Killing Deer

Corey Kilgannon in this morning’s NYT: In a wooded patch between a schoolyard and a row of backyards, Danny Azzato perched himself 20 feet up a tree and nocked a razor-sharp, carbon-shafted arrow to his hunting bow. He wore a camouflage-print outfit designed to retain body scent and carried a variety of calls and sprays devised to attract white-tailed deer in mating season.

Mr. Azzato is among a growing number of suburban deer hunters who have emerged as the latest line of defense in areas that were once rural and are now peppered with housing developments. As wooded areas shrink, the deer are increasingly pushed into human habitats, where they eat vegetation, spread ticks and wander onto roads.

To thin out the deer populations, municipalities are increasingly relying on weekend warriors by opening public space to them and urging landowners to allow recreational bowhunters like Mr. Azzato to prowl their wooded acres for does and bucks.


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