DEER HUNT CATCHES 44, DESPITE SNOW AND COLD

Just 44 deer were killed in the annual deer hunt at South Mountain Reservation this year, officials said.

Essex County Executive Joseph Di Vincenzo, in a release, blamed much of the drop on snow, which cancelled the hunt for one day, Jan. 27, and freezing temperatures during two of the other days, Feb. 3 and Feb. 5. 

All 44 deer, including 13 unborn, were culled on Jan. 29, the release said.

“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 and scaling it back to where our goal is to maintain the population. 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,” the release stated. “Since we started in 2008, we have removed 1,030 deer from our reservations, started a program to accelerate the re-growth of our forests and introduced a pilot program to reduce traffic accidents involving deer. The over abundance of deer affects all of our communities, and our program provides a comprehensive approach to address the problem."

The release added that a total of 70 deer were killed in the program that also included Hilltop Reservation in Verona and the former Essex County Hospital site in Cedar Grove.

Under the program, hunters are allowed to keep only 40 pounds of deer meat they catch, with the remainder donated to the Food Bank of New Jersey.

"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," the release added. "Venison was donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, which distributed the meat to the less fortunate and homeless."

This year, 1,668 pounds of venison were donated to the Food Bank, which provided about 6,675 meals. Since 2008,  a total of 32,649 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank, which equates to about 130,600 meals.