Roswell officials are fielding an increased number of complaints related to deer.
It is mid-season for deer hunting and the city has an over population, Police Chief James Conroy said. In addition to being hunted, they’re getting hit by cars on the road.
There are an estimated 1.27 million deer in Georgia.
Deer hunting season runs from September to January.
Since October, 100 emergency calls have come in, Conroy said, with 81 of those involving vehicles crashing into an animal or a dead deer in the roadway. There were seven incidents of deer caught on a fence, eight responses to calls on injured deer and one incident of two deer fighting, the chief said.
Roswell police have fielded 384 calls of service involving deer over the last year.
“Hunting can be a controversial and emotionally charged issue ‚” Conroy said. “We have people who are in favor of hunting and people who are opposed to hunting and we’re trying to navigate the waters in the middle.”
A deer hunter who lives outside the city, but who has a proper state license and Roswell permit to hunt, has been harassed by residents, the chief said.
State law regulates hunting which is enforced by the Department of Natural Resources. In Roswell, deer hunters must have a permit for hunting with a bow, air gun or BB gun. (Use of firearms are only allowed in an indoor firing range.)
Permits allow hunting on a person’s own land. Written permission is required to hunt on another person’s property.
Last year, Sandy Springs residents complained of bow hunters trespassing on their property killing deer and leaving decapitated carcasses after removing the animals’ head as trophies.
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