The controversial deer harvest in Shawnee Mission Park is finished -- for now.
Yesterday, Randy Knight, community relations manager for the Johnson County Park and Recreation District, announced that the much-protested bow hunt ran from December 9 through January 23. During that time, the certified archers took down 29 deer.
Add that to the 313 animals harvested by police sharpshooters last fall and the deer death toll stands at 342.
But it may not be enough to bring the deer population down to 50 deer per square mile -- the level deemed ecologically sustainable by state wildlife officials.
When Johnson County rangers surveyed the park after the first hunt, the
population was only down to 73 per square mile. If those final 29 deer
don't drop the herd sufficiently, will there be another hunt?
"That will be determined after the additional surveys have been conducted," Knight says.
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