County officials plan more hunting sites
21/04/07 14:54
Another 4 parks
may open for deer season; hearings slated
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/21/07
BY BOB JORDAN FREEHOLD BUREAU
Monmouth County's Deer Management Program officials have proposed opening new hunting sites in Marlboro, Middletown, Millstone Township and Roosevelt, and Holmdel later this year.
The Monmouth County Park System program has been in effect for three years. In the last hunting season, 11 park areas were hunted by approximately 560 permitted hunters and 303 deer were harvested, county officials said.
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/21/07
BY BOB JORDAN FREEHOLD BUREAU
Monmouth County's Deer Management Program officials have proposed opening new hunting sites in Marlboro, Middletown, Millstone Township and Roosevelt, and Holmdel later this year.
The Monmouth County Park System program has been in effect for three years. In the last hunting season, 11 park areas were hunted by approximately 560 permitted hunters and 303 deer were harvested, county officials said.
But the program —
which officials said has a long-term goal of reducing
deer populations to a maximum of 10 per square mile
— has not taken place without violations of
safety guidelines.
In the last hunting season, three hunters had their permits revoked — including one for possession of alcohol and one for possession of a loaded uncased gun in a safety zone and hunting from the ground, according to the county's Deer Management Program Annual Report.
The proposed new bow hunting areas include Big Brook Park, Marlboro; Huber Woods Park, Middletown; and Perrineville Lake Park, Millstone and Roosevelt. Also, the Ramanessin section of Holmdel Park would have "controlled or limited shotgun, muzzleloader and/or bow hunting for deer only" for six days, according to the program report.
Opening up Big Brook Park — a 378-acre site adjacent to the Camp Arrowhead Reserves, and an area that was once part of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital facility — for bow hunting makes sense, said Wally Tunison, owner of the Bicycle Hub shop in Marlboro.
Hunting is proposed to begin at that location on Sept. 8 and continue though Feb. 16, 2008. The undeveloped park is located between Routes 79 and 520 and Boundary Road. A well-known spot where people seek to recover cretaceous shark teeth and other vertebrate fossils from stream gravels is at an overpass that connects Boundary Road over Big Brook. The report does not state how far the hunting area is from the overpass.
"I think the deer hunt is difficult for some people to be in approval of, but it's necessary because of the volume of deer in the area. The alternative to the deer hunt is controlling the population by neutering but that presently in my opinion is not plausible," Tunison said.
Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg said the township has had no input on adding Big Brook Park to the hunting sites.
"County officials pretty much said this is what they're doing. They met with our police and our business administrator. They said their experts look at our deer population as too great," Kleinberg said. "We don't hear too much from our residents one way or the other on the deer situation. If they come out strongly for having this hunt or opposing it, I hope the county takes those opinions into consideration."
Two public information meetings will be conducted by the park system next month. Officials said comments about the deer management program and proposed changes will be accepted through June 8.
Park system officials said 742 hunting access permits were issued last season, with 58 percent going to Monmouth County residents. The hunters were issued a copy of the system's rules and regulations governing deer hunting and maps of areas open for hunting. Hunters are subject to the regulations of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife as well.
A total of 56 "incidents" of violations were recorded, including stolen tree stands and equipment and failures to display vehicle identification tags.
The deer management plan proposes using 11 areas that also were used last season for hunting: Charleston Springs Golf Course, Crosswicks Creek Greenway, Howell Park Golf Course, Manasquan Reservoir Bear Swamp Tract, Shark River Park, Tatum Park, Turkey Swamp Park, Yellow Brook Tract, Clayton Park, Hartshorne Woods Park and Thompson Park.
In the last hunting season, three hunters had their permits revoked — including one for possession of alcohol and one for possession of a loaded uncased gun in a safety zone and hunting from the ground, according to the county's Deer Management Program Annual Report.
The proposed new bow hunting areas include Big Brook Park, Marlboro; Huber Woods Park, Middletown; and Perrineville Lake Park, Millstone and Roosevelt. Also, the Ramanessin section of Holmdel Park would have "controlled or limited shotgun, muzzleloader and/or bow hunting for deer only" for six days, according to the program report.
Opening up Big Brook Park — a 378-acre site adjacent to the Camp Arrowhead Reserves, and an area that was once part of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital facility — for bow hunting makes sense, said Wally Tunison, owner of the Bicycle Hub shop in Marlboro.
Hunting is proposed to begin at that location on Sept. 8 and continue though Feb. 16, 2008. The undeveloped park is located between Routes 79 and 520 and Boundary Road. A well-known spot where people seek to recover cretaceous shark teeth and other vertebrate fossils from stream gravels is at an overpass that connects Boundary Road over Big Brook. The report does not state how far the hunting area is from the overpass.
"I think the deer hunt is difficult for some people to be in approval of, but it's necessary because of the volume of deer in the area. The alternative to the deer hunt is controlling the population by neutering but that presently in my opinion is not plausible," Tunison said.
Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg said the township has had no input on adding Big Brook Park to the hunting sites.
"County officials pretty much said this is what they're doing. They met with our police and our business administrator. They said their experts look at our deer population as too great," Kleinberg said. "We don't hear too much from our residents one way or the other on the deer situation. If they come out strongly for having this hunt or opposing it, I hope the county takes those opinions into consideration."
Two public information meetings will be conducted by the park system next month. Officials said comments about the deer management program and proposed changes will be accepted through June 8.
Park system officials said 742 hunting access permits were issued last season, with 58 percent going to Monmouth County residents. The hunters were issued a copy of the system's rules and regulations governing deer hunting and maps of areas open for hunting. Hunters are subject to the regulations of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife as well.
A total of 56 "incidents" of violations were recorded, including stolen tree stands and equipment and failures to display vehicle identification tags.
The deer management plan proposes using 11 areas that also were used last season for hunting: Charleston Springs Golf Course, Crosswicks Creek Greenway, Howell Park Golf Course, Manasquan Reservoir Bear Swamp Tract, Shark River Park, Tatum Park, Turkey Swamp Park, Yellow Brook Tract, Clayton Park, Hartshorne Woods Park and Thompson Park.
