On a crisp November day in 2018, 51 year old Beth Waldron was walking behind her house by Homestead Park in Chapel Hill when she noticed an unusual pile of corn on the ground. When she looked up, she saw a wooden frame in the tree above and recognized it as a deer stand.
Immediately she thought, “Oh, gosh. Someone’s hunting here.” She couldn’t believe it.
Hunting in a neighborhood, where kids play, next to a public park, on town land? That couldn’t be legal. After a quick Google search, Waldron found it was in fact illegal to hunt on town property. She contacted authorities and the perpetrator was later caught. She thought that would be the end of her encounters with deer hunting, but it was just the beginning.
A full year after Waldron came across the deer stand by her home, she was moved to create a petition in November 2019 to ban hunting in Chapel Hill when she was rattled by another startling incident.
This time, the hunting was directly behind her own backyard. Her neighbor had put up a hunting blind, visible from her kitchen window. What shocked her even more was that this case was perfectly legal.
Under the Deer Management Program, a plan established in 2010 by Chapel Hill’s Department of Parks and Recreation, property owners are allowed to hunt deer on their own property with a bow and arrow during hunting season and with a license.
Town-owned property was restricted from being hunted on. However, it didn’t place any restrictions on distance from private property.
“So there was nothing for them to be cited for. You don’t have to tell your neighbors, there’s no notification needed; for a $20 hunting license, you too can stand in your backyard and shoot a deer,” said Waldron.
Waldron pointed out that potential threats to public safety include not only stray arrows, but also injured deer, which are significantly large animals.
“You really can’t hunt only on your yard. There’s a high probability of a wounded deer going to my yard, town property, or into a road, and end up dying there,” Waldron said. “Legally, the hunter can’t go after them.”
Other residents disagree with Waldron, however. Jameson Wildwood, another Chapel Hill resident, has hunted two deer on his multi-acre property this season. He argues that overpopulation of deer has caused damage to forests and landscaping, spreading of ticks and diseases, and car accidents on roads.
“I think there’s no concern. Look at statistics. This is the ninth year we’ve had urban hunting, and as far as I can tell, there’s been no injuries,” said Wildwood.
Jason Allen, a wildlife biologist at the N.C. Wildlife Commission, said that, due to human removal of natural predators, hunting is “the most effective means we have” to control overpopulation.
“It’s totally up to the residents, but if you are concerned about deer populations, the only really feasible way to do it is through controlled hunting,” said Allen.
He says other methods, such as deer contraceptives or other drugs, are both expensive and impractical.
Waldron brought her concerns to the Chapel Hill Town Council Jan. 8. It will be discussed on a later agenda.
“The great thing about government is, I can bring my concerns to the council, and the people who want hunting in town can also express their concerns,” said Waldron. “Public safety versus public health, and the council can decide what our priorities are as a community.”
