 Killed In Past Decade

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — As protest of New Jersey’s annual bear hunt continues to take place, another yearly cull is getting ready to ramp up in North Jersey: Essex County’s annual “deer management program.”

According to an Essex County news release, the 2018 cull will take place at South Mountain Reservation (Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange) and Hilltop Reservation (Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona) in January and February. It will not take place in Eagle Rock Reservation this year.

When the program is held, the reservations will be closed to the public to maximize safety, officials said. The hunt will take place on the following days in 2018:

• South Mountain Reservation - Tuesdays, January 16, 23 and 30 and on Thursdays, January 18 and 25 (with a make-up day on Thursday, February 1 if any previous dates are cancelled)
• Hilltop Reservation - Tuesdays, February 6, 13 and 20 and Thursdays, February 8, 15 and 22 (with make-up days on Tuesday, February 27 and Thursday, March 1 if any previous dates are cancelled).

Since 2008, “experienced and qualified” volunteer shooters have killed a total of 2,158 deer (1,343 adult and 815 unborn) in an effort to control the local deer population. The hunters are licensed by the state of New Jersey and have “demonstrated their marksmanship ability” and completed an orientation program with the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. When in the reservations, the hunters station themselves in trees at least 20 feet above the ground and only take shots at a downward angle, county officials stated.

According to officials:

“All deer removed from the reservations are inspected and information about its age, reproductive status, gender and weight, as well as the number of shots fired is collected. They are transported by the County to a NJ Department of Health approved butcher for processing. Venison is donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, which distributes the meat to the needy and homeless. In 2017, 1,968 pounds of venison were donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which provided about 7,900 meals. Since 2008, a total of 38,420 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank, which equates to about 153,700 meals.”

This is the 11th year of the program, which is geared toward “revitalizing the forest ecology by reducing the number of deer,” county officials said.

“Controlling the population by removing deer from South Mountain and Hilltop has proven to be very successful in helping to preserve the forest habitat and maintain our reservations as viable resources for recreation and open space,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

• See related article: Humans vs. Deer In Northeast Jersey (State Has A 'Zero Density' Population Goal)

However, animal rights activists in Essex County have protested the annual cull for years, alleging that the hunt is “inhumane,” and that there are better, non-lethal methods for controlling the local deer population.

“Deer are social, intelligent, and gentle animals whose lives matter to them, their offspring, and to their family units,” the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey stated prior to a protest of the Essex County hunt in 2017.

“Deer can feel pain and suffering just like us,” the group said.

• See related article: Activists Protest Essex County Deer Cull

REPLANTING AND REFLECTING

In addition to the hunt, the county is also conducting two other deer management programs:

• “An aggressive replanting program to accelerate the regrowth of the forests is being undertaken in South Mountain Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation. Forty-seven enclosures (42 in South Mountain and five in Eagle Rock) have been installed where native vegetative species have been planted so their seeds can be reintroduced into the area. The eight-foot high fences are designed to prevent deer and other large animals from foraging on the planted areas, but allow smaller animals, such as rodents and birds, to enter and exit. The fences will remain in place for about 25 years. The planting project was funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program received by the South Mountain Conservancy and the Eagle Rock Conservancy and grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.”
• “Through a pilot program with the NJ Department of Transportation, Essex County received grant money to install detection devices that reflect motor vehicle headlights and emit a high-pitched noise to scare deer away from the road when cars approach. The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange. In 2016, 262 deer carcasses were removed from county roads.”

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Main Photo: NJ DEP