Will County To Test Sharpshooters For Deer Culling
(WBBM) - Will County is about to start the process of qualifying sharp-shooters with the aim of keeping the deer population in check in its forest preserves.
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The prospective sharpshooters get just one chance to qualify.
The have to hit a roughly 2-inch target at 50 yards, five times in a row.
They only get five shots.
There's also a background check and oral interview.
The hunts will take place only at night, when the preserves are closed.
The goal is to thin the herds to about 25 deer per square mile.
The sharpshooters will shoot only does, the female deer.
The hunts will take place during each of the next four months in McKinley Woods in Channahon, Lockport Prairie, Messenger Woods in Homer Glen, Sandridge Savanna/Kankakee Sands in the Braidwood/ Wilmington area and Goodenow Grove/Plum Valley in Beecher.
Forest Preserve staff estimates that a total of 332 to 406 deer will need to be culled across all sites.
Sharpshooting will take place within the preserves with safety buffers in place of at least 300 feet from the preserve boundaries, according to the Forest Preserve District of Will County website.
More information at www.reconnectwithnature.org/about-us/news/Deer-Management
