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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/12/2013 ~Og11FF0t~-~, O ~ Jeffery T. Standish Town Hall, 53095 Main Road • Chairman C4 P.O. Box 1179 p Southold, New York 11971 Telephone (631) 65 -1283 Ext.235 'f',j~ wpb Fax (31) 765-9015 1 Deer Management Committee TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MINUTES November 12, 2013 6:30 P.M. Southold Town Hall Conference Room A meeting of the Deer Management Committee was held Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at the Town Hall Conference Room, Main Rd., in Southold. Present were: Chairperson Jeff Standish, Members: Adam West, David Dominy, John Rumpler, John Scaramucci, Laura Klahre, John Betsch, John Rasweiler, Robert Lehnert & Nancy Foote Call to order: Jeff Standish called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. Deer Management Program Update: As of November 1, 2013 with 108 hunters enrolled in the program there have been 67 deer reported. This number is up from last year. The Deer Forum held in September provided a push for this year's season. There are more acorns around this year as well. Last year the numbers were down due to the effects of Super Storm Sandy. Other Deer Management Options: Money has been placed in the Town's 2014 proposed budget for Deer Management. USDA sharpshooters are being considered as an option for use of some of this money. Farm Bureau will match funds for the project. The program is expensive costing between $2000 - 2200/night. The sharpshooters hunt in February. The committee has concerns with the expense and the fact that budgeted money will run out quickly. John Scaramucci asked why local hunters could not be utilized for this assignment. Jeff explained the hunting rules and regulations are different for the USDA sharpshooters giving them more latitude in the field than the recreational hunter. The Supervisor will be looking for other options besides harvesting deer and Jeff asked the committee to research and report on sterilization and contraception. John Rasweiler will create a report for this purpose. Another option discussed was hunter reimbursement. Committee discussion included reimbursement for arrows, waiving yearly hunting license renewals and offering a bounty during nuisance hunt. 1 Property Maas reviewed: Jeff distributed maps of potential properties for consideration for the USDA program. He explained that putting the USDA hunters in the right spot will yield a large amount of harvested deer. He would like to see each Town hamlet represented in the program. Other Business: - John Scaramucci asked if hunters could leave tree stands in place instead of having to take in and out each time. Jeff explained that if the Town put up tree stands, it is a liability issue and will create a problem with hunters using vacant stands left in the field. Dave Dominy suggested putting up stands in February when there are less hunters on the properties. - Jeff would like to see cross bow hunters permitted to hunt during bow season. It would put additional hunters in the woods. Other states do allow it but currently New York does not allow for it anywhere in the of the state. John Rasweiler believes the law will move forward. Legislator Albert Krupski will meet with Legislator Robert Sweeny to discuss changing this law. John stated the facts will make our case, giving our recreation hunting programs more opportunity. Jeff believes our recreational hunters are our biggest asset. Dave added the east end will get more support for change when the deer problem moves further west. Jeff believes we need to continue stressing the forestation damage which is forever changing our ecosystem. - Jeff would like to develop a 2012 - 2016 Deer Management Plan Discussion of Particular Persons in Town Hunting Program - Jeff asked the committee for discussion and a vote on disciplinary actions for two hunters violating Town Guidelines. After much discussion it was decided that the hunter taking a buck before filling his two doe tags on Town Property would be suspended from the program for one week. The hunter with an infraction of Article 11 of the DEC law will receive a two week suspension. Jeff will meet with each hunter and document the suspension in their file. Committee members .discussed the current Town guidelines and suggested a few changes for the language to read clearly when an infraction occurs in the future. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Foote Deer Management Program Committee Secretary • 2