HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When you think about deer season, you probably think about spending hours in the woods. That's not the case, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says property owners can hunt right in their own backyards. In Hendersonville, a partnership allows homeowners that might not hunt to even find help with their own property.
As deer season begins, so does Hendersonville's opportunity to manage the city's deer problem, which occurs at somewhere between two and four times the state average.
Jerald Barrett, chairman of Hendersonville's Deer Control Committee, encourages urban hunting.
"In reality, people do it from their back porch." Barrett said. "So the goal is, is to keep that interaction positive for both the people and for the deer, the best that we can."
The TWRA says with a hunting license and a hunting safety course, people can hunt deer on their property from an elevated place. Barrett says because responsibility falls on the person that fires a bow or a gun, safety is paramount so he said both Hendersonville and the TWRA strongly recommend using only bow.
"Legally per state regulations firearms are allowed, we strongly recommend bow only," Barrett said.
The TWRA says hunters need permission to take deer from their neighbor's property.
"There is a strong possibility that even with a good placement of an arrow that that deer can travel onto the neighbor's property," Barrett said.
Many people don't hunt and still need help, so the committee started a Deer Hunter Directory.
"So the idea behind the directory is, we've had a tremendous number of homeowners that said, hey, I need someone to hunt my property. And so we've also had a lot of hunters that say, we really want to hunt people's property," Barrett said. "People can put their information online on the website for the directory."
Hunters from anywhere can put their name on the directory.
"They can, you know, vet the hunter. Of course, the hunter can show, demonstrate that they have correct Tennessee hunting license," Barrett said.
Barrett says the free service effectively controls deer diseases, deer related crashes, and deer aggression.
Any deer can be donated to Hunters for the Hungry, an organization that gives deer meat to people in need of food.
Have you encountered deer problems in your neighborhood? Share your experiences and questions about urban hunting solutions with Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com. Watch the full video report to see how this unique program works in action.
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