Find out when they’ll be killing deer at Eagle Creek

City parks officials plan to close Eagle Creek Park three days after Thanksgiving to allow a group of disabled combat veterans to hunt deer.

On Friday Nov. 28 through Sunday Nov. 30., city officials say they will close the city’s largest park for the first phase of their deer-reduction plans.

The hunts are being conducted by A &T Wildlife Management, using hunters from the Wounded Warriors Outdoors program, which takes severely disabled combat veterans big-game hunting. Its website describes such hunts as “therapeutic outdoor adventures.”

Nighttime culls also will be conducted later by U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters. Those dates haven’t been set.

Indy park officials say they are coordinating with state and local police, the Department of Natural Resources, the USDA and the hunters “to make sure this program is safe for hunters and people in nearby neighborhoods.”

In a statement, the city says it will post signs in the area ahead of any action in the park, including the 71st Street, 56th Street and the Highschool Road entrances.

City spokesman Scott Manning said today signs are already up alerting people that the hunts are coming.

“The Department of Public Safety will provide uniformed officers to patrol the area and ensure the activities are proceeding as planned,” city officials said in a statement. “In addition, the third-party contractors will provide professional services to ensure public safety.”

The park will be closed when the hunters and sharpshooters are in the park. The meat is to be processed outside the park, where it will be taken home by hunters or donated to local food banks.

It remains illegal to hunt in city parks on any other days.

The DNR granted the city a permit that allows for the killing of up to 350 deer at the park, but city officials say they do not expect that many deer would be killed.

The permit would allow some types of high-powered rifles, and the culls may occur any time from Nov. 27 to Jan. 31. The permit can be renewed with DNR approval.

In late September, the parks board approved a $61,000 plan to kill deer in the park after hearing testimony from ecologists who said there are so many deer that they're damaging its ecology by eating the park’s native tree and plant seedlings down to perilously low levels.

The only viable solution, the ecologists and natural resources officials said, is to kill off some of the deer.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by park-user Wayne Larry Peavler alleges the city’s parks board overstepped its authority in allowing the hunts without proper notice and public comment and that it inappropriately circumvented the City-County Council. The suit also contends the city hasn’t adequately proven the deer are so overpopulated that a hunt is needed.

The hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Marion County civil court.

City officials say the board offered several opportunities for public testimony. Plus, they say the parks board has authority to kill deer and authorize the use of firearms on park property. They say the parks board didn’t need approval from the council because the board didn’t actually create a new rule or regulation or change one.

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSabalow.