Horseshoe Bay reviews urban deer control
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PHIL REYNOLDS/THE HIGHLANDER
Joe Morris, chief of the Horseshoe Bay Fire Department, left, and Valerie Black, assistant chief, right, recognize Capt. Bradley Casey, center, on his graduation from the National Fire Academy. Morris told the June 21 meeting of the Horseshoe Bay City Council that the academy provides leadership training to senior fire officials.
By Phil Reynolds
The Highlander
Horseshoe Bay will continue handling its white-tailed deer overpopulation the way it has been, since a study group appointed to look at the matter couldn’t come up with a better alternative.
City council members heard on June 21 that the study group, chaired by City Manager Stan Farmer, met four times beginning in February, to examine ways to reduce the number of deer in the city. The group included Ravelle Kundinger, John Davis and Rick Prekup, though Mayor Steve Jordan also met with them, as did Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. representatives Dale Schmidt and Kevin Schwausch, Lower Colorado River Authority wildlife managers Bill Bergquist and Brandon Smith, veterinarian Dr. Garret Craig, and deer trapper James Bonds, who has the deer removal contract with the city.
Bonds now traps the deer in the evenings and takes them away from Horseshoe Bay, where they’re killed and processed for venison. The meat is donated to food pantries and similar agencies.
The three study group members accompanied Bonds on a deer trapping evening, and Prekup also visited the plant where the deer are processed, the report said.
However, “no viable alternative to our present trapping method emerged,” the report concluded.
Prekup recommended that an unpaid position of wildlife advocate be set up by the city to monitor the program and continue to explore alternatives, and volunteered to fill that position himself if the council chose to do so.
No move was made to establish the position at the June 21 meeting.
Prekup added that he would like to find a way to kill the deer locally and immediately after they’re trapped rather than taking them to another location and then killing them, as is now done.
Far from being inhumane, as some residents had thought, the city’s program is viewed by the state parks department as “a model,” Jordan said.
“We all have concerns for the deer and we all want to do what’s best for the deer,” he said.
He reminded the audience that the city’s Web site contains four articles exploring alternatives to the current program.
“The city will conduct an educational campaign before the fall trapping season,” he said. That season is expected to begin in October.
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