How does Deer Reduction differ from Sport Hunting?
The state of Connecticut uses the term “recreational hunting” without differentiating why a landowner might allow hunting on their property. The Alliance is promoting hunting to effect a reduction in the deer density in order to alleviate the impacts on public health and safety and our natural resources. The hunters that participate in the town programs are “sport hunters” who are bound by the recreational hunting laws and accordingly are not paid for their services. This differs from the effort taken in Greenwich in 2005 when that community paid professional sharpshooters to harvest deer from an open space within a densely developed neighborhood. This program of sharpshooting does not operate under the recreational hunting laws and is instead controlled by a different protocol under the jurisdiction of the CT Department of Environmental Protection who must scrutinize a work plan and issue a permit prior to the commencement of the sharpshooting.
