Ross Township renews contract to curb deer numbers

Ross Township renewed its Suburban Whitetail Management of Pennsylvania contract for the next deer hunting season.

It will be the third year of the deal with the company, which works with municipalities and homeowners to reduce the deer population.

“They are an organization that basically recruits responsible, skilled archery hunters,” board of commissioners president Daniel DeMarco said. “They manage everything. They determine what hunters are qualified with written tests and field tests and assign hunters to properties, some of which are township owned and some are private properties that residents have to give consent to having a hunter on the property.”

Archery deer season starts on Sept. 30 and runs intermittently until Jan. 15.

The one change in the agreement this year is that for the first time, the township will pay Suburban Whitetail Management a a reimbursement fee of $300 per harvested deer, up to 40 deer. There had been no such fee up to now. The organization made the request to help defray the cost of insurance, a condition the commissioners voted to accept.

DeMarco said bringing skilled archery hunters into Ross has helped control the township’s burgeoning deer population.

“It was a gigantic problem,” DeMarco said. “I regularly would see a herd of like eight to 10 deer sometimes (as I was) driving up my street, just grazing on the grass. I had residents call me or send me pictures of the same thing. It’s a problem and it’s also a problem in terms of road kill with deer and motor vehicle collisions.”

Since hunters were brought in, DeMarco said he’s seen the situation improve with fewer deer hanging around. However, he says a better harvest is needed.

“We regularly promote it on our website — if you’re interested in having a hunter on your property, contact Suburban Whitetail Management,” DeMarco said.

Suburban Whitetail Management owner Luke Leonard said he’s also looking for ways to improve the number of deer they harvest each year.

“We’ve got a bunch of new properties this year, so we’re hoping the number gets a little bit higher.”

Hunters or residents can sign up for the program by sending an email to Suburbanwhitetailpa@gmail.com.