Deer Cull Will Return To Essex County For 2020: Dates, Locations – West Orange, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — For the 13th straight year, Essex County will hold its annual deer cull. The 2020 hunt will kick off at South Mountain Reservation on Tuesday, Jan. 14 and Hilltop Reservation on Thursday, Jan. 16.

Over the past 12 years, more than 2,600 animals – 1,682 deer and 988 unborn deer – have been killed during the county’s annual deer management program, which aims to “revitalize the forest ecology by reducing the number of deer.”

On days of the cull, licensed and qualified shooters will station themselves in trees at least 20 feet above the ground, only firing at a downward angle. All hunters are licensed by the state of New Jersey and have demonstrated their marksmanship ability and completed an orientation program with the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

South Mountain Reservation is located in Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange. Hilltop Reservation is in Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona.

All parking areas and walking paths inside the reservations will be closed to the public on the days of the culls. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo, Essex County Codey Arena, the Essex County Park-N-Ride facility and McLoone’s Boathouse Restaurant in the Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex in West Orange and all County roads through the reservations will remain open.

In addition, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office will coordinate safety patrols with local police departments.

This year’s hunt will take place on the following days:

• South Mountain Reservation – Tuesdays of Jan. 14, 21 and 28 and Feb. 4, 11 and 18 (with make-up days on Feb. 25 and March 3 if any previous dates are cancelled)
• Hilltop Reservation – Thursdays of Jan. 16, 23 and 30 and Feb. 6, 13 and 20 (with make-up days on Feb. 27 and March 5 if any previous dates are cancelled)

The program will not be held in Eagle Rock Reservation this year, county officials said.

Animal rights activists in Essex County have protested the annual cull for years, alleging that the hunt is inhumane and that there are better, non-lethal methods for controlling the local deer population.

“Deer are social, intelligent, and gentle animals whose lives matter to them, their offspring, and to their family units,” the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey stated prior to a protest of the Essex County hunt in 2017.

“Deer can feel pain and suffering just like us,” the group said.

County officials say there are also humane aspects to the program, however, such as a large annual donation to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside.

After being transported to a NJ Department of Health-approved butcher for processing, the venison from the slain deer is donated to the food bank, which distributes the meat to in-need and homeless residents. Since 2008, a total of 47,075 pounds of venison have been donated to the food bank, which equates to more than 168,000 meals, county officials said.

“Controlling the population by removing deer from South Mountain and Hilltop has proven to be very successful in helping to preserve the forest habitat and maintain our reservations as viable resources for recreation and open space,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

“Each year, we’ve updated our program to address current conditions, adjusting the number and schedule of days and transitioning into a ‘maintenance mode’ to keep the population at a manageable level,” DiVincenzo said.

He added that the annual cull is only one facet of a “comprehensive deer management program,” which also includes creating seed banks to accelerate the re-growth of the forests and installing reflectors and lights to enhance traffic safety by keeping deer from entering the roadway.

The reflectors are installed along Cherry Lane, Brookside Drive, JFK Parkway and Parsonage Hill Road in Millburn, Livingston and West Orange.

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