PRINCETON: Bow hunters want to stay in deer hunt

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   A group of sportsmen wants to continue participating in Princeton Township’s annual white-tailed deer hunt, despite concerns by the township animal control officer.
   Christopher P. Midura, hunt manager for the nonprofit United Bowhunters of New Jersey, wrote to the Township Committee last month that he had learned Princeton would not be asking his organization to submit a proposal to participate in this year’s hunt, technically called a deer management program. United Bowhunters has participated since 2003, according to the township.
   Mr. Midura, speaking in a phone interview Tuesday, said animal control officer Mark Johnson had told him United Bowhunters was not being asked back due to issues with the way last season’s hunt was conducted.
   In the letter to officials, Mr. Midura said there were “rumors” that members of United Bowhunters were doing deer drives, a technique in which one group of hunters flushes deer into a waiting group of other hunters. The practice is not allowed under terms of the contract between United Bowhunters and the township.
   Mr. Midura said Tuesday no member of United Bowhunters was doing a deer drive.
   He also wrote about second issue, that hunters supposedly were not being “vigilant” about calling Mr. Johnson before hunting.
   Mr. Midura went to the Township Committee meeting on Monday to present his case. He said then Police Chief Robert Buchanan had contacted him in December about the concerns, and the issue had been resolved to Chief Buchanan’s satisfaction.
   In a phone interview Tuesday, Mr. Johnson declined to respond to any of Mr. Midura’s comments. He said the issue would come up Sept. 25 before the township’s animal control committee, the appointed body that will recommend to the Township Committee whether to have a hunt and, if so, who will do it and where.
   For 12 years, the township has had a controlled hunt to cull the herd — a step that is credited with fewer deer-related motor vehicle accidents — in public parks and on private property with the owners’ consent.
   As a condition for giving the township the necessary permit, state officials have said bow hunters must to be involved. Last season, the township used United Bowhunters and White Buffalo, which charged around $60,000 to provide marksmen.
   Mr. Johnson said he thinks the deer culling program ought to continue and pointed to signs of its success. He said there is less deer road kill that he has to collect; there is forest regeneration after years of overgrazing; and residents are happy about finding fewer deer in their yards.
   Township Committeewoman Sue Nemeth said Tuesday that the deer herd has to be kept “at a manageable level.” She said the town cannot go back to the days of hundreds of motor-vehicle accidents.