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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/21/2012 JAMES C. McMAHON a Town Hall, 53095 Main Road • Chairman w 2 P.O. Box 1179 p ` Southold, New York 11971 Telephone (631) 765-1253 Ext.235 Fax (631) 765-9015 Deer Management Committee TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MINUTES August 21, 2012 7:00 P.M. Southold Town Hall, Conference Room A meeting of the Deer Management Committee was held Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at the Town Hall, Conference Room, Main Road in Southold. Present were: Chairperson Jeff Standish, Members: Adam West, John Rumpler, Laura Klahre, Dave Dominy, John Haas, Councilman Bill Ruland, Nancy Foote Call to order: Jeff Standish called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. 2012 Program: Jeff Standish began the meeting by reviewing the program for 2012. The DEC will issue 200 tags to distribute to 100 Town hunters. If more than 100 applications are received a lottery will be held. The hunting season is October 1 - December 31, 2012. Jeff explained there are new properties the Town jointly owns with Suffolk County that will be opened to hunters but the specifics were still being discussed. Scott Russell has contacted Ed Romaine to aid in the process of moving this forward. These properties will be available to hunt November 15 - December 31, 2012. The Nuisance program will begin on January 1, 2013. Applications for this year's DMP program will be emailed to hunters who have previously participated in the Town program. Applications will also be available at the Town Clerks office. Applications are to be returned no later than September 19 with packet distribution the week of September 24th. Refrigerated Truck: The refrigerated truck located behind the Recreation Center will be open for deer drop off again this year with the hours of 8AM -4 PM Monday - Friday. Saturdays and Sundays 12 Noon - 3:00 PM in October. In November & December there will be no Sunday hours. The truck will be staffed by DPW employees. Donated deer will be transported to a facility in Oakdale where the meat is processed and distributed to local food pantries. The truck is also a DEC check stations that hunters can use saving a trip to Ridge for additional DEC tags. Discussions followed with ideas on how to promote the truck for is use by hunters. Jeff asked committee members to be more involved with moving the program forward. Jeff committee will ask Philip Beltz to advertise a "Hunters for Hungry" type of program in the local papers. Dave 1 Dominy suggested having a pamphlet available to hunters and residents at the Town Clerks office with information on the program and deer truck hours. utcher - Last year there was a local butcher who butchered deer for residents for a fee. The meat cannot be sold but a fee can be charged for butchering a whole deer. Discussion following with the idea of possibly hiring a butcher for the Town to butcher donated deer to be distributed to residents free of charge. Shelter Island has a similar program. Laura Khlare proposed hiring a butcher for $65/deer for 100 deer. Councilman Bill Ruland believes the program should continue to grow with each new hunting season. A butchering service could be the next logical step in expanding the program. An active program that's growing with political pressure (ie: deer running into traffic, tick borne illness, donating meat to people in need, the ecomony is bad!), with the statistical numbers to prove it. Bill believes the Board will continue to support the program and hunters with new expansions and past successful seasons. A lot of people would benefit from thinning the deer herds and distributed meat from the donated deer. Other discussion on the matter was to explore setting up a processing facility in a Town Building, minimal equipment is needed for grinding meat. Refrigeration, grinder and running water. Other Discussion: • Baiting of deer is still not permitted during the regular hunting season. DEC can change this, it is not law. Possibly consider baiting during nuisance hunting. Committee could decide. Jeff thought that farmers could "capture" deer in their fenced areas (esp in winter) by leaving the gate open then hunt deer in trapped area. Committee didn't think community would look favorably at this method of trapping. Ed Romaine's Tick Task Force suggests allowing hunters to bait. • Bill Ruland asked the rational behind hunting does only. John Haas explained it's a DEC rule but felt it slowed down hunting. Town Program is antlerless deer only. • Tree stands were discussed. Tree stands are to be taken with the hunter when leaving the hunting zone. • It cannot be left behind otherwise it will be dismantled and confiscated by DPW. John Rumpler suggested installing permanent stands and place them strategically in each zone saving the hunters time erecting and breaking down the stand each time they hunt. There would less activity in the woods alerting deer of a hunter in the area. Jeff thought there may be a liability issue. John Haas thought adding safety harnesses could help but there is no accountability on whether the straps are used or not. John Rumpler thought the hunters could sign a liability waiver. Jeff informed the group that permanent tree stands would need Land Preservation approval. • Jeff Standish is going to speak with Land Preservation about increasing zones to open new areas for hunting on the Damianos property where there is a large population of deer. • 500 ft hunting law is being reviewed to be changed to 150 feet. Jeff believes it can get passed. • John Haas added that gun and hunting laws are near impossible to change but he would like to see crossbow hunting allowed during bow season. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Foote Deer Management Program Committee secretary • 2