ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County has released the results of the 2016 deer hunt in county reservations. A total of 154 deer were removed from Essex County South Mountain Reservation and Essex County Hilltop Reservation. Reducing the number of deer is part of an ongoing initiative by the administration to preserve and restore the forest ecology in Essex County’s open spaces and address motor-vehicle accidents involving deer.
“We have been very successful in reducing the deer population in our reservations to a manageable level, which has enabled us to transition our program from aggressively removing deer to maintaining the population,” said Essex County executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. “While we have made tremendous progress, it is important to continue this maintenance mode to preserve the forest habitat and maintain our reservations as viable resources for recreation and open space.
During the 10 days of the 2016 hunt, there were 154 deer removed, along with 86 unborn deer. The program was conducted on five days in South Mountain Reservation on Tuesdays, Jan.19 and Feb. 2, and Thursdays, Jan. 21 and 28 and Feb. 4, in the afternoons only. It was held for five days in Hilltop Reservation on Tuesdays, Feb. 9 and March 1, and Thursday, Feb. 11, 18 and 25, in the afternoons only. The program was cancelled on Tuesdays, Jan. 26, and Feb. 16 and 23 because of inclement weather.
South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange. Hilltop Reservation is in Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona. The program was not held in Eagle Rock Reservation this year.
From 2008 to 2015, a total of 1,773 deer — 1,100 deer and 673 unborn deer — were removed from the three reservations utilizing the volunteer services of marksmen.
For safety reasons, South Mountain Reservation, Hilltop Reservation and all parking areas and roads inside the two reservations were closed to the public on the days the program was held in that specific reservation. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo, Essex County Codey Arena, the Essex County Park-N-Ride facility, McLoone’s Boathouse Restaurant in West Orange and all county roads remained open. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office coordinated safety patrols with local police departments.
Marksmen were selected to participate in the program. The volunteers were licensed by the state of New Jersey and demonstrated their marksmanship ability and completed an orientation program with the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. When in the reservations, the agents stationed themselves in trees at least 20 feet above the ground and only took shots at a downward angle.
All deer removed from the reservations were transported to a check station where county officials inspected the animals and collected information about its age, reproductive status, gender and weight, as well as the number of shots fired. They were then transported by the county to a NJ Department of Health approved butcher for processing. Venison was donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, which distributed the meat to the less fortunate and homeless. In 2016, 3,803 pounds of venison were donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which provided about 15,200 meals. Since 2008, more than 36,000 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank, which equates to about 150,000 meals. Volunteer marksmen who completed at least eight half-day shifts of volunteer service received 40 pounds of venison.
In addition to culling the deer herd, a replanting program to accelerate the regrowth of the forests is under way in South Mountain Reservation and Eagle Rock Reservation. Forty-seven enclosures — 42 in South Mountain and five in Eagle Rock — have been installed where native vegetative species have been planted so their seeds can be reintroduced into the area as the plants mature. The 8-foot high fences are designed to prevent deer and other large animals from foraging on the newly planted areas, but allow smaller animals, such as rodents and birds, to enter and exit. The fences will remain in place for about 25 years. The planting project was funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program received by the South Mountain Conservancy and the Eagle Rock Conservancy and grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. Replanting native plant species is necessary to restore the forest understory that was being destroyed by the browsing of deer. The loss of this vegetation has prevented new trees from growing, created erosion problems, allowed invasive plant species to flourish and caused the number of native animal species that rely on the plants for food or protection to decline.
The third aspect of the Essex County Deer Management Program is enhancing safety on county roads by reducing the number of motor-vehicle accidents involving deer. The county received grant money to install detection devices that reflect motor-vehicle headlights and emit a high-pitched noise to scare deer away from the road. The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange.
In 2015, 272 deer carcasses were removed from County roads. There were 251 deer carcasses removed in 2014, 222 deer in 2013, 201 deer in 2012, 233 deer in 2011, 229 deer in 2010, 284 deer in 2009, 363 deer in 2008 and 303 in 2007.
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