Take it easy, FLA cautions deer hunters
Published:Thursday | August 31, 2023 | 12:10 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Four years after the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA) gave the green light to game-bird hunters to shoot the white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus), an alien invasive species of major concern, especially in Portland, the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) is urging caution and restraint.
“There is no restriction on them. There is no deer-shooting season. You can shoot January, February, March, April, December, etc. You shoot them (deer) any time, but remember, the game reserves and forest reserves, they (hunters) are not to be there,” CEO of NEPA Peter Knight told The Gleaner ahead of the 2019 game bird season.
An invasive species is defined as any that has been introduced to an environment where it is not native and has since become a threat through rapidly spreading and increasing in numbers, often to the detriment of native species, NEPA notes on its website.
“White-tailed deer have been known to destroy crops and cause damage to woodland areas,” it further advises.
“They have no natural predators and are spreading fast, and this is because the food supply is good all year round,” terrestrial biologist Damion Whyte told The Gleaner then. “A conservative estimate of the population is more than 6,000 in the wild.”
Not a protected species
Meanwhile, Ricardo Miller, environmental coordinator at the NEPA, explained that in principle, it had no issues with the deer being hunted or otherwise trapped anytime of the year because they are not a protected species.
“So we don’t have any legal grounds to hold anybody who is doing it once they operate within the law. Last year or the year before, we started to see things from the FLA, saying that people are deer-hunting and it’s a firearm issue, etc.
However, Shane Dalling, chief executive officer of the FLA, told The Gleaner that bird shooters who hunt deer must do so on the days and within the time frame of their bird shooter’s licence as hunting them at any other time would be illegal.
During the season, which opened on August 19 and runs until September 24 under the Wild Life Protection (Game Birds) (Declaration of Shooting Season) Order, 2019, hunting sessions are from sunrise to 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to sunset on Saturdays and from sunrise to 9 a.m. on Sundays.
“You would ask for permission, and we set the terms and conditions. The law gives FLA the authority to set the terms and conditions under which you may use the firearms. Where it comes to deer, it cannot be wholesale shooting as you wish. It has to be an organised event,” Dalling declared.
He went on to point out that in special circumstances, such as where pigeons or other animals are proving to be nuisances to property owners, the FLA grants permission for the firing of shots to scare the birds. Usually, the birds are not hurt.
“The impact of the noise and general disturbance from the discharge of the shot clears them away, and they don’t come back. So permission is granted by the FLA, which, in turn, advises the police, so if they hear shots being fired, they know that is an activity authorised within the area. So person can shoot the deer if they are not within the protected areas.
“Anybody doing it would have to write FLA to say these are the circumstance. I intend to use my gun to shoot deer, and we can grant permission and we can guide to say, yes that is between these hours, that you ensure that it is not in a populated area, how many feet away from the roadway, and that the police are advised.
The deer have been sighted in St Andrew and Portland after three does and three bucks escaped from Somerset Falls, a tourist attraction, during the passage of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Since then, farmers have complained about their crops being destroyed by the deer.