I would propose the meat be used in promoting hunting by using it in hunting promotion banquest such as Wheeling Sportman banquets. Many hunting organisations hold public awareness events and most state DNRs do public relations as well and this meat could be used to fund those and provide an opportunity for EVERY ONE to expirience wild game.

As a last resort it could be distributed by lottery to the public at large on an application basis. Then the welfare recipients can apply if there is enough left for a give away and take their chances along with the working public.

If there’s a program where they can train and certify local hunters to perform this function, either with bow or rifles, then I’m all for it. I don’t know specifically about Smithfield, but in some other parts of NC (Bald Head Island, Wilmington, etc.) they’re doing a lot of the eradication with small-caliber rifles.

Bows can be very effective and are certainly safer in the residential areas, but there are downsides there too… like having to trail a deer into someone’s front yard, or having hit animals die under a suburban homeowner’s kitchen window. Like it or not, elected officials have to make these decisions, and they have to answer to the entire constituency. Public relations aspects have to be considered carefully, along with liability. Personally, I think it would be a hard choice, even knowing as much as I do about hunting and the effectiveness and safety of various weaponry.

The thing about Smithfield (I know the area pretty well) is that it’s one of those little towns that suddenly exploded as the nearby urban areas (Raleigh and Goldsboro) overflowed… so you’ve got a mix of urban refugees and small-town country folk living in the place. I don’t envy a Town Manager’s position of having to keep all of these folks happy.

When I was a kid, you could probably have shot those deer out of your bedroom window without a complaint.

Oh, and Jack Ryan…

While I know all too well that a badge is no guarantee of marksmanship (My dad was a cop too… and I heard and experienced the realities). I’ve seen an awful lot of hunters shoot too, and there are times when I’d feel safer being the deer rather than a bystander.

At the same time, if the mayor of my town announced a plan to cull the deer or wild hogs from our residential neighborhoods, I would MUCH prefer to hear that he’s planning to send in police officers to do it rather than opening it up for members of the general hunting population. Whoever does the cull should be able to demonstrate both marksmanship skills and safety. Badge or no badge.

Here in the region where I live, we have a group of hunters who have organized and attended specialized safety training so that they are sometimes called when the hogs start trashing local yards. It costs the taxpayers nothing, and the meat can be used as needed. Unfortunately, CA has not been very open to the idea of Hunters for the Hungry, and wild game meat is not generally distributed to hungry families or food banks. The hunters take what they want for themselves, friends, and families, and the rest goes to a rendering plant.

As to your opinion of distributing the meat to the hungry, what would you propose? Burying it in the landfill?

The second portion of this is another “thorn” to me, that is the “feeding the hungry” with the fruits of the tax and labor of hunters, shooters, and sportsment who developed this resource. The deer herd is NOT just a give away worthless food source to hand out to welfare recipients as it if is other wise useless.

It belongs to hunters and the rest of the paying public. It not just another give away program for politicions to buy votes with nor is it the property of the police force to treat as their own private food bank.

Sorry, but while I like the idea of hunters helping out with deer herd control where possible, it’s just not realistic in a suburban environment.

First, how do you pick these hunters? Lottery selection? The police chief’s buddies? Open sign-ups?

As a town manager, mayor, or even resident, I would NOT get behind any such plan… there’s too much risk. One stray bullet can cost the town millions of dollars in lawsuits and expenses… or worse… someone could get hurt.

Cops are trained in the use of firearms in those conditions. Hunters are not. And while most of us are extremely safe, the risks of just having some kind of open selection of local hunters are too great. (I’d hazard a guess as well that many of the cops on the Smithfield force are also hunters, so you could call it a perk of the job… a well-deserved bonus in a job that deserves a few good days.)

As much as I defend our sport and the people who participate in it, there are an awful lot of folks out there who don’t need to be toting rifles or even shotguns in the city limits. Unless your selection process had some way of weeding folks out, then it’s not a good, or safe, idea.

Now, if NC had a program like Virginia and a couple of other states, where hunters can take specialized training and be “certified” to hunt in this kind of environment, then I could get behind the plan. But without that qualification, hunters, in general, are simply not suited to doing the work that has to be done.

At least they’re giving excess deer to food banks. I guess that’s something.