A plebiscite will be conducted in several urban communities of the Municipality of Colchester during the upcoming Municipal Election asking residents if they support a managed deer hunt to help control growing deer populations. Similar to the Town of Truro, many communities throughout the Municipality of Colchester have experienced problematic increases in deer. These increases have disrupted local ecosystems, destroyed property (gardens and landscapes), and have resulted in numerous Deer Vehicle Collisions (DVCs) and unsafe driving conditions.
Earlier this Spring the Municipality began working with Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNR&R) in the Brookside/Bible Hill/Valley area to collect the 3-years of data required before a managed deer hunt can be considered. In 2025 data collection is anticipated to expand to the communities of Salmon River, Truro Heights, Lower Truro, and Hilden. These communities will all be included in the plebiscite during the election and will be asked to respond “yes” or "no” to the following question:
“Do you support a safely managed urban deer bow/crossbow hunt to control and reduce the urban deer population in and around your community?”
The Town of Truro spent several years in consultation with the DNR&R, researching, collecting data and gauging public opinion on how best to address their deer problem. A resulting Deer Management Strategy concluded that a controlled managed hunt is the most favourable population reduction method, in terms of effectiveness, feasibility, public cost, capacity, and time to implement. The Town, in partnership with Millbrook First Nation, has conducted several successful managed hunts since 2022 resulting in thousands of portions of protein being donated to Nova Scotia food banks through the Hunters Helping the Hungry program. A similar strategy mirroring Truro’s was adopted by the Town of Yarmouth in April of 2022.
What does a managed urban deer hunt mean?
A managed urban deer hunt is a controlled archery deer hunt, using carefully selected experienced, proficient archery hunters. These hunters operate under strict guidelines for the purpose of safely and humanely reducing the deer population numbers in select urban areas of the Municipality of Colchester for the benefit of natural ecosystems, citizen landscapes, reducing Deer Vehicle Collisions (DVCs) and an overall reduction of deer human conflict. A managed hunt would restrict the use of any firearms and would only involve bows/crossbows. The hunt would only take place in select areas of the community deemed to be safe and discreet (i.e., away from residences or places where people frequent) and a variety of necessary precautions would be taken to ensure public safety.