NEWS

Officials propose hunts at Eagle Creek Park

Ryan Sabalow
ryan.sabalow@indystar.com

Deer could be in hunters' cross hairs for the first time at Eagle Creek Park as early as November, should a plan put forth by Indianapolis park officials be approved.

Scott Manning, spokesman for the city's Office of Sustainability, said officials are recommending the parks board approve a plan that would allow disabled war veterans to hunt deer inside the park to thin the herd.

The park would be closed to non-hunters when the hunt takes place. Manning said there has been no decision on whether to allow hunting with firearms or archery equipment.

The so-called "wounded warrior" hunt would be followed by a team of city-hired professional sharpshooters conducting a limited number of nighttime hunts to further thin the number of deer.

Manning declined to provide a cost estimate for the sharpshooters. But in Bloomington, the city recently approved a $31,000 contract to pay a sharpshooting company to kill up to 100 deer in Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.

Manning said both hunts could happen between November and January, should the city parks board approve the plan.

Manning said it's also possible that in future years, the city might open the park to controlled archery hunts, similar to those held annually by the Department of Natural Resources at Fort Harrison State Park in Lawrence.

Parks officials say too many voracious deer are stripping the land of native plants, such as wildflowers, allowing invasive foliage to creep in, thus changing the plant ecology in the city's largest park.

Research by Purdue University ecologists shows that nearly two decades of controlled hunts at state parks have successfully restored plant habitats.

It's a position supported by the DNR, which says that in spite of "opposition of hunting by small and vocal groups of people," it's an "incredibly safe, cost-effective and efficient" method of thinning deer.

Manning said the DNR provided the city with a $3,000 grant to conduct its hunts.

Hunting is sure to be controversial. For one, animal-rights activists say that instead of hunting, parks officials should first employ non-lethal methods, such as contraception, to reduce the number of deer.

But Manning said city officials have concluded contraception would not be effective in an unfenced area the size of Eagle Creek.

Plus, he said, there are concerns that injecting the deer with contraceptives may introduce dangerous chemicals into anything that feeds on their carcasses, such as predators, carrion eaters and human hunters.

Some residents, animal-rights activists and community groups have expressed opposition to deer hunting in their neighborhood park.

City-County Council member Janice McHenry is skeptical.

"Is there an overpopulation?" she asked. "There's a lot of deer. It's not just the park. There's a lot of deer everywhere."

McHenry and fellow council member, Jose Evans, are hosting a meeting with residents Thursday to learn more about the proposal from parks officials.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Indianapolis Colts Pavilion, 7001 W. 56th St., Indianapolis.

The parks board may take up the matter at its Sept. 24 meeting.

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