Bath Supervisor Bart Perdue Looking At Declining Deer Population In The Area

Warm Springs, Va – Bath County Supervisor Bart Perdue recently held a meeting to discuss concerns about the decline in the deer population in Bath County and the surrounding area. He wanted to meet with others to get ideas on how to turn the problem around.

“Well the main thing was that people really wanted rid of those last six doe days at the end of late muzzle loading season that run on like the first of the year,” says Perdue. “You know, January first through seventh, I think it was this year. The does have been bred and some of the bucks have lost their horns so people never know what they’re really shooting, and people are concerned that you’re killing a lot of your deer population off every year at that point.”

Supervisor Perdue says everyone at the meeting was in agreement that there is a problem with the deer population, but he was surprised that one idea wasn’t supported.

“They also surprisingly weren’t interested in the coyote bounty,” says Perdue. “I had mentioned something about the bounty and really none of them were interested and most of them thought it was a waste of money. They’re looking to try to put that money into something else, maybe some seminars and training opportunities for landowners to learn how to trap and stuff, to be able to help themselves on their properties capture coyotes.”

Supervisor Perdue is hoping to hold more meetings on the issue, maybe in each district in Bath, so everyone will have a chance to attend.

“Another thing we talked about was the impact of the phone in deer check system on the local businesses,” says Perdue. “And the problems they’ve had by not having hunters stop in to check deer and how much money they lose every year. And I think it’s a serious issue.”

Supervisor Perdue is also hoping to schedule a meeting with representatives from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. He cautions that any changes made will not go into effect until the 2013 hunting season.

“I think we’re going to try to send out a survey, hopefully we’ll get a lot of participation out of that,” says Perdue. “We’re trying to get a meeting set up with Alleghany and Highland Counties so that we can all get on the same page with what we want to do. And we do need Highland and Alleghany’s cooperation to get anything done. So, that’s the most important thing right now probably.”

Bath County residents who are concerned about the decline of the deer population can contact their county supervisor. And Supervisor Bart Perdue can be reached at 540-839-3371.