Letter: Urban deer management – something must be done

By Letter to the Editor on March 31, 2026.

Dear editor,

The urban deer might have been a pleasant sight in Redcliff and Medicine Hat decades ago, but now are problematic. The numbers of deer born and living within the town and city has become a burden.

The Bylaw admonishing feeding the deer is a good start but does nothing to solve the growing population. Therefore, I began my research to find out what other communities are doing.

Our local newspaper last fall mentioned Havre, Mont. was having a cull so I contacted them first. The cull is by bow, not guns. Next, I researched other communities in Canada. We are not alone.

B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia have enacted urban deer management strategies. N.S. and several communities in Ontario also use bow hunts.

B.C. has the broadest intervention. Along with the other provinces they encourage no feeding, use fencing, deer resistant plants but move forward to population reduction.

1. Lethal removal by culls. First they attract the deer to an out of town area with clover traps. Then they use guns. Meat from healthy animals and hides are used.

2. Translocation to far reaching locations.

3. Fertility control capturing females.

This information is provided by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operation. It is time to act.

We had six deer in our yard yesterday. They are now so domesticated they know traffic patterns and stop to look before crossing the street, and a car horn doesn’t even raise their attention.

I encourage municipal administrators to conduct their own research to assist in decision making. But do something, please.

Lois Bourassa

Redcliff

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