Historically, New Jersey's deer herd has been managed through sport hunting. However, as New Jersey's landscape continues to be developed, land open to deer hunting has been reduced.

Facing this obstacle, the Division of Fish and Wildlife has taken steps to manage deer populations by lengthening the hunting seasons, increasing the bag limits, increasing the number of hunting permits issued, and offering incentives for hunters to harvest more antlerless deer (does and fawns). However, hunters can no longer control deer populations in many suburban settings due to safety zone regulations, township firearm discharge ordinances and posted private properties.

In an effort to limit deer populations in those areas of New Jersey where sport hunting is not considered a viable management tool, the Division has permitted alternative methods of controlling deer populations under the Community-Based Deer Management Permit (CBDMP) program. The program was created in 1995 to explore alternative methods of deer population control.

Alternative control methods include any technique, other than traditional hunting, employed to reduce a deer population. This may include, but need not be limited to, controlled hunting, shooting by an authorized agent, capture and euthanization, capture and removal, and fertility control. The program allows townships, airports and County Boards of Agriculture to apply for a permit issued by the Division that would allow these alternative control methods. A township resolution endorsing the CBDMP application must be submitted. Individual property owners may not apply for a CBDMP.

Some hunters view the CBDMP program as taking hunting opportunities away from sportsmen. However, since the inception of the CBDMP program, many townships have opted to utilize sportsmen during the traditional deer hunting seasons to reduce their deer populations. In fact, several townships have opted to open public land to hunting which previously had been off-limits to hunters.

The Fish and Game Council has the authority to modify or reject an application for a CBDMP if sport hunting is not used where feasible. In one instance, the Fish and Game Council did not permit a township to hire a company to cull deer on a public property until the deer hunting season ended. In another instance the Council did not approve the use of archery equipment by the paid agent but rather insisted the township open the property to licensed bow hunters.

All costs of the alternative methods of deer control are borne by the applicant. In many cases, utilizing sportsmen during the existing deer-hunting season is the most appropriate, and certainly the most economical management option. But when the land is too developed to allow for a traditional hunting program, an application for a permit to use alternative methods may be submitted.

The applicant first designates a Special Deer Management Area where control is necessary. This Area may include an entire Township or a portion thereof. An applicant for a CBDMP then must demonstrate that an overabundant deer population has caused significant damage to property (crops, ornamental shrubs, etc.), has caused a significant number of vehicle collisions and/or is a significant hazard to airplanes on runways in the Special Deer Management Area. The applicant must explain why traditional sports hunting is not an option. These claims are verified by Division personnel.

When the review of a submitted application is complete, the Division approves, denies or supports modification of the proposed plan and Special Deer Management Area. Once the Division approves the Special Deer Management Area and plan, it submits the plan to the Fish and Game Council for their review. If the application is approved by the Fish and Game Council, the permit is issued by the Director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The process of developing a plan acceptable to the community, the Division and the Council is a lengthy one. Applicants must submit an application for a CBDMP 120 days prior to the implementation of the program. Applicants are encouraged to work closely with the Division throughout the process. Since the program's inception CBDMP programs have been instituted in Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Somerset and Union counties.

Since the CBDMP program was instituted, the Division of Fish and Wildlife has approved a wide variety of nontraditional and experimental methods to control deer populations in suburban communities. Programs to trap and transfer deer, trap and euthanize deer, use chemical fertility control, and shoot deer by volunteer and paid agents outside of the regular hunting season dates have been permitted.

Below are details about different components of the CBDMP program.

Trap and Transfer/Euthanize

In areas of Princeton and Millburn Townships where firearms could not be used, deer were trapped and euthanized by employees of White Buffalo, Inc., a Connecticut-based company. Neither hired agents nor sportsmen may discharge a bow or firearm within 450 feet of a potentially occupied building without written permission of the property owner. In areas where written permission could not be obtained, deer were trapped deer under a drop net and euthanized with a captive bolt gun. A captive bolt gun uses a bolt instead of firearm ammunition to instantly kill the animal. Although controversial, this method of euthanasia was approved in the 2000 report of the American Veterinary Association Panel on Euthanasia for domestic animals of similar size (i.e. cattle).

Shooting by Authorized Agents

Princeton and Hanover Townships hired White Buffalo, Inc., to cull deer at pre-baited sites from stationary platforms and/or from vehicles. Employees of White Buffalo use high-powered rifles. In Princeton Township, suppressors (silencers) were used to cull deer during daylight hours and at night. he use of suppressors requires approval from the county prosecutor's office.

Princeton Township spent in excess of $100,000 annually on their deer reduction effort. This cost included butchering the deer which were donated to a New Jersey food bank.

Chemical Fertility Control

The Duke Estate obtained a Special Permit to Inhibit Reproduction, which allowed for an experimental program. Twenty deer inside the fenced portion of the Duke Estate were vaccinated with SpayVac™. Radio-collars were placed on male deer inside and outside the fenced portion of the Estate. Unfortunately, that year's formulation of the SpayVac™ vaccine was ineffective in preventing pregnancy in the does, and the program was abandoned.

Princeton Township implemented a program in 2003 to study the efficacy of the SpayVac™ and GonaCon™ contraceptive vaccines to reduce and then maintain a deer population in a suburban area of Princeton. Does were captured under a drop net or darted with a tranquilizer gun, and then vaccinated with SpayVac™ or GonaCon™ vaccines. SpayVac™ seemed promising in that it was effective over several years, and annual booster vaccines were unnecessary. However, SpayVac™ is no longer manufactured.

An experimental program using GonaCon™ at Giralda Farms in Madison was instituted in 2005. Thirty-two percent of the females treated once with GonaCon™ became pregnant. Information on the longevity of the vaccine is being obtained from does given a second injection of the vaccine.

The use of fertility control chemicals and vaccines on free-ranging deer populations is restricted to those substances or sites that have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Division requires that all deer be ear-tagged with a tag that reads "Not for Human Consumption". Due to the tagging requirement and the need to to re-vaccinate, chemical fertility control is labor intensive and not practical for large, free-ranging deer populations.

Hunter-based Programs

Harding Township in Morris County chose to utilize sportsmen to decrease their deer population. Harding contended that during the special four-day hunt at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the deer sought refuge in Harding Township. The following week, during the Six-day Firearm Deer Season, the deer moved back into Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge after the hunting season there is closed. The Division issued a permit to allow four additional days of Permit Shotgun hunting in the township. Not many deer were harvested during the four-day extension. Harding now has additional township properties open to deer hunters. It was found that opening additional lands to deer hunters was more effective in increasing the harvest of deer.

The Watchung Reservation in Union County and the South Mountain Reservation in Essex County chose to utilize sportsmen as agents to reduce the deer herd. The townships in which the reservations are located applied for a CBDMP, on behalf of the reservation, because county park systems are not permitted to apply directly for a permit under the CBDMP program. The permit issued to the townships allowed volunteer sportsmen to cull deer in both reservations outside of the traditional deer season dates, without restricting agents to a bag limit. Licensed hunters were carefully selected based on their safety and efficiency record. They were given a shooting proficiency test and trained to serve as volunteer agents for each county. Each volunteer agent is permitted to receive 20 pounds of venison at the end of the program. The rest of the venison is donated to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

Union County's deer reduction program has reduced the deer population in the reservation from 180 deer per square mile to 20-30 deer per square mile. The population can be maintained at that level by utilizing twelve volunteer sportsmen two or three days per year, and shooting up to 100 deer annually. The Union County Department of Parks and Recreation spends approximately $3000 per year on its deer control efforts. Most of those costs are for butchering the deer (approximately $65 per deer).

Controlled hunting, as an alternative deer control method, involves the killing of deer during a modified hunting season which is usually more restrictive than traditional hunting in terms of hunter density, methods of take, size of huntable area, etc., than deer hunting elsewhere in New Jersey as approved by the Council. Bernards Township opened township properties during and extension of the Permit Shotgun season to local hunting clubs under a CBDMP program.

Bridgewater Township utilizes local hunting clubs to cull deer on Township and County properties during the regular deer seasons. The Borough of Mountain Lakes and Princeton Township use members of United Bowhunters of New Jersey to cull deer on Township properties during the regular bow-hunting seasons. Scotch Plains has hired a company called Wildlife Management Services to shoot deer on County properties, during the Permit Shotgun season. Whether agents are hired or volunteer, if the program occurs during the regular deer seasons, and no modification of the hunting regulations is requested, a Community Based Deer Management permit is not required.

Suburban communities in many states have successfully managed their deer populations by utilizing sport hunters under controlled hunting restrictions.

In Summary