Oxford adopts changes for deer management program
After a low harvest last year, Oxford is adjusting its deer management program by dividing the bow hunting season into separate periods.
Following discussion at a city council meeting in July, Oxford is introducing changes to its deer management program, according to a staff report.
Last year, Oxford issued permits to 22 individuals to permit bow hunting on seven tracts of land for a four-month hunting period. The program brought in just four deer last year, its smallest harvest since the management program’s inception in 2009.
Now, in an effort to increase the harvest this year, the city plans to divide its hunting season into three separate hunting periods to provide more licenses. The Oxford Free Press previously reported that Miami University’s deer management program uses a divided hunting season and harvested nearly 40 deer last year. A faculty member at Miami told the Free Press in July that “without greater effort, without having to take more sites, the city could … increase the harvest” by dividing its own season.
According to the city’s staff report, the city manager’s office is also considering a police deer culling program. The program would include additional costs of overtime hours for three Butler County Regional SWAT Team officers, a dumpster rental, ammunition, construction of a platform for a pickup truck and signs. Officers would harvest deer using a muzzled rifle rather than a bow and arrow. City Manager Doug Elliott wrote in his report that he would bring a cost estimate to city council once available.
This year’s white-tailed deer bow hunting season will run Sept. 28, 2024 to Feb. 2, 2025. Butler County hunters with permits will be limited to three deer, up from two last year.
