Deer Cull Survey For Property Owners 'Overwhelming Success'

SOUTHOLD, NY — Southold Town has found "overwhelming success" with a new mailer sent out to private property owners asking them to open up their lands for hunting deer.

At Tuesday's town board work session, Southold Town environmental analyst Craig Jobes and Jeff Standish, director of public works, gave an update on a recent deer survey.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell explained that a mailer was sent out to property owners who have five or more acres asking if they'd be interested in enrolling their properties as part of the town's deer cull efforts.

Jobes said of the responses, about 79 percent were in favor of the cull, with more than 750 acres that could be potentially open to hunters. Very few opposed the idea, he said.

A meeting will be held soon with the private property owners and the town's deer committee so all involved can work together and explore options, Jobes said.

"Overall, it's been an overwhelming success," Jobes said.

As it stands, Russell said, there are about 360 town-owned acres open to hunting; that number could spike to more than 1,000 if the private property owners who responded favorably open up their parcels. The county has another 350 acres that could be opened, as well, Russell said.

Standish said awareness has been raised and the properties gained could help hunters who have previously been thwarted in their efforts as deer ran off onto parcels where hunting was not allowed.

Councilwoman Jill Doherty commended Jobes and Standish on their efforts.

Standish also mentioned the upcoming meeting to bring all involved together. "Homeowners and hunters have to have confidence in each other," he said.

Councilman Jim Dinizio asked how the program would be managed in the coming days; Standish said the goal was to hire Jobes, currently a part-time employee, full-time for the next three months.

Russell said he'd like to get a GIS map of where the town had been able to hunt historically, compared to what's now unfolding on private property.

Deer, the supervisor added, start moving to other properties when hunters target a parcel. "Part of the problem was that we didn't have access to those properties before," he said.