Members of the Common Council voted 5-4 on Monday to approve an ordinance to allow a change to the municipal code that allows residents to hunt deer with crossbows and bows and arrows at public parks in the city limits of West Bend. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow was the tie-breaking vote, along with aldermen John Butschlick, Steve Hutchins, Mike Chevalier and Steve Hoogester.
The issue occupied two agenda items for the Common Council and Hutchins introduced the topic for members to discuss.
“We are going to hunt the parks,” Hutchins said. “Part of the reason for that is, if you hunt everything around it, the parks turn into sanctuaries.”
According to the ordinance, hunting activities will be governed by the city’s participation in the Deer Management Assistance Program governed by the state Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for issuing the required permits.
The designated parks are Regner, Riverside, Ridge Run, Quass Creek, Bicentennial, Silverbrook Creek Parkway and Royal Oaks.
There should be some continued discussion of the best way to safely hunt in the parks, but there does need to be a mechanism for population control.
I think this is a good idea,in keeping Urban deer population s at a reasonable level,,Wild Bill